Yeah this article is a bit dramatic. As evil as the rich people who try to recover debts may be, children are not legally responsible for their parent's debts.
That is so ridiculous. You can be born into this world without your decision or input. Your parents made that choice. Your parents can also choose to kick you out right at 18, after fulfilling their legal obligation.
Then, down the line, you can be held responsible for potentially even more than 18 years of more expensive care? Absolutely unfair.
Real life can be very dramatic and it doesn't make it less true to the people involved. Many people don't know to question the debtors, get overwhelmed, get bullied, and don't have the energy or resources to fight the onslaught of aggressive communications and serious looking mail they receive from these predators.
I was aware of filial support laws but it seems like they're only applied this aggressively in Pennsylvania? Generally they're used to keep children from looting grandma's bank account and then sending her to a nursing home on the government's dime--which seems reasonable to me.