Virginia Medical Malpractice Blog - Williamson & Lavecchia, L.C.

Nursing Home Arbitration Act

Call this one small and overdue step to protect nursing home patients.  The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the Fairness in Nursing Home Act.  If it becomes law, the Act will protect victims of nursing home abuse and neglect from losing their right to trial by jury.  I call this a small step because the Act still has a long way to go before becoming law.

As background, when a patient is admitted to a nursing home they are usually handed a stack of papers to sign.  Some are innocuous forms stating food, social and other preferences.  Yet lost in the stack is often an admission agreement where the resident gives up the right to trial by jury in a court room and agrees that no matter how badly he or she is harmed that no more than $50,000 can be recovered.  Instead, the resident is "agreeing" and bound to have his or her legal rights resolved by an arbitrator who may be hand picked by the nursing home and is biased against nursing home patients. 

This is a practice that has to stop and that's what the Fairness in Nursing Home Act will accomplish if passed. 

In the meantime, what can you do to protect yourself from the abusive practice of requiring a nursing home patient to give up his or her rights?  At the time of admission, read the agreement carefully and if possible insist on removing the arbitration provision.  That may not be possible, so your second option in Virginia is to contact an attorney immediately after a nursing home patient has been injured or killed by nursing home malpractice.  Virginia malpractice law allows a patient to opt out of arbitration agreements only if done so in writing within 60 days after the termination of health care by the nursing home.  In other words time is of the essence.

At Williamson & Lavecchia, L.C. we have years of experience representing victims of nursing home malpractice and we have devoted a separate website to the rights of nursing home and assisted living patients: www.virginia-elder-abuse-law.com.

If you or a loved one has been injured by nursing home malpractice, please contact us by email or call us at (804) 288-1661 to discuss your legal rights. 

Regards,

Joshua Silverman