Limits on Damages in Lawsuits Against Nursing Homes

I read an article recently about attempts to limit damages in lawsuits against nursing homes in Tennessee.  Maryland has had these limits in all personal injury cases for many years.  The nursing home industry argues that these limits are necessary because the cost of defending "frivolous" lawsuits takes away resources that would otherwise go to patient care.  Who are they kidding?  One problem with this argument is that the nursing home industry defines all lawsuits as "frivolous", even when patients have suffered terrible injuries or death due to neglect.  In my experience representing patients who have been injured by substandard care in nursing homes, the nursing home industry will readily pay tens of thousands of dollars to defend cases where their negligence is clear and, in the end, pay significant amounts in a settlement or verdict.  That just does not make sense.  Wouldn't that money be better spent on hiring more staff to care for the patients and training the staff already there?
 
Another problem with the industry's argument is that the facts do not support it.  Take Maryland as an example.  We have had limits on damages in injury cases for over 2 decades.  Has this improved the care in nursing homes?  Looking at the Medicare Nursing Home Compare website you would have to say NO.  There are a significant number of nursing homes in Maryland rated "below average" and "much below average", especially the corporate homes such as Manor Care and Future Care.  Apparently the savings from limited damages are not being spent to improve patient care.  For more information on nursing home lawsuits visit my website.