Personal Injury Law

Nursing Home Lawsuit Yields Large Settlement for Elderly Patients

By guest-writer

In a bittersweet victory for thousands of patients and their families, a California nursing home recently agreed to settle a lawsuit for $50 million.

A large group of current and former patients filed a personal injury lawsuit against Skilled Healthcare Group, based in Orange County. The company had been under fire after accusations that it severely understaffed its 22 nursing homes in California.

California state law requires that nursing homes maintain an average amount of 3.2 nursing hours per patient per day. The jury found that the healthcare business had failed to meet this benchmark.

The settlement stipulates that Skilled Healthcare must have an independent supervisor keep track of its nurse staffing levels for all 22 California locations for at least two years.

Unfortunately for the plaintiffs, the $50 million award pales in comparison to the original $677 million awarded to the plaintiffs by the Humboldt County Superior Court jury.

Sources indicate that the $677 million awarded this July by the jury is the largest jury verdict issued in the country in 2010.

The settlement money will have to be distributed among the estimated 32,000 patients included in the massive class-action lawsuit.

The attorney for the plaintiffs said in a released statement that, “Although the monetary amount of the settlement is less than the verdict, we are satisfied that it reflects the best possible recovery for our clients taking into consideration the uncertainty, risks and delays associated with proceeding to judgment.”

Sadly, nursing home abuse is fairly widespread across the country. According to the National Center on Elderly Abuse (NCEA), statistics on elderly abuse are difficult to gather because many instances of abuse go unreported.

Nevertheless, the NCEA estimates that between 1 and 2 million elderly Americans have been injured or mistreated by someone who is in charge of their care or protection.

Further, roughly 2 to 10 percent of the elderly population has suffered from abuse, depending on the particular survey used. Sadly, less than 10 percent of these incidents are reported to the proper authorities.

In addition to physical and mental abuse, elderly individuals also experience high rates of financial exploitation. Sources indicate that nearly 5 million senior citizens are swindled to some degree every year. Other common forms of elderly abuse include neglect abandonment.

Of course, there are plenty of nursing homes that provide needed care to elderly Americans. However, the proliferation of thousands of such facilities across the country has led to a rising number of patient complaints.

If you or a loved one has experienced a personal injury as a result of poor treatment at an elderly health center, contact a local personal injury lawyer today to learn more about your legal rights.

Full post as published by The Injury Blog on September 14, 2010 (boomark / email).