‘New normal’ is terribly cruel to our elderly, ill

There is nothing normal about the state we’re in, as evidenced by the current cruel and unusual treatment of our elderly and sick.

Our estate planning office deals with grieving clients on a daily basis. In the past few months, we have witnessed:

■ An elderly mother in a facility die of loneliness;

■ A distraught wife unable to see her husband of 60 years while he lay in the hospital with a lifethreatening illness, not COVID;

■ A mother unable to attend a doctor’s appointment for her braindamaged son;

■ Parents unable to see their premature baby for more than a couple of hours, and even then, not together;

■ Multiple individuals in the hospital from heart attacks with prognoses unknown to family members;

■ Families suffering while their loved ones die from cancer, alone; and

■ Too many other similar cases that we can’t keep track of them all.

We have lost sight of humanity when we allow many to suffer to protect a few. The cruel and unusual treatment of our elderly and sick is inhumane. What’s the point of trying to save lives if we are destroying so many in the process?

We need immediate changes. We need to allow family members to visit with their loved ones in longterm care facilities. Our elderly and frail need the touch of their loved ones to survive. Besides, how else can we ensure that our elderly are getting treated properly?

Hospitals need to allow family members access to their loved ones. This should be nonnegotiable. There are people not going to the hospital right now even if they should, because they and their families have no idea what’s going on once those hospital doors close.

Finally, I’m waiting for the backlash from parents when it sinks in that they will not be allowed access to the schools where their minor children are. There will be no visitation, and thus there will be no accountability.

Access has been denied to the elderly, the sick, and now the children. Is everyone OK with this?