Nursing home abuse and neglect is a serious problem that affects many senior citizens who may suffer serious injury or even wrongful death. Nursing home residents and their families have been fighting back in many states against abusive treatment and substandard care that often rises to appalling levels. There have been record verdicts against nursing homes during the last several years including judgments of tens of millions of dollars in punitive damages. The threat of litigation and massive verdicts provide strong incentive for nursing homes to correct understaffing, hiring and supervision practices that result in substandard care for seniors. Unfortunately, this incentive is substantially diminished in Mississippi because many Mississippi nursing homes fail to carry adequate liability coverage.
Mississippi nursing homes lack the same deterrent to negligent or substandard care because when nursing homes are hit by massive judgments they can simply declare bankruptcy to avoid paying a judgment. This also impacts settlement negotiations because attorneys that represent nursing homes in personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits in Mississippi know that if their client is hit with a substantial judgment that they can simply bankrupt the judgment. Because many nursing homes lack insurance to cover a Mississippi personal injury judgment, it is important to work with an experienced Mississippi nursing home abuse law firm that has experience with litigating nursing home lawsuits in Mississippi. At Barrett Law, we carefully evaluate nursing home abuse and neglect to identify all parties that may share liability so that we can maximize the available insurance and resources to recover compensation for our clients.
While a proposal last year would have made it mandatory that Mississippi nursing homes carry a minimum of $500,000 in liability insurance coverage, this proposal was successfully opposed by the nursing home industry. While virtually all non-profit or government run nursing homes in Mississippi have liability coverage, there are dozens of for profit nursing home that have no liability insurance. This is a very important issue because it can directly impact the quality of care in a Mississippi nursing home. While personal injury lawsuits are intended to compensate victims for injuries and loss, they also serve a crucial role of holding wrongdoers accountable and creating incentives for businesses like nursing homes to establish procedures and policies that protect residents from accidental injury or intentional abuse or neglect. If you are considering entrusting a Mississippi nursing home with the care of a loved one, it is important to check whether the facility carries liability insurance.
If your loved one is the victim of physical, emotional or financial abuse or serious neglect in a Mississippi nursing home, an experienced nursing home attorney at Barrett Law has been representing injury victims in Mississippi for over 75 years. We provide diligent legal representation and impassioned advocacy so we invite you to call us today at 662-834-2376 to learn how we can help.
