Nursing Home

Some view time as a constant companion that provides them the opportunity to accomplish their goals and realize their dreams.  Others see time as a predator that stalks them throughout their lives.  Whether time is considered a friend or foe, it is historically and universally understood that it is infinite, moved rapidly, and the less we have, the more we should appreciate it.  Perhaps that is why Sophocles wrote, “Nobody loves life like him who is growing old.”

Because of our appreciation for life, we aspire to live longer.  Most of our medical research is only a massive effort to prolong life.  And to a great extent, we are succeeding.

For all of us, longevity exacts a toll of varying degrees.  Some may lose their physical abilities, while others may lose their mental faculties.  For many of us, when we obtain our goal of a long life, our final option becomes getting assistance from a nursing home.  Although we might be blessed with a loving and caring family, the necessary and time-consuming care requires a trained staff who will be able to meet the unique needs of the elderly.

Because people are living longer, nursing homes and adult congregate living facilities have proliferated... ...read full post

As many of you know, there is a battle raging in Tallahassee regarding long-term care of the elderly. In what is expected to be the most volatile issue of this legislative session, Governor Bush and some legislators are pushing to limit the number of lawsuits and damages awarded. A bill has been recently introduced that would cap punitive damages and curb or eliminate the current state law that requires nursing homes that lose cases to pay their opponent’s legal fees.

Advocates for the elderly, including trial lawyers, contend that simply eliminating nursing home suits but not resolving the serious problems of long-term care, leaves Florida’s oldest residents even more at risk of injury or death.

Although the nursing home industry claims that it is being run our of business by a flood of frivolous lawsuits, a four-month investigation by the Orlando Sentinel and South Florida Sun Sentinel found a vast majority of the lawsuits in central and south Florida were meritorious. The investigation revealed that nursing home residents are being sexually assaulted, physically abused by staff, neglected and provided with improper medical treatment. Nearly half of the suits claimed that the residents died due... ...read full post