Allow Behr family freedom to visit their dying father

My mother and father are resident at Tigh Na Muirn care home, Monifieth, Scotland. They have lived there for close to two years. Last year, following repeated visible injury, (a black eye, a gash on the side of the head, a hospital admission for injury folowing yet another fall), it arose that the Doctor looking after my parents had been prescribing SSRI antidepressants against my parents knowledge and against their will. The Alzheimers society does not recommend the use of SSRIs in care homes for this very reason.

We naturally complained about this unacceptable position, and requested further information. Why had they been prescribed these dangerous drugs? What were their efficacy? How long would they be prescribed? The more answers we sought, the more extensive was the brick wall we were met with.

Soon after followed completely fabricated accounts of aggression by me in the home. Several times the home attempted to entrap my wife and I with completely false allegations. As we complained against this behaviour, on top of the unrequested and unneccessary use of SSRI antidepressants we were banned from all contact with my parents. (Including telephone calls). We were informed at the time this ban would be temporary, although it is now apparent the home are treating it as permanent. This means as far as Tigh Na Muirn are concerned that we will never be granted access to see my parents again.

It has now been five months since any of us had contact with my 89 year old parents. We have already missed a Christmas, a New Year, an anniversary and my mother's 89th. birthday. We are about to miss mother's day and my father's 90th. birthday. These are priceless moments we will never get back. We were informed by solicitor's letter that my father has been severely ill and may now be dying. He had been seriously ill for six weeks prior to us receiving the letter, including a hospitalization - no one bothered to tell us anything. All attempts to gain access to see him whiile there is still time have only been met with further resistance and further fabricated claims that we have been aggressive in the home. Claims originally were focussed on me, they now include my wife.

While it may be inconvenient for Tigh Na Muirn care home to have the practice of drugging the elderly in it's care questioned, it has been devastating for all of us to have had our human rights trampled on and been denied the most basic of human rights, that of family contact with loved ones.

Tigh Na Muirn's continued insistance that we be denied access to visit with my dying father while we still have time can only be described as disgusting and most improper by anyones standards.

Please help us to gain access to visit my poor parents while we have time left by signing this petition. You will also be sending a clear message that it is not only okay to question the use of dangerous drugs on our elderly in care, it also is a basic human right.

Thank you.

Henryk Behr.