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As the baby boomer generation ages, our elderly population is growing by leaps and bounds. As a result, the need for strict regulation of nursing homes is going to become more and more important. Nursing home patient/ resident abuse and neglect is on the rise and the end is no where in sight, as the agencies entrusted to regulate these homes and protect perhaps the most vulnerable societal group are overloaded. Nursing home litigation has become a prevelant thing in the past few years, raising serious issues about the state most nursing homes are in. Most nursing homes are understaffed, which leads to problems with resident neglect. This website is designed to provide a variety of sources that would be useful in researching a nursing home abuse or neglect case. The statutes, both Georgia and Federal are helpful in determining the standard of care for nursing homes and whether such a standard was breached, specifically in the case of nursing home neglect cases. The case law in Georgia is very limited with regard to nursing home abuse and neglect cases because most nursing home cases settle. The Law Review articles and ALRs give you a good place to start when investigating a possible nursing home neglect or abuse case.
Federal statutes can be found in the United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.) and the United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.) . The United States Code can be accessed on the internet at the Legal Information Institute website or on Findlaw. The Code of Federal Regulations can be accessed on the internet at the GPO Access website or on Findlaw.
| 42 U.S.C.A. § 3058g | State Long Term Care Ombudsman Program |
| 42 U.S.C.A. § 1396r | Requirements for Nursing Facilities |
| 42 C.F.R. § 483.1 | Requirements for Long Term Care Facilities: Basis and Scope |
| 42 C.F.R. § 483.5 | Requirements for Long Term Care Facilities: Definitions |
| 42 C.F.R. § 483.10 | Requirements for Long Term Care Facilities: Level A Requirement: Resident Rights |
| 42 C.F.R. § 483.12 | Requirements for Long Term Care Facilities: Admission, Transfer and Discharge Rights |
| 42 C.F.R. § 483.13 | Requirements for Long Term Care Facilities: Resident Behavior and Facility Practices |
| 42 C.F.R. § 483.15 | Requirements for Long Term Care Facilities: Quality of Life |
| 42 C.F.R. § 483.20 | Requirements for Long Term Care Facilities: Resident Assessment |
| 42 C.F.R. § 483.25 | Requirements for Long Term Care Facilities: Quality of Care |
| 42 C.F.R. § 483.30 | Requirements for Long Term Care Facilities: Nursing Services |
| 42 C.F.R. § 483.35 | Requirements for Long Term Care Facilities: Dietary Services |
| 42 C.F.R. § 483.40 | Requirements for Long Term Care Facilities: Physician Services |
| 42 C.F.R. § 483.45 | Requirements for Long Term Care Facilities: Specialized Rehabilitation Services |
| 42 C.F.R. § 483.55 | Requirements for Long Term Care Facilities: Dental Services |
| 42 C.F.R. § 483.60 | Requirements for Long Term Care Facilities: Pharmacy Services |
| 42 C.F.R. § 483.65 | Requirements for Long Term Care Facilities: Infection Control |
| 42 C.F.R. § 483.70 | Requirements for Long Term Care Facilities: Physical Environment |
| 42 C.F.R. § 483.75 | Requirements for Long Term Care Facilities: Administration |
| Schenick v. Living Centers-East, Inc., et al., 917 F.Supp. 432 (E.D.La. 1996). | Allegations by survivor of nursing home patient that nursing home had breached contract to provide patient with reasonable and safe care and to treat patient with dignity and respect sounded in contract and not tort and were governed by ten-year prescriptive period; Louisiana statute which provides a one year prescriptive period for hospitals does not apply to actions against nursing homes. |
| Petre v. Living Centers-East, Inc., et al., 935 F.Supp. 808 (E.D.La. 1996). | Court held that claims sounding in both tort and contract could be asserted; nursing home owed fiduciary duty to its residents; private cause of action exists for violation of statutory duties owed by nursing home; nursing home was "health care provider" subject only to one-year prescriptive period; but continuing tort doctrine applied to resident's claims. |
| Francis v. Health Care Capital, Inc., 933 F.Supp. 569 (E.D.La. 1996). | Court held that Louisiana law did not bar administrator from asserting claims of both tort and breach of contract; nursing home was "health care provider," so that action was governed by one-year prescriptive period; and doctrine of continuing tort applied and allowed acts or omissions occurring more than one year before action was brought to potentially form basis of liability. |
| Campbell v. Beverly Enterprise, 724 F.Supp.439 (S.D.Miss. 1989). | Court held that children of deceased nursing home patient could not recover mental distress damages from nursing home owner and operator for mistreatment, abuse, and neglect suffered by patient while at nursing home, in absence of traumatic physical injury, or at least threatened violent physical injury, to patient. |
| Daigle v. Opelousas Health Care, Inc., 774 F.2d 1344 (5th Cir. 1985). | Court held that the existence of state regulation of nursing home industry and receipt of state funding by private nursing home did not create state action that would support suit under civil rights statute. |
| Brogdon v. National Healthcare Corp., 103 F.Supp.2d 1322 (N.D.Ga. 2000). | Court held that Medicare and Medicaid Acts did not provide a private cause of action for residents of nursing homes to sue the owners or operators of nursing homes; claims under Georgia's Bill of Rights for Residents of Long- Term Care Facilities survived deaths of nursing home residents; and Medicaid and Medicare Acts did not preempt breach of contract claims by nursing home residents against owners based on lack of sufficient care. |
| Autrey v. 22 Texas Services, Inc., et al., 79 F.Supp.2d 735 (S.D.Tex. 2000). | Plaintiffs attempted to sue the nursing home and the owners of the nursing home individually for the wrongful death of the resident. The court held that there were genuine issues of material fact regarding whether the corporate owner of the nursing home was undercapitalized in order to warrant piercing of the corporate veil. The court also held that Pennsylvania law applied in determining whether the corporate veil should be pierced. |
| McCain v. Beverly Health and Rehabilitation Services, Inc., 2002 WL 1565526 (E.D.Pa.). | The Court held that policies expressed in statutes and regulations could form basis for negligence per se claim, despite lack of private cause of action, and allegations that nursing home had transported plaintiff's decedent in a wheelchair that could cause pressure sores, despite resident's high risk for developing pressure sores were sufficient to state claim for punitive damages. |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-50 | Long term care Ombudsman Program: Legislative Intent |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-52 | Long Term Care Ombudsman Program |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-53 | Long Term Care Ombudsman Program: Responsibilities of the State Ombudsman |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-54 | Long Term Care Ombudsman Program: Responsibilities of the Community Ombudsman |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-55 | Long Term Care Ombudsman Program: Investigative and Entry Authority |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-56 | Long Term Care Ombudsman Program: Resolution of Complaints |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-57 | Long Term Care Ombudsman Program: Reporting of Abuse |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-58 | Long Term Care Ombudsman Program: Confidentiality |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-59 | Long Term Care Ombudsman Program: Notice to Residents |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-60 | Long Term Care Ombudsman Program: Retaliation Prohibited |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-61 | Long Term Care Ombudsman Program: Liability for Providing False Information |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-62 | Long Term Care Ombudsman Program: Immunity |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-63 | Long Term Care Ombudsman Program: Rules and Regulation |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-80 | Reporting Abuse or Exploitation of Residents in Long Term Care Facilities: Short Title |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-82 | Reporting Abuse or Exploitation of Residents in Long Term Care Facilities: Reporting of Abuse or Exploitation; records and reports |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-83 | Reporting Abuse or Exploitation of Residents in Long Term Care Facilities: Investigations |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-84 | Reporting Abuse or Exploitation of Residents in Long Term Care