The American jury is at the heart of the justice system. The right to a jury trial is a constitutional right. But the GOP in Tennesse want to limit the amount a jury may award in cases involving the abuse and neglect of America's most vulnerable citizens. Arbitrary caps on damages do not work. If they want to prevent lawsuits, they should require better care including increasing staffing and training. Advocates for the elderly told a special committee studying the effects of litigation on the nursing home industry that better care would prevent lawsuits.
The main discussion at the committe meeting was on whether caps should be placed on damages in lawsuits against nursing homes. Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey has made malpractice caps for nursing homes part of his legislative agenda for the year. The Republican said limiting damages is necessary because he believes the industry is being targeted by lawyers.
But Daniel Clayton, president of the Tennessee Association of Justice, told the committee that the focus should be on improvement of care rather than capping damages. "If care is good, lawsuits will go down," Clayton said. "If care is bad, lawsuits will go up." Last month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released a report that ranked Tennessee's nursing homes worst in the nation and gave 30 percent of them the worst rating possible. Why would you provide immunity to an industry that is hurting your voters and constituents?
The ratings are based on state inspections, staffing levels and quality measures, such as the percentage of residents with pressure sores, urinary tract infections and declining mobility. Each nursing home was given an overall score of one to five stars, with five stars being the best. The ratings are based on as much as three years of data, ending in November 2008.
Only Louisiana and Georgia ranked lower than Tennessee in the report, which evaluated 16,000 nursing homes nationwide.
Patrick Willard, AARP Tennessee's advocacy director, said his group is studying litigation of nursing homes and preliminary results show the state ranks below the national level when it comes to staffing at nursing homes. "If your staffing level is below the national level, you're more than likely to be sued," he said.
Committee member Charles Curtiss agreed. The Sparta Democrat said his mother has been in two nursing homes, and he noticed their staffing was not up to standard. "I'm not for saying we're going to cap liability, and then let the service be exactly as it is today," Curtiss said. "If they're going to give the operators a break, then certainly we've got to get something for those people who are in the nursing homes, and that would have to be better care."
Rep. Henry Fincher said he's against capping damages, and shows his disdain for the idea in calling it "the kill old people act." "I don't think that limiting liability is the way to make sure that people are treated better," said the Cookeville Democrat.
"If you take away people's chance to recover damages for wrong things done to them, you're protecting the wrongdoer. It turns the whole idea of responsibility on its head."
