Nursing home negligence occurs when homes neglect the very residents they are supposed to protect. One of the more common injuries resulting from this is pressure ulcers, or as they are called now “pressure injuries,” according to the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel Pressure Injury Staging System. This is more than just a change in [...]
In most fields and areas of life, there are consequences for failing to live up to basic standards. In nursing homes though, this is often not the case. Nursing homes are given inspections or surveys, in order to ensure they are complying with basic standards necessary for the welfare of their residents. However, historically facilities [...]
Families go to nursing homes during some of their most vulnerable times. You would hope in their time of need, that the home would show compassion and worry solely about best meeting the needs of their new-found resident. Unfortunately, many homes have other things on their mind when admitting the loved one of an emotionally [...]
Missouri Omnibus Nursing Home Act--how to get around damage caps, how the statute allows for punitive damages and attorney fees. No family wants to file a nursing home negligence claim. That is the thing that most people will never understand. There are around 15,700 nursing home and 1.4 million residents in nursing home in [...]
ADVANTAGES OF FEDERAL COURT IN KANSAS NURSING HOME CASES In an ideal world, justice would be equally and readily available no matter where a person is injured. This is especially true in nursing home abuse cases. Families place their loved ones in nursing homes so they can receive the care they need and deserve. It [...]
In many cases it is very advantageous to get Kansas nursing home cases into Federal Court. Federal Court offers the ability to allege punitive damages in the complaint and entitles plaintiffs to a jury trial on punitive damages. Neither of these remedies are available at a state level. However, getting into federal court requires that [...]
As people grow older, their needs often rise. Eventually their families cannot provide adequate care and seek outside help. Nursing homes are supposed to provide this care, but families often are unable to find the right home for their loved one. Fortunately, the Nursing Home Compare Tool on the Medicare website[1] can be very helpful [...]
Arbitration is supposed to be a way for two parties in a dispute to resolve the issue without going to court. It was designed to be optional and used when beneficial to both parties. Unfortunately, forced arbitration clauses are becoming too common in the healthcare industry. This is particularly true of nursing homes and long [...]
In nursing home litigation, it is not always possible to obtain all the information necessary or desired from the nursing home itself. Fortunately other ways of obtaining this information exists. Missouri allows for Sunshine Requests and Kansas has open records requests. These requests serve to allow plaintiffs to discover the information they need. This includes [...]
Nursing home surveys can be very helpful to plaintiffs in a nursing home negligence case. The surveys are done by a state agency to ensure that the nursing home is maintaining a safe and caring environment for its elder residents. If a nursing home is found to have violations, they may either appeal the results [...]
