News
Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act Passes Senate Judiciary Committee
Posted on Sep 12, 2008
In a small and long overdue step the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act. The Act has a long way to go before becoming law, but this is an important step.
Arbitration agreements unfairly deny victims of nursing home malpractice the right to have their case decided by a jury of their peers. Instead, nursing home arbitration agreements give nursing homes the right to hand pick an arbitrator, typically a lawyer or retired judge, to decide the facts and determine what if any recovery will be awarded. Even more concerning is that these arbitration agreements often contain caps on damages as low as $50,000 no matter how badly the nursing home patient is injured or even if the patient is killed by nursing home malpractice.
These arbitration agreements are almost never entered into truly voluntarily by the nursing home patient. Many nursing home patients are not capable of understanding the agreements due to declining health, recent surgery, or just from being overwhelmed by the trauma of moving into a nursing home. Also the nursing home admission process contains a daunting amount of paperwork. The arbitration agreement is often lost in a stack of papers and forms pertaining to dining preferences, visiting hours, laundry policies, activity schedules, etc. I have never heard of a nursing home taking the time to explain to the patient that he or she is giving up the valuable Constitutional right to trial by jury.
We are probably a long way to go before this important Act becomes law. In the meantime, Virginia has a 60 day opt out provision. In other words you can cancel a nursing home arbitration agreement within 60 days of leaving the nursing home under some circumstances. Therefore, time is of the essence and you should contact an experienced nursing home malpractice attorney as soon as possible if you or a loved one is a victim of nursing home malpractice.
Please call us at (804) 288-1661 or email us to discuss your legal right rights. Waiting could deny you justice!