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The oxygen is paid for by my mother's Medicare. I have heard that my sister's use of my mother's oxygen is illegal, but I can't find any way to report it. I have been at my mother's house on two occasions when there was an electrical outage and my mother's concentrator stopped working. She needed the tanks or could not get oxygen.

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What is your sister using the oxygen for?
If she has a medical reason to use the oxygen she should be getting her own.
It's not like you can get high breathing oxygen (sometimes I wish that were possible😁)
Is your sister a caregiver for your mom? Are there any other things missing? supplies, drugs?
Is it possible to put cameras in so you can monitor the use of supplies?
Can the extra tanks be locked and only be unlocked when you or some other trusted person changes the tanks?
To report the theft of any supplies would just like reporting any other theft but with something like this if you have video proof that would make reporting much easier.
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Deposed Sep 2020
My 73 year old sister believes she needs supplemental oxygen when visiting my 98 year old mother in Colorado Springs at about 6300 feet above sea level. My sister used to visit in the past without needing oxygen and lived in Colorado for several years before deciding she needed it. She has used my mother's oxygen in the past. She had a prescription for her own oxygen but prefers to use my mother's. She also believes she knows more about how to care for my mother than most doctors do, although she has no medical training of her own beyond what she reads online and other opinions she has had in the past.
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Your profile doesn't address these issues, and they're critical.  There are 2 categories: the first is the confiscation of oxygen scripted for your mother, and the second is emergency preparedness:

Issue one:

1.    Is your mother living in your sister's house, or vice versa, or what's the arrangement?   Is your sister her caregiver?  Or her dominatrix?   Anyone who steals oxygen from her parents to me falls in a negative category.

2.    WHY does your sister need oxygen?  What are the conditions that require it?  Has she requested it of her own pulmonologist or other doctor?  If not, why in the world not?

3.    I do believe it is illegal to subvert a critical need from the person in need, especially when Medicare is paying for oxygen to your mother and not your sister.  It's probably Medicare fraud.    It's also elderly abuse.   How in the world did this start? 

4.    What's your mother's situation?   What's her pulmonary condition?   What level liter flow was she on?   Is she cognizant of the fact that her daughter is siphoning off her oxygen?  Or does she have dementia and isn't really aware of her daughter's action?

It would be helpful if this information were added to your profile.

5.    You could just come right out and report the abuse to your mother's pulmonologist or whoever prescribed the oxygen, but emphasize that you need to find a way for your mother to get the oxygen while stopping your sister's abuse.

6.    You could report it to the police, or APS (probably a better immediate source), again emphasizing the deprivation of a critical need to your mother.

7.   You could make an anonymous report to the county health department, or a state APS or Elder abuse agency.  Google your state's home page and search for elder abuse, senior care or something like that.   

Issue Two:  emergency preparedness

1.    The medical oxygen supplier should have proved a backup in the form of battery operated portable oxygen.    We had this, with originally 4 batteries lasting a total of 8 hours.   

Even though this helps, when there was a multiple day power failure, I had to find another place for my father to stay until power was restored.  This was worse than finding a needle in a haystack.  I called hospitals, ALs, senior center, police, fire, Salvation Army and I don't recall who else.    Relief came from a wonderful Senior Center staffer who found an AL which would provide care for free.   

The issue of backup oxygen is one which was unresolved when my father was on oxygen.   It's a real shortcoming in the continuity of oxygen care for patients in need, or at least it was a few years ago.

Other than getting backup batteries, and trying to arrange to go someplace with electricity, I don't have any good answers.

If you consider a backup generator, be aware that you'll need an electrician and someone to connect to gas lines.  And it's expensive, very, very expensive.   The justification might be how often power failures occur.   If they're repetitive, a backup generator might be considered.
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Deposed Sep 2020
My 73 year old sister had been staying at my 98 year old mother's house since early June. She and her daughter have taken over my mother's house and have been living off of her money. My mother has been diagnosed with vascular dementia. There are many other issues that I don't want to get into here, but I don't believe it's right for my sister to use my mother's oxygen. My sister believes she needs oxygen at my mother's house in Colorado Springs, although she never needed it many years ago. My sister had her own prescription once, but uses my mother's oxygen instead. I don't think it's right, but I don't know who to report this to. Medicare's web page did not provide any answers.

I am considering reporting this to adult protective services, but APS has not been very useful in the past.
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Why is she using O2?
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Deposed Sep 2020
My 73 year old sister believes she needs oxygen while in Colorado Springs at over 6000 feet above sea level. A year ago I took her to the emergency room where she mostly diagnosed herself. She was given a prescription for oxygen then, but she has used my 98 year old mother's oxygen instead of getting her own.
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It’s illegal to use someone else’s prescription, and since oxygen requires a prescription what your sister is doing is absolutely illegal. If you are serious about stopping your sister then you need to report this to the police and to APS. She’s probably guilty of elder abuse as well.
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I'm not sure I'm following here - if your sister is 73 years old, wouldn't Medicare cover her O2 as well? Is there some sort of cognitive decline going on with your sister, where she can't figure out how to get her own O2?
You say she "self-diagnosed" her need for oxygen, but then she got a script after an ER visit, so that doesn't sound to me like self-diagnosis.
Maybe you could help her secure her own oxygen, then she can stop using your mom's. If she got a prescription, then I'm guessing she must need it.
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Deposed Sep 2020
You would need to ask my sister to answer your first question. I don't know how her mind works, but she is a person who has managed to avoid paying for many things her entire life and she now owns three houses, This is not because of cognitive decline. I would say it's because she is self-centered, greedy, has a strong sense of entitlement and is good at manipulating people to benefit herself.
I was at the ER visit and heard my sister dictate her diagnosis to the technician there. He did not contradict her and seemed to passively agree. I did not object because I wanted my sister to obtain her own oxygen instead of taking my mother's. My sister also wanted to take oxygen with her on her flight back to Michigan.
She did replace the oxygen she used, so my mother is not in danger if there is an electrical outage, as long as whoever is in the house with her connects her to the tanks. I did not recognize the new seals the company put on the tanks, but I know they aren't the same tanks that were there four months ago.
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Also, a tank only lasts about 5 hours. If mom has 2 tanks, that's only about 10 hours; how long were the power outages you were talking about?
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Am I right here..? Your sister is stealing your Mother's O2. The very air your Mother needs to breathe? Because SHE feels her needs are more important?

