Nursing homes, stung by some big jury verdicts in the late 1990s, have been pushing residents to waive their rights to sue and arbitrate disputes instead. Now the average cost per claim against nursing homes is falling, but some critics are suggesting the industry takes it too far in some cases, the WSJ reports. In one jury case, $83 million was awarded in the death of a Texas woman with infected bedsores. The judgment, later lowered to $56 million, was one of several that prompted some nursing homes to start having new residents sign contracts agreeing to take any future disputes to arbitration, rather than to court. Arbitrators are seen as less likely than juries to award large punitive damages. But the agreements are sometimes signed by residents who suffer from frequent confusion. Some patients “really are not in an appropriate state of mind to evaluate an agreement like an arbitration clause,” Eric Tuchmann, general counsel for the American Arbitration Association, tells the WSJ. The group, which is the largest provider of arbitration services, discourages agreements that require arbitration in nursing home cases. This week, two senators introduced a bill that would prohibit nursing homes from using contracts that require residents to agree, before any dispute arises, to waive their right to sue.
Please click on the link below to read the Wall Street Journal article:
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/04/11/nursing-homes-push-arbitration-reduce-lawsuits/?mod=WSJBlog
For more information on defending medical malpractice, nursing home and general liability matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at Citron & Associates, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.
