“Neighbor stole from cancer victim she pretended to help - McClatchy” plus 4 more

Neighbor stole from cancer victim she pretended to help - McClatchy
Disparities In Cancer Care Reflect Hospital Resources - eMaxHealth.com
Walking to end breast cancer - CJAD
Woman sentenced for robbing cancer patient - United Press International
Neighbor who stole from cancer patient gets 4 years, 9 months in ... - Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Neighbor stole from cancer victim she pretended to help - McClatchy

Posted: 22 Aug 2009 10:50 AM PDT

By Martha Deller | Fort Worth Star-Telegram

FORT WORTH — Debilitated by breast cancer, Jody Short of Mansfield, Texas, was grateful two years ago when a neighbor offered to help care for her after she came home from the hospital.

Sixteen months later, Short learned that the neighbor, Janice Gast, whom she considered a friend, had begun using her identity, her credit cards and her bank accounts shortly after she took over Short's care.

Gast, 42, was sentenced to prison Monday after pleading guilty to forging Shorts name on documents and stealing more than $67,000 from her over about a year. State District Judge Sharen Wilson sentenced Gast to concurrent four-year prison terms on charges of felony theft and fraudulent use of identification, and to nine months in state jail on a forgery charge.

During the sentencing hearing in Criminal District Court No. 1, Short vehemently told Gast how she was devastated financially, physically and emotionally by Gasts actions.

Short said that her cancer is in remission but that she lost her job as a corporate secretary during her treatment and recovery.

"For the longest time, I thought that July 24, 2007, the day I was diagnosed with breast cancer, was the worst day of my life," said Short, now 60. "I now know that the worst day of my life was the day I let you walk through my front door.

"I now know that there is something worse than cancer, and that is you."

It started in July 2007, Short said in an interview this week, when Gast approached her as a co-worker brought her home from her first biopsy.

Read the full story at star-telegram.com.

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Disparities In Cancer Care Reflect Hospital Resources - eMaxHealth.com

Posted: 22 Aug 2009 07:44 AM PDT

Hospitals that treat more black cancer patients have worse survival rates on average for patients with breast and colon cancer, regardless of race, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The research helps explain why African-Americans with breast or colon cancer are less likely than white patients to survive the disease.

"This work highlights the importance of how where a patient receives treatment for cancer affects survival after cancer surgery. An important next step will be to determine which system factors are amenable to interventions aimed at improving the quality of cancer care," says study author Tara M. Breslin, M.D., assistant professor of surgery at the U-M Medical School.

The study used five year survival data from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results–Medicare-linked database, a federal collection of cancer incidence, survival, and prevalence. The researchers analyzed data from 25,571 breast cancer patients, 9.7 percent of whom were black, and 22,168 colon cancer patients, 11.8 percent of whom were black. The patients were treated in 436 hospitals.

The study appears in the Aug. 20 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Survival rates were lower for black patients than for white patients with both breast and colon cancer. But hospitals where more than half the patients were black had an increased risk of dying after five years for both black and white patients, compared to hospitals where fewer than 10 percent of patients were black.

All breast cancer patients treated at predominantly black hospitals had a 32 percent increased risk of death after five years, compared with those treated at hospitals that see few black patients. Similarly, colon cancer patients had a 27 percent higher risk of dying at five years.

The researchers also examined patient factors, such as age, cancer stage, other medical conditions and socioeconomic status. They found that after accounting for these factors, black patients still had higher mortality rates.

"Efforts aimed at increasing early detection through screening and decreasing incidence with preventative services are essential for decreasing racial disparities in mortality, but where a patient receives care after a cancer diagnosis may be equally important," says senior study author Arden M. Morris, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of surgery at the U-M Medical School and chief of general surgery at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System.

The study did not identify what specific hospital factors were at play, but the researchers plan further analyses to determine which hospital systems and aspects of standard therapy are poorly delivered or absent in hospitals serving a high percentage of minority patients.

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Walking to end breast cancer - CJAD

Posted: 22 Aug 2009 09:52 AM PDT

This weekend, nearly 2,200 people are taking part in the 5th annual Weekend to End Breast Cancer here in Montreal.

It's one of the largest fundraising events in the city, and so far, this year's event has raised closed to 6 million dollars.

Over the past five years, the event has raised more than 36 million dollars for breast cancer research.

The 60 kilometre walk started at Uniprix Stadium -- the once and forever Jarry Park. Participants will make their way to Queen of Angels Academy in Dorval where they will camp out overnight and will take a different route back to Uniprix stadium Sunday.

Alexis Gaittman, the director of Special Events at the Jewish General Hospital Foundation says this year's money will benefit all cancers that affect women.

The money raised goes to the Segal Cancer Centre at the Jewish.

