Earlier this month, the Supreme Court of Georgia issued a written opinion in a nursing home negligence case that required the court to determine if an arbitration agreement in a pre-admission contract was binding against the deceased resident’s estate in a subsequent wrongful death lawsuit. The court determined that due…
It is common for anyone seeking admission into a nursing home to be presented with an arbitration agreement prior to being admitted. These arbitration clauses are often hidden in large paragraphs of small print and are easy to overlook. However, once signed, arbitration clauses often waive important rights and can have a…
Late last month, one lawmaker introduced the Protecting Access to Care Act, which, among other things, would limit certain damages awards to the victims of nursing home abuse and neglect. While the Act does not mention nursing home victims specifically, the broad changes proposed by the Act would, in effect,…
A family’s worst nightmare may be that their loved one is being abused in a long-term care facility, but neglect is another form of mistreatment, and can also have devastating consequences. Neglect is the failure to care for a person in a manner that would avoid harm and pain, or the failure…
Despite the fact that sexual assaults occur in nursing homes across the country on a routine basis, claims of sexual abuse are consistently too slow to be reported to authorities or investigated by nursing homes when claims are made by residents. According to an in-depth investigation conducted by CNN, most…
In all personal injury cases, both the plaintiff and the defendant must exchange certain information and documents with each other that they plan to use at trial or that may be helpful for the other side in proving or defending against the case. This is called pre-trial discovery. Often, there is…
Nursing homes and other long-term care facilities are charged with caring for those who are not able to fully care for themselves. The duty that a nursing home owes to its residents is a broad one, ranging from providing residents with assistance in completing daily tasks to ensuring their physical…
Over the past few decades, arbitration clauses have become ubiquitous in the contracts that residents (or their family members) must sign prior to being admitted into the nursing home. These arbitration clauses may act to prevent a nursing home resident or their family from pursuing any legal action in the court…
Earlier this month, the family of a nursing home resident who allegedly was tied to a wheelchair and given medication without her permission filed a lawsuit against the nurses as well as the nursing home, seeking $17 million in compensation. According to a local news report covering the recently filed…
According to a report that has been recently published by a local news source, several residents at a nursing home appear to have been victimized by acts of physical abuse committed by nursing home staff. Some of the abuse was witnessed by other residents or staff, but it had not been…