October 14, 2011
Sen. Cullen Co-Authors Senior Citizen Protection Act
Sen. Tim Cullen is co-authoring legislation to restore rights of senior citizens who may have been harmed due to negligent nursing home care.
“Legislation that was enacted earlier this year made it harder for nursing home patients to be compensated for injuries sustained while under the care of others. I voted against that legislation, and now I am supporting this bill, which will restore rights that nursing home patients lost,” Cullen said.
The Senior Citizen Protection Act, introduced this week, does the following:
- Removes caps on compensation for victims of nursing home abuse and neglect. Nursing home residents do not have jobs, so they cannot sue for lost income. Collecting non-economic damages is the only way for victims to be compensated.
- Prohibits a long-term care facility from requiring a nursing home resident to agree to arbitration to settle claims of abuse or neglect. Such clauses in contracts limit a resident’s right to sue in a court of law.
- Restores a patient’s access to incident and investigation reports when negligence is alleged. The bill make this evidence available again to judges, juries, and families who are searching for the truth and trying to determine if a resident was abused or neglected. These documents would be admissible in court for all injured patients, not just nursing home patients.
“Nursing home residents and hospital patients are not always able to speak up for themselves and describe what happened,” Cullen said. “That is why the reports are so important and should remain accessible to the injured person.”