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Woman sentenced for robbing cancer patient - United Press International

Posted: 22 Aug 2009 12:23 PM PDT

FORT WORTH, Texas, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- A 42-year-old woman will spend four years, nine months in prison for stealing more than $67,000 from a breast cancer patient, a Texas judge says.

The Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram reported Saturday that State District Judge Sharen Wilson sentenced Janice Gast to prison on forgery, felony theft and fraudulent use of identification charges.

Gast was accused of assuming the care of Jody Short of Mansfield, Texas, in order to gain access to the cancer patient's credit cards and bank accounts.

Authorities said during a period of nearly a year, Gast stole more than $67,000 from Short and forged the woman's name on multiple documents.

Short said at Monday's sentencing hearing in Criminal District Court No. 1 that Gast's actions were more devastating than her cancer, which she says is in remission.

"For the longest time, I thought that July 24, 2007, the day I was diagnosed with breast cancer, was the worst day of my life," Short, 60, said. "I now know that the worst day of my life was the day I let you walk through my front door.

"I now know that there is something worse than cancer, and that is you."

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Neighbor who stole from cancer patient gets 4 years, 9 months in ... - Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Posted: 22 Aug 2009 06:46 AM PDT

FORT WORTH — Debilitated by breast cancer, Jody Short of Mansfield was grateful two years ago when a neighbor offered to help care for her after she came home from the hospital.

Gast, 42, was sentenced to prison Monday after pleading guilty to forging Short's name on documents and stealing more than $67,000 from her over about a year. State District Judge Sharen Wilson sentenced Gast to concurrent four-year prison terms on charges of felony theft and fraudulent use of identification, and to nine months in state jail on a forgery charge.

During the sentencing hearing in Criminal District Court No. 1, Short vehemently told Gast how she was devastated financially, physically and emotionally by Gast's actions.

Short said that her cancer is in remission but that she lost her job as a corporate secretary during her treatment and recovery.

"I now know that there is something worse than cancer, and that is you."

'Helping herself'

It started in July 2007, Short said in an interview this week, when Gast approached her as a co-worker brought her home from her first biopsy.

Short said she had never spoken to Gast but was grateful that the younger woman offered to check on her. That relieved the co-worker and Short's sister, Jackie Holland, who was also caring for their elderly parents in Ohio.

For months, Short said, Gast acted as an unpaid caregiver, taking her to doctor's appointments, dispensing medication and running errands.

Unbeknownst to Short, however, Gast was "helping herself to Ms. Short's money," prosecutor Tiffany Burks said. Gast used a variety of methods — using her identification to open credit accounts, forging her name on checks and other documents, and buying items for her own home with Short's credit and debit cards.

But Burks said the worst thing Gast did was stopping the automatic bank debit for Short's monthly mortgage payments.

"Her lender was in the process of filing a foreclosure, so she almost lost her home," Burks said.

In hindsight, Short said, she realizes that Gast was able to steal her money because she isolated her from her friends and relatives. To cover up the thefts, Short said, Gast intercepted her mail and forwarded Short's phone to her own. So Short never got calls or written notices about the problems with her mortgage and other accounts.

The scheme came to light, Short said, after her mother died in Ohio. She said Gast called the mother's financial adviser to inquire how much money she had left and when she would be getting it.

The suspicious financial adviser called Short's sister, who verified that Short did not make the call. After the two sisters discovered that money was missing, they turned the information over to Mansfield police.

The worst part

The tedious job of regaining her money and restoring her credit was bad enough, Short said. But the emotional impact of a presumed friend's betrayal was worse, she said.

"I think my neighbors are afraid to come around now," Short said. "I'm sure there are some nice people there, but I don't know who to trust."

Short said she still feels ashamed about what happened, though she didn't tell Gast that Monday, she said, because "that would make it seem like she won."

But that's how she feels.

"People have got to be saying, 'How could you be so stupid?' " she said.

Gast's attorney, Gary Smart, said Gast regrets what she did.

"It was just a situation that got out of control," Smart said. "Things got easy once she started helping her out. A lot of things she did to help her were not necessarily criminal."

Smart said Gast used Short's credit and debit cards partly to buy items for Short. But he acknowledged that she also bought things for herself and her home. He attributes her actions to "some personal issues" that he could not discuss.

"She just got greedy, I guess," he said. "She's very remorseful and sorry for what she did."

Smart said Gast offered to make financial restitution but was told that Short had gotten the money back from her bank and credit card companies.

He said Gast would have apologized personally to Short if Short hadn't harassed her by driving by her home and glaring at her in court.

Gast will be eligible for parole in one year, but Short has said she will attend every parole hearing.

"I will do everything in my power to keep you in prison for as long as possible," she told Gast.

I now know that there is something worse than cancer, and that is you."

Jody Short,
to Janice Gast

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Breast Cancer

Saturday, August 22, 2009