nursing home negligence attorney

Published on: May 25, 2016

Nursing Home Arbitration Agreements: House Dems Propose Overhaul

Nursing home arbitration agreements – which have become mandatory for admission for many facilities across the nation – restrict patients’ access to the court system in the event of disputes arising as a result of poor care or criminal acts. They are a serious problem, as they serve to curtail the damage awards patients and their loved ones might otherwise receive.

Now, they are a topic of discussion among Congressional leaders in the House of Representatives. In a recent session, a number of Democratic leaders implored their colleagues for a solution that would overhaul this private system of justice that often favors the nursing home. The problem is arbitrators generally consider the nursing home their clients.

Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), asked his colleagues to pass a bill he had recently introduced that would prohibit firms from pushing civil rights lawsuits (including nursing home abuse lawsuits, employment discrimination lawsuits and others) into an arbitration forum. Johnson said arbitration clauses are especially damaging for women, minorities and vulnerable populations, such as those in nursing homes. Continue reading →

Published on: March 21, 2016

$1 Million Nursing Home Wrongful Death Settlement

By Dean Freeman

The family of an 87-year-old California woman wanted to ensure she was taken care of. That’s why they invested in one of the best regional facilities money could buy for her elder age care. And yet, she still succumbed to one of the most unnecessary and painful forms of death: Complication from pressure ulcers, also known as bedsores.

Her untimely death, according to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, spurred a wrongful death lawsuit against the facility that recently resulted in a $1 million settlement.

Medical records indicated the woman died from sepsis after nursing home staffers allegedly erred in treating a pressure ulcer on her back. Proper care was not received until the sore became heavily infected, at which point it was too late to reverse the effects. Continue reading →

Published on: July 10, 2015

Morrow v. Fundamental Long-Term Care – Nursing Home Shower Injury

By Dean Freeman

A lawsuit alleging nursing home injury sustained to a patient who was dropped while being assisted into the shower was weighed recently by the South Carolina Supreme Court.

Specifically at issue in Morrow v. Fundamental Long-Term Care was whether plaintiffs – patient and his wife – could appeal an order bifurcating the trial into two – one against the nursing home itself and one against the corporate entity that owns the nursing home.

The court determined an appeals court did err in finding the order was not appealable. That doesn’t mean plaintiffs win their case. It just means they can return to the appeals court to ask for reconsideration on that specific issue.

Continue reading →