Nashville Personal Injury Lawyer - Nursing Home & Elder Abuse

Tennessee's' "Kill Old People Cheap Act" Defeated For This Year

George Fusner — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:04:59 GMT

This morning the Tennessean reported that the bill pending in the legislature to cap damages for nursing home negligence failed in subcommittee last might. Amen. Why should a particular industry get special treatment when it injuries old and frail people? It should not.

Being held responsible for ones own actions is called personal responsibility. This is specially true when you are dealing with people who are so vunerable. I am responsible for my 88 year old Mother. Although her mind is still with her, she is very frail. She lives in an assisted living facility in Brentwood. Her care is excellent. I did a lot of research on various facilities before selecting Southland Place. There was a vast difference in staffing, cleanliness, attitude among other items. Cost did not seem to be a factor.

No industry or class of tortfeasors should be treated differently or given special privileges. One of the founding principals of this country was that all persons would be treated equal and bear responsibility for their own actions. The Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution provides for equal protection for all people. It states:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

How clear can it be? Juries do a wonderful job of making decisions. Trial by jury is guaranteed by the 7th Amendment to the US Constitution. Our Judges to a great job of overseeing the system. There are adequate laws in place if an error is committed. As they say "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Don't allow special interests to "Kill our old people cheap."

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by George Fusner

Most Nursing Homes Violate Federal Standards

Rob McKinney — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:22:25 GMT

More than 90 percent of U.S. nursing homes were cited for violating federal standards. The Inspector General of the Health and Human Services Department reports that for profit nursing homes have a higher percentage of violations than public nursing homes. the most common problems are related to improper storage and distribution of food , accident hazards ,and lack of services neceassry for the residents well being. You can go to the Medicare web site for more information on the nursing homes that fail to meet these standards of care. It appears that nursing homes cut costs on employees who can monitor patient care to make sure the elderly are feed and to prevent falls in the nursing home. Is a bailout next for the nursing home industry.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Rob McKinney

The Bryan Funeral Home and Vicarious Responsibility

Rob McKinney — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 10:45:27 GMT

I posted on a recent decision from the Tennessee Court of Appeals on the mishandling of a corpse and it has sparked several comments on the blog. Therefore , I thought I would follow up with a couple of observations. The folks at Bryan Funeral Home may be excellent people as reported on one of the posts. However, Tennessee as with most states has a legal principle called Vicarious Responsibility. Vicarious Responsibility means that Bryan Funeral Home is liable for the acts of Tri-State Crematorium whether Bryan Funeral Home did anything wrong or not. The true definition is that" a person who is authorized to act for another person or in place of anther person is an agent of that person". A principal can be held responsible for the acts or omissions of the principal's agent. Here , the funeral home may be liable for the negligent acts of Tri-State. Vicarious responsibility or imputed liability is an important thing to investigate in every accident or injury case.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Rob McKinney

Big Business Controls Justice in Tennessee

Rob McKinney — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 08:11:51 GMT

Big Business has taken over the court system. First , the nursing home industry is pushing for damage caps on nursing home lawsuits. The nursing home groups want to put a $ 500,000 monetary cap on nursing home lawsuits. This proposal comes when the nursing home care is at an alltime low in terms of quality patient care. Second , the Bush Adminstration is pushing for the appointment of a political hack as Judge in the Federal District Court here in Nashville. I am sure he is a fine man , but he has no trial experience . He has two qualifications .One , he worked for several Republican politicans. Two, he works for a private prison company that gets sued a lot. It appears that he has never set foot in the courtroom. How can someone run a trial if they have never been there before ? I just read the new John Grisham 's new book ,The Appeal. Now fiction becomes fact.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Rob McKinney

Arbitration Agreements Are on The Rise

Rob McKinney — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 12:56:23 GMT

Arbitration Agreements are the subject of much debate . They are commonly used in nursing home admissions contracts . When you sign the contract , you agree to arbitration if you later have a claim due to nursing home neglect or injuries that occur at the nursing home . Now these agreements are popping up everywhere . Recently my wife needed a new car . Inside the office doing the paperwork , the dealership asked us to sign an arbitration agreement to prevent us from going to court if a dispute arose . I refused to sign and stated if it was a dealbreaker I would go elsewhere . It was the first time anyone refused according to the dealership . I know it is not a big thing , but we have to make a stand to preserve our legal rights and our system of justice .

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Rob McKinney

Arbitration Clauses in Nursing Home Cases

Rob McKinney — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:06:23 GMT

Winston Churchill once said " The greatest gift the English people gave America was the right to a trial by jury ". Nursing home operators do not believe in this fundamental right . Nursing homes have been placing arbitration clauses in their contracts which prevents one from suing the nursing home if they are negligent . These arbitration clauses prevent the nursing homes from being held accountable when they are quilty of wrong doing. Now , you can help fix the problem . Please contact your Congressman are urge them to support the Arbitration Fairness Act of 2007 to help stop these abuses of mandatory arbitration clauses . If we do not act now , the court house door may be closed forever . The only way to stop nursing home abuse is with the power of the courts.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Nursing Home and Elder Abuse.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Rob McKinney

Arbitration Clauses in Nursing Home Cases(2)

Rob McKinney — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:06:23 GMT

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Rob McKinney

Nursing Home Safety Report

Rob McKinney — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 08:13:05 GMT

Over 1.5 million people live in one of 16,400 nursing homes during the year . Why is the Federal Government not cracking down on the on the homes that have a history of mistreating patients ? Congress enacted tough laws in 1987 to protect nursing home residents . However , the Department of Health and Human Services has failed to do their job . The New York Times reported that the department "fails to hold homes with a long history of harming residents accountable for the poor care provided ". Most nursing homes get most of their income from the Federal Government . The Bush Adminstration rarely uses its power to deny payments to these substandard nursing homes . It appears the government is letting the public down again . Who will watch these nursing homes and make them comply with the laws of this great country ?

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Rob McKinney

National HealthCare Corp. Ordered to Pay Millions

Rob McKinney — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 16:36:25 GMT

A Warren County jury in McMinnville , Tennessee awarded a 4.1 million dollar judgement on February 21 , 2007 againist National HealthCare Corp. The jury awarded the amount based upon a broken hip , bedsores , and other medical problems . One of the key issues in the case appeared to be one of understaffing of employees . Bedsores develop when a patient is not cared for properly . A policy is usually in place for a schedule in which the patient is turned regularly to prevent bedsores from occurring . It is the same story in most nursing home cases they put profits over people .

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Rob McKinney

Bed Rail Safety

Rob McKinney — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 17:00:31 GMT

Hospital bed safety is a huge concern of mine . Several years ago , I handled a product liabilty case againist Vail Bed Products .Vail ignored the FDA warnings and several children accross the country were trapped in the beds and were killed by mechanical asphyxiation . Due to my client and others accross the country the plant was shut down by U.S. Marshalls. It led me to be on the alert for bed safety for our elderly . Patients who have problems with memory , sleeping , uncontrolled body movement and those who get out of bed and walk unsafely without assistance , must carefully be assessed for the best ways to keep them from harm , such as falling . Over the next couple of weeks , I intend to focus on bed rail safety in my blog. Keep reading for more information .

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Rob McKinney