Should the elderly be protected from their bad decision making?
Thousands of older people are filing lawsuits against companies and salespeople who they believe have taken advantage of them. Although the elderly filing suit are not suffering from Alzheimer’s or dementia, they believe that old age has caused their judgment to become impaired. Because of this impairment, the government should step in to protect them from the results of their bad decision making. At the same time, they do not wish to give up their right to make decisions.
I am ambivalent about this issue. I strongly feel that just as we protect children from being preyed upon, we should do the same for older adults. At the same time I am afraid that taking this step might be the first step towards totally disenfranchising the elderly.
http://www.theledger.com/article/20071224/ZNYT01/712240475/1001/BUSINESS
