by Maryssa Rillo

Donald Knapp, a Ventura local who served as a tank commander in World War II, celebrated his 100^th birthday on Sunday, April 20^th, 2019.

Knapp served in the military for three years and was in combat for 11 months during World War II. At first, Knapp tried to avoid combat, but was unable to do so and was called to be a gunner.

“I went on to Fort Knox and I was supposed to be the radio man back at headquarters, stay out of combat, but it turned out some of the gunners didn’t physically make it,” Knapp said. “They said, ‘you are now the gunner in Montoya’s tank.’”

Knapp then went overseas to fight in combat against the Germans. On July 11^th, 1944, when trying to take Hill 122 from the enemy, Knapp barely escaped death.

“Our lieutenant decided he would go without the infantry, which you need to get out in front to see what’s happening. Four of the five tanks I was in got knocked out, whoops. But we had a little mechanical trouble and missed the last part, so I survived,” Knapp said.

Once Knapp returned to the states, he went back to being what they called a “shack rat.” This meant he would go into town every night to see his wife. The army again had different plans for Knapp and assigned him as a tank commander. Without any previous experience, Knapp was forced to learn on the job.

“Well you know there’s people shooting at ya. I determined that our tanks were not as good as the Germans. They had better fire power and what not. By that time, I was 25 and I was considered a little bit old. I was getting younger kids for my tank and I thought first thing is to protect the kids,” Knapp said.

Knapp was diagnosed with tonsillitis and was sent to the hospital. Though this seemed to be unfortunate, Knapp escaped death once again.

“They sent me back to the hospital to bring my temperature down and all that. Meanwhile, someone took over my tank. That tank got knocked off and the tank commander got killed. That should have been me,” Knapp said. “Some of the guys said, ‘Don Knapp got out of it again.’”

At one point, Knapp was an in area called Mairy, which was further into France. While on guard one night, the Germans shot up their headquarters. Knapp said they took evasive action and while on a hill the tank next to him was shot with an armor piercing from a German Panther. Knapp immediately got his crew out of there.

“We evaded action and we were waiting on the side of the road. Here came a Panther tank right on the side of us and our armor would not pierce the front of that tank, but we could catch it from the side. So, we all nailed them. It felt good that we got a superior tank out,” Knapp said.

Knapp said that fighting in combat changed him and he returned from war not the man he used to be.

“You’d see all these malfunctions and you wish it could have been different because I saw a lot of people killed and it always stays with you,” Knapp said.

Knapp said that the secret to living such a long life is “the love of a beautiful woman.”

Knapp said that Evelyn, his wife of 77 years, wrote to him every single day while he was in combat.

“I used to write to him every single day even if it was just a little. Who was doing what, and who I saw,” said Evelyn Knapp.

Evelyn Knapp was able to stay with Donald while he was in Fort Knox but she said that it was hard when he was away.

“I would have to tell you that being together all these years, she made my life,” Donald Knapp said.

Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association has received the award for “Nonprofit of the Year” from the Oxnard Chamber of Commerce. The award selection committee consists of representatives from event sponsors, including Umpqua Bank, CSU: Channel Islands, DCH Auto Group, Kaiser Permanente, Procter & Gamble, SoCal Edison, Spherion and Dignity Health.

Since 1947, Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association has been providing home health, palliative care, hospice, non-medical home care, and grief and bereavement services to Ventura County and the Oxnard community. They provide equitable and inclusive access to home health and hospice services regardless of a patient’s ability to pay. In 2018, they provided home health and hospice services to 920 Oxnard residents, 170 of whom received care free-of-charge through our Subsidized Care program.

They have a four star rating on Medicare’s Home Health Compare Website, which is above both the state and national average for home health services. Their Medical Director, Dr. Lanyard Dial, joined in 1986 and established Livingston as Ventura County’s first Medicare Certified Hospice. He holds Certificates of Added Qualifications in both Geriatric Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Medicine. The Joint Commission accredits us for adhering to national standards of excellence in home health care.

The 69th annual Community & Business Awards will be held Thursday, April 25 at 6:00 pm at Residence Inn by Marriott/River Ridge. Reservations are required in advance and are $60 per person.

Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association www.lmvna.org.

At the April 16, City Council meeting the council presented the Ventura County Parkinson’s Disease Support Group a proclamation in support of April being “Parkinson’s Disease Awareness Month.”

