Activists Balk as Texas Nursing Homes Seek Lawsuit Award Limit
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Texas nursing homes, reeling from a growing number of personal injury lawsuits, are turning to state legislators to protect them from massive court damages they say threaten to bankrupt the industry. Nursing home operators say legislation would be their only defense against a litigation assault that has sparked a steep jump in medical liability insurance costs. “Everything is off the charts,” said Tim Graves, president of the Texas Health Care Association, a trade group that represents for-profit nursing homes. But lawyers and advocates for the elderly say nursing homes should improve care instead of fighting wrongful death and injury lawsuits. The industry includes operators “that hurt and kill people every day,” said H. Dustin Fillmore III, a Fort Worth attorney who recently won a $313 million judgment against a nursing home in a wrongful death lawsuit. “These people do not need any more protection from accountability than a drunk driver or a serial rapist,” he said. Jeffrey Rasansky, a Dallas attorney who specializes in suing nursing homes, said the lawsuits aren’t the problem. “If they were providing better health care, we wouldn’t be in court in the first place,” he said. Many nursing home operators say they are easy targets for unscrupulous lawyers because… Source : accessmylibrary.com |