If she needs O2, she sees a Doctor & gets her own. Simple.

This is not just selfish - this could be attempted murder.
I would call APS for sure, although it will be hard to prove.
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You need to find out if your County has an Emergency Management Dept. If so, see if they have a list of people who would need a generator in case of an outage.

I agree, your sister is putting Mom in danger. Hate to say it, but if your sister thinks this is alright, I wonder if she has some mental decline. I would call APS and run it by them.
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Since your sister was given her own prescription at some point it’s not inconceivable that she could get her own. I suspect the oxygen use isn’t the real problem or the source of you main complaint/concern but reporting her seems like a nuclear option that might not be the best route to go just yet, it’s apt to cause more strife for you and your mom. Maybe you could try a different approach first and just let your sister know that you are concerned about your mom not having the back up supply she needs in case of a problem so maybe it’s time sister just get her own supply since it seems to help her. The other approach might be concern that they are going to question your moms need for refills so often and you don’t want Sis or Mom to get in trouble for sharing the prescription. Something non confrontational that appears more caring about your sister and your moms health and well being.
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notgoodenough Sep 2020
Great reply!!
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Deposed, how about this? You say your sister uses your mother’s oxygen when she’s in Colorado. Since she has her own prescription and you are Leary about calling APS, how about you help your sister arrange for her own oxygen? If she has a prescription, she can contact a local supplier where mom lives and have an oxygen concentrator delivered. My mother does it every time she visits me in California, She just calls Lincare and they bring a concentrator to her hotel or to my house.
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Inform your sister that she needs to stop using your mom's O2 or you will report her to APS & Medicare. Use of O2 W/O a prescription may cause an issue for her in the future. Call the O2 company to report the problems with the concentrator & have it corrected or exchanged. Make sure to notify your mom's electrical company of her O2 usage so that in case of a power outage she will be a priority in restoring power. Call her pulmonologist to make sure that your mom has enough O2 to last 2 days. If your mom is allowing sister to use her money, that's her right. If your mom is unable to manage her money due to dementia, she needs a POA who can take charge of it for her. They can keep the checkbook & credit card so misuse won't happen. They can arrange for automatic payments for bills & leave mom a small amt. of money for her own use. If sister continues to stay, POA might make her pay rent. Speaking with an elder lawyer about these issues if you can afford it. Best of luck to you. Thank you for trying to protect your mom & her interests.
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Use of oxygen based on her own determination of need for it is a real gamble, and medically irresponsible.

She should also have a pulmonary eval to determine if she really does need oxygen, and if so use her own prescription.

Suggest that she study backpacking and camping at high altitudes and how to acclimate.  Even at 73, it could be helpful for her.

Sorry to write this, but something's truly amiss if your sister is using your mother's oxygen and depriving your mother (and hers!) of the oxygen she needs.   W/o being critical, I'm wondering if your sister does suffer from oxygen deprivation and it's depriving her of thinking clearly.
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I need to correct something. Most or all of the oxygen tanks my sister used have been replaced. I thought the ones that I saw had been used because the company that provides the tanks started using a new seal on them that was less obvious and I didn't recognize them. My sister still used the tanks that were intended for my mother, but had many tanks replaced, so my mother is not in great danger if there is an electrical outage. I apologized to my sister for saying that my mother only had about an hour and a half of oxygen left, but she was still stealing my mother's oxygen and I don't know how much she used because I wasn't keeping track of it for the four months that she and her daughter took control of my mother's house, finances, and care.
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To anyone who has responded to my problem here and has suggested that I contact Adult Protective Services, I can tell you that El Paso County Adult Protective Services in Colorado is useless in my situation. I contacted the caseworker again and she keeps telling me that APS does not deal with any of my problems. In addition, she has believed lies from my sister without evidence and then asks me for proof when I make a claim. I can tell everyone here for certain that El Paso County APS will do nothing to help my mother. I need to prove my claims, which is not often possible, while the caseworker automatically believes my sister who has no evidence at all to support her claims against me. I have to spend thousands of dollars for an attorney while my sister can get what she wants for free from a useless government agency.

Thank you for your suggestions but my mother is at the mercy of my sister and no one seems willing to help. The government, as usual, is a waste of money.
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Yes I feared it would be hard (if not impossible) to prove to APS.

Even if you can't change your sister's behaviour, continuing to protect your Mother's safety is still the priotity.

Who else knows how many O2 bottles there needs to be in reserve & checks this? Are there visiting home care nurses you could inform?

Is taking the O2 the whole promlem here? Or is this the *sister came to care for Mother/plans to take her house* maneuver that entitled siblings think they *deserve*? Is that scenario a real concern to you?
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