Independent Physician's Review Needed for Casey Kasem

By City News Service

A judge took no action Tuesday in the family drama surrounding ailing radio legend Casey Kasem, as his wife fights efforts by three of Kasem's children by another woman to establish a conservatorship over the 81-year-old known for the national syndicated show "American Top 40."

Recent events associated with the dispute includes protests organized by the Kasem children outside Jean and Casey's Holmby Hills home.

Kasem, who has been married to wife Jean since 1980, has advanced Parkinson's disease, and the feud between his wife and his children -- by Kasem's first wife, Linda Myers -- has escalated into demonstrations in front of Kasem's home, where the children have claimed Jean Kasem has been preventing them from visiting their father.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Roy Paul said he would need more information about the situation before taking any action and set a Nov. 19 hearing to consider a conservatorship petition by Julie, Kerri and Mike Kasem. Paul asked for an independent evaluation of Kasem by a physician agreed upon by all parties, as well as a report by a probate investigator.

Samuel Ingham, Kasem's court-appointed attorney, said he needed more time to review two competing health care directives in which both sides claim to have power-of-attorney to make medical decisions on behalf of Kasem.

Ingham said he was under the impression that Kasem is getting proper care but did not have complete details of his condition.

According to court papers filed Oct. 7 by Julie Kasem and husband Dr. Jamil Aboulhosn, Kasem "has been isolated from his daughters, friends and other family by Mrs. Kasem."

The siblings sent an email to Jean Kasem on Oct. 3, seeking information about the doctor caring for him, but she failed to respond, the petitioners allege.

Julie Kasem is a physician assistant, and Aboulhosn is an associate professor at UCLA Medical School.

Attorney Marshall Grossman, on behalf, of Jean Kasem, called the conservatorship petition a "sham" and urged Paul to dismiss it outright. He said Kasem has already been evaluated by social workers who found his current care to be sufficient. He said the petitioners' allegations of elder abuse by Jean Kasem are unfounded.

"Shame on them, shame on them," Grossman said.