In presenting the honor Mayor Matt LaVere stated “It is my honor to recognize April as National Parkinson’s Awareness Month, as this is a way for communities to come together to bring awareness of the impacts of the disease and those who are living with it in their communities. I offer my sincere thanks to those members of the Ventura Parkinson’s Disease Support Group who are so active in supporting those with Parkinson’s in Ventura and who are here tonight to receive this proclamation.”

The award was accepted by Aurora Soriano – Volunteer Advocate; Find a Cure for Parkinson’s Disease, California Parkinson’s Registry, Susan Kline, Founder of the Ventura PD Support Group 23 years ago and Patty Jenkins – Volunteer Coordinator for the Ventura Parkinson’s Disease Support Group.

“Thank you so much, Mayor LaVere and City Council Members, it is an honor to be here and receive this proclamation on behalf of our Ventura County Parkinson’s Disease Support Groups. “Every 9 minutes, someone is diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease” said Patty in accepting the proclamation.

She went on to say “The Ventura PD Support Group’s goal is to provide a venue for Parkinson’s patients, their caregivers and families to share unique and common challenges, and also bring in medical and community experts who offer information about innovative treatments and resources to better manage and improve our quality of life. We are 100% volunteer organized and without the help of community supporters like the Ventura Breeze, The Star, and the Lexington, it would be impossible to have our meetings and reach newly diagnosed people who, like us at the beginning, felt lost, confused and alone with this disease.”

That’s Patty and Aurora on the upper right side.

by Patty Jenkins – Volunteer Coordinator for the Ventura Parkinson’s Disease Support Group

The Ventura Parkinson’s Disease Support Group is excited to announce a “Field Trip” on May 8th for our members and our supportive community friends to the Oxnard Family Circle Adult Day Health Care Center in Oxnard. Participate in one of their special programs, “Brain Max”, learn about all of the activities and services included at the Oxnard Family Circle as they graciously host our Support Group meeting from 2:30PM to 4:30PM.

We will also be joined by Brenda Birdwell, Ventura County Family Consultant with Coast Caregiver Resources Center (CRCC) and Betty Berry, Senior Advocate and guest columnist with Senior Concerns for the Ventura County Star.

Oxnard Family Circle Adult Day Healthcare Center specializes in day time Adult Care, Senior Care, and provide a very special room set-aside just for Veteran’s Care programs and support. Secure and safe environment with various activities and stimulation is a core of the Oxnard Family Circle services. Extended hours are added to provide a respite for caregivers. In 2018 an additional program “Brain Health and Independence for Life” was added for memory stimulation and brain fitness. Every 2nd Saturday of the even month Oxnard Family Circle offers Alzheimer’s cafes called Garden of Memories Cafe. Caregiver Support Groups and Garden of Memories Cafe are open for the public.

The Ventura Parkinson’s Disease Support Group welcomes the public along with our members, their care-partners and new friends who find themselves navigating the challenges of Parkinson’s Disease and other neurological conditions. Join us at the Oxnard Family Circle Adult Day Health Care Center, 2100 Outlet Drive, Ste 380, in Oxnard.

Reservations are not required. For more information, call Patty at 805-766-6070. The Ventura Parkinson’s Disease Support Group is an independent and volunteer-organized group, not affiliated with or a part of any other organization or group.

by Peter J. Pitts

Scientists searching for cures to cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and other deadly illnesses may soon lose their funding, due to a misguided proposal from Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar. 

The proposal would gradually reduce Medicare’s reimbursement rate for advanced drugs administered in hospitals and doctor’s offices by 30 percent.  Sec. Azar claims these price controls “will save $17 billion in Medicare drug spending over the next five years.”  

Price controls would save the government money, at least initially. But the cuts to research funding would make it much harder for scientists to discover the cures of tomorrow. 

Drug research is ludicrously expensive and fraught with pitfalls. Most research projects fail in the lab. And roughly nine in ten experimental drugs that emerge from the lab and enter human trials fail to gain FDA approval. This high failure rate explains why it takes almost $3 billion to develop just one drug.  

Unlike most European nations, which impose strict price controls on medicines, the United States has a relatively free market for drugs. The ability to earn a sizeable return on successful drugs explains why a majority of world’s new drugs are invented in America. America’s researchers are currently developing more than 3,000 new medicines. 

Price controls would halt this medical progress. They’d make it nearly impossible for research companies to earn a return on their initial investments. As a result, the investors who currently fund drug research would redirect their capital to other business opportunities that offer better returns. 

Consider how price controls have wrecked drug development in Europe. In the 1970s, more than 55 percent of all new drugs were developed in Europe. Just 31 percent were developed in America. 

Now, those statistics have reversed, largely due to Europe’s ever-stricter price controls, which have made America ever-more attractive for drug researchers. From 2001 to 2010, the United States generated more than half of all new medicines developed globally; Europe accounted for just one-third. 

Medical breakthroughs could save patients, and the government, billions of dollars by preventing or curing chronic disease. Approximately 1,500 innovative treatments targeting Alzheimer’s, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke are currently in development. If researchers produced one successful treatment that delayed the onset of Alzheimer’s by five years, the government could save over $200 billion annually by 2050.  

American patients have some of the best health outcomes in the world precisely because we’ve avoided the pitfalls of socialist price controls. 

Peter J. Pitts, a former FDA Associate Commissioner, is President of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest and a Visiting Professor at the University of Paris Descartes Medical School.

The Ventura Council for Seniors (VCS), formerly the Ventura Council on Aging, formed in 1975, is designated by the Ventura City Council as the representative organization of all seniors (50 and over) in the City of Ventura. The VCS board is comprised of senior volunteers who reside in the city, along with a non-voting City liaison appointed by the Parks, Recreation, and Community Partnerships Department. This group meets quarterly to consider and gather input on local issues important to seniors. The VCS is responsible for making recommendations on these issues to the Ventura City Council.

Meetings

You are invited to participate in the Ventura Council for Seniors board meetings during the member/public communications segment of our agenda. Your concerns are our agenda!

Meetings are at the Ventura Avenue Adult Center, 550 N. Ventura Ave.

Contact 805-648-3035 or www.cityofventura.ca.gov/vcs for more information.
Or write to:
Ventura Council for Seniors
c/o City of Ventura
501 Poli St.
Ventura, CA 93001

On Tuesday, March 5, the Alzheimer’s Association released its 2019 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures report, which provides an in-depth look at the latest statistics and information on Alzheimer’s prevalence, incidence, mortality, costs of care and impact on caregivers across the country and in California. It also reveals an important health assessment seniors are not getting – one that is critical for early detection of Alzheimer’s and other dementias – routine cognitive assessments. You can see the full report at alz.org/facts.

One of the biggest takeaways from this year’s report is that the Alzheimer’s burden in this country and state continues to grow.

More people are living with disease – An estimated 5.8 million Americans have Alzheimer’s dementia in 2019, including 670,000 in California.

More family and friends are serving as Alzheimer’s caregivers – In California, 1.6 million caregivers provided a total of 1.8 billion hours of unpaid care, valued at a total of $23 billion.

Death rates from Alzheimer’s continue to climb – Deaths due to Alzheimer’s have increased an alarming 145 percent since 2000, while deaths for most other major diseases have decreased. Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S.

The costs are unsustainable – For the third consecutive year the cost of caring for individuals with Alzheimer’s is surpassing a quarter of a trillion dollars. The costs to care for people with Alzheimer’s are expected to amount to $4 billion in California in 2019 – and are only expected to grow by 32% percent over the next six years (by 2025).

Additionally, this year’s special report highlights an important disconnect: despite a strong belief among seniors that cognitive assessments are important and that early detection is beneficial, only half are being assessed for cognitive decline, and just one in seven seniors (16 percent) receive regular assessments for memory or thinking issues during routine health checkups, compared to other common evaluations like cholesterol (83 percent), hearing or vision (73 percent), and diabetes (66 percent).

The Alzheimer’s Association is the world’s leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer’s care, support and research. It is the largest nonprofit funder of Alzheimer’s research. The Association’s mission is to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected, and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health. Its vision is a world without Alzheimer’s. The Alzheimer’s Association California Central Chapter is headquartered in Santa Barbara with regional offices located in San Luis Obispo and Ventura Counties. Visit www.alz.org/CACentralCoast or call 805.892.4259 for more information.

Lori Sunshine has been working as a Professional Music Therapist since the first year that Board Certification was established, in 1983. She is currently working full time here in Ventura County: part time in private practice and part time with Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association.

