Our Atlanta based attorneys have and are litigating cases against nursing homes involving almost unspeakable abuses of elderly and vulnerable patients. These civil suits help uncover abuses by nursing home and insurance companies, according to a new report by the American Association for Justice.
\n\u201cWhere regulatory and legislative bodies have been unable to cope with this distressing rise of neglect and abuse of our elderly, the civil justice system has stepped into the breach,\u201d said the AAJ President, in a statement accompanying the release of the report, \u201cStanding Up For Seniors: How the Civil Justice System Protects Elderly Americans.\u201d
\nAccording to the report, the vast majority of the nursing facilities that house more than 1.5 million elderly Americans are owned by private corporate chains, making it difficult for consumers to hold them accountable for abuse.
\nThe report also asserts that insurance companies are more likely to take advantage of older patients with practices like miscalculating mortality rates, denying claims and cutting off benefits for needed treatments.
\nThe report outlines how, through litigation, trial attorneys across the country have uncovered evidence of corporate programs aimed at terminating seniors\u2019 benefits as well as evidence of nursing home abuse and neglect.
\nThe report warns that efforts to combat nursing home abuses through civil suits are hampered by the use of mandatory arbitration clauses in nursing home and insurance contracts.<\/p>\n