The Supreme Court of the United States has spoken on nursing home resident rights. In a landmark decision, it has affirmed the right of nursing-home residents to sue for violations of their dignity and freedom under federal law. The case was brought by Ivanka Talevski, whose father Gorgi suffered from…
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently addressed whether a federal district court improperly dismissed a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Section 1983) claim premised upon a skilled nursing home resident’s complaint that he was chemically restrained and later transferred and discharged without timely notice in violation of the Federal Nursing…
Non-signatories to nursing home contracts with arbitration clauses that seek to compel arbitration based upon equitable estoppel must satisfy Indiana’s established elements of equitable estoppel, the Indiana Supreme Court recently held in Doe v. Carmel Operator, LLC. As part of the admission of 77-year-old Jane Doe II (“Jane”) to Carmel…
Jacqueline McGuire was a resident of Henderson County Healthcare Corporation’s Redbanks Skilled Nursing Facility in Henderson Kentucky. After McGuire suffered bedsores and multiple injuries while at Redbanks, McGuire was transferred to another nursing home facility where she ultimately died. McGuire’s brother, as administrator of her estate, filed a nursing home…
Depending on the circumstances surrounding a fatality caused by another’s negligence, Indiana statutes may place limits on the monetary value of the human life taken when it comes to compensating the remaining family members for their loss. Known as a “damage cap,” such limits may be triggered by the status…
The Indiana Court of Appeals recently held a nursing home, qualified under the Indiana Medical Malpractice Act, had relinquished its right to protections afforded by the Act to medical malpractice defendants by contracting for claims against it to be resolved exclusively by arbitration, such that the estate of a nursing…
In finding in favor of several healthcare providers in a medical malpractice case in Indiana, the Indiana Court of Appeals in Speaks v. Vishnuvardhan Rao reviewed numerous concepts applicable to medical malpractice claims in Indiana. Medical malpractice claimants in Indiana must prove that a healthcare provider owed the patient a…
Legislators in Indiana and Kentucky have enacted laws mandating medical review panels in cases where individuals allege they have been harmed by a healthcare provider’s negligence, commonly known as medical malpractice. Under legal challenge, Indiana found the legislation constitutional, whereas Kentucky did not. Long ago, prior to enacting this legislation,…
The Indiana Court of Appeals recently issued an opinion in Biedron v. Anonymous Physician 1 addressing the applicable statute of limitations in medical malpractice lawsuits in Indiana. Biedron involved three related medical malpractice claims, which were consolidated for the purposes of the appeal. Proposed complaints for medical malpractice were filed by…
It’s a fear that many people have – that they or their parents will end up in a nursing home unable to care for themselves and becoming overmedicated. The fact is that many nursing home residents are suffering from Alzheimer’s or some form of dementia which can make them aggressive…