Several nursing homes around the country are trying to convince judges that arbitration is a “medical decision.” Why?
By making contract arbitration a medical decision, nursing home facilities would not be responsible for their abuses put upon their patients. Any abuses and injustices put upon these nursing home patients would be swept under the rug, unaccounted for and could not be taken to court with the rights and justices that the nursing home patients deserve.
By allowing arbitration to become a medical decision, nursing homes can force their patients to sign contracts that would allow the facility to reject any responsibility for abuses that occur while in the facilities care. If the arbitration does allow the right to a case hearing, the judges are chosen by the nursing home facility, right away giving the nursing home an advantage over its victims. Clearly, the nursing home can use these contracts to decrease responsibilities for mistakes and accidents they cause while additionally keeping more money from potential compensations in their pockets.
To force nursing home patients to agree to this arbitration is itself an injustice. Many of these patients have nowhere else to go, are in dire need for the care and sometimes have no choice but to follow the nursing homes arbitration agreement. Many of nursing home patients are mentally inapt or rely of guardians that are unaware of the consequences that can occur in these arbitrations. Additionally its been known for nursing homes to take advantage of the elderly in contract signing as a case described by Public Justice about how a nursing home made a patient sign a contract who was blind.
What to take from this information is to be prepared for the injustices that can occur on a loved one in a nursing home facility. Arbitration was made by the nursing homes to protect only the nursing homes. Don’t become a victim of the selfishness and apathy of nursing homes with arbitration. Make sure that your loved one is protected.
The information from this blog can be found from the following link:
http://publicjustice.net/content/countering-nursing-homes-bogus-argument-keep-negligence-hidden
