Suppose a nursing home has a rogue employee who abuses
elderly patients by intentionally overdosing them, hitting a difficult patient, giving wet sponge baths near a person's mouth to create inhalation of water (leading to deadly pneumonia)—or
simply being careless to the point where a patient falls and suffers a
debilitating injury.
Over the past 15 years or so, operators of nursing homes
have required patients (and their power-of-attorney guardians) to waive the
right to sue for negligence, wrongful death and other claims. Instead, any
claim must be arbitrated. That means the dispute is heard by a private judge,
sometimes selected by the nursing home—and often the arbitration agreement
sharply limits damages that an arbitrator can order.
This masquerades as a “voluntary” type of dispute resolution—but
no more.
President Obama’s Human Services Department agency put
forward rules that bar any nursing home that receives federal funding from
requiring that its residents resolve any disputes in arbitration, instead of
court.
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