On March 29, 2019, she received the Professional Practice Award from the American Music Therapy Association’s Western Region Chapter at their annual conference in Portland, OR. The award recognizes individual AMTA members who have made a significant contribution to the professional development of other members of the Association. Lori has offered dozens of Workshops and Seminars on the topic of Music Therapy and presented at many AMTA conferences during her 35 years of service. She has been a trusted educator and role model for those entering the field and is a passionate advocate for the benefits of Music Therapy in health care.

Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association has offered Music Therapy as part of their Hospice program since 2015. There is a wealth of research indicating that music is the last external sensation that registers with a dying patient. Music not only provides comfort to patients and their caregivers but can also evoke strong feelings in many patients, helping to alleviate pain, lower stress and even break through the isolation of dementia or memory loss. Livingston’s Music Therapists design sessions to meet their patient’s needs, which may include such activities as live performance (Lori plays harp, piano and guitar), singing, music listening, and compiling a mix of a patient’s favorite songs.

Livingston’s Music Therapy program employs two professional Music Therapists who provided 322 hours of music therapy to 78 patients on hospice care in 2018. Livingston is proud of Lori and her accomplishments and for making our program such a success. The program is partially funded through a grant from the Henry W. Bull Foundation. If you would like to learn more about Livingston and the Music Therapy program, please visit www.lmvna.org.

Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association is having Mother’s Day Luncheon as an opportunity to honor mothers — both living and deceased — for the love, understanding, and hope they bring to our families and to the community. This year they are delighted to honor Nan Drake and remember Helen A. Olson, for their commitment to helping others in Ventura County. Join us as we recognize the achievements of these two amazing women.

All proceeds from this event support quality health care, compassionate hospice and bereavement programs, and vital in-home care services. The luncheon is on April 26, from 11:30am – 2:00pm, $125 per person and will be held at the Las Posas Country Club, 955 Fairway Dr., Camarillo. For more information http://www.lmvna.org/mothersday/

by Linda Stalters and Raymond Y. Cho

Recently, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a troubling regulation that would weaken Medicare Part D, the federal program that helps 45 million American seniors and people with disabilities afford prescription drugs.

Part D is unique among government programs. The federal government allows people to purchase coverage from private insurers. The government subsidizes these plans but otherwise lets Medicare beneficiaries choose the coverage that’s best for them.

Congress did put some guardrails on insurers when it created Part D. It required Part D plans to cover all medications in six “protected classes” of drugs, including antipsychotics, antidepressants, and anticonvulsants. These medicines help treat people with schizophrenia and other psychiatric illnesses.

The proposed regulation would amend the six protected classes rule and allow insurers to exclude many drugs from Part D plans. Millions of Americans who rely on these crucial medications would be left to fend for themselves. Congress must halt this regulation now.

Our nation is struggling to provide care for people with schizophrenia and other psychosis-based illnesses. These patients die 10 to 28 years sooner than other Americans, and hundreds of thousands of people with serious psychiatric illnesses have been “re-institutionalized” in state prisons and county jails.  

CMS is advancing this rule as a cost-saving measure. But any short-term savings would be canceled out by increased spending on emergency rooms and the penal system, since more people with serious brain disorders will end up in jail.

In addition to antipsychotics and anticonvulsants, the six protected classes include immune-suppressants for treatment of transplant rejection, HIV/AIDs drugs, and cancer medications.

The regulation also authorizes insurers to use “fail first” policies on drugs in the six classes. These policies require patients to take cheaper, less effective medications first. Only when these drugs fail will the insurer allow doctors to prescribe newer, more effective drugs. 

If patients must endure successive failures on the least costly medications first and bear the associated increases in cost, what message does that send? In particular, for patients with serious psychiatric illnesses, “failure” means a harrowing descent into a psychotic crisis often ending in an emergency room admission or worse.

Individuals who suffer from schizophrenia-related brain illnesses are clinically complex patients, in part, because their treatment regimen includes multiple medications. Due to genetic differences across individuals, each antipsychotic and antidepressant medicine produces varied outcomes and side effects. 

It takes time to find the correct medication regimen. If insurers limit which medicines are available, patients will suffer.  

The CMS proposed rule affecting the six protected classes in Part D would not save money — rather, it would cost lives. We implore Congress to ensure the six protected classes remain protected. 

Linda Stalters, M.S.N. is the founder and CEO of the Schizophrenia and Related Disorders Alliance of America. Raymond Y. Cho, M.D., SARDAA’s board chairman, is a professor of psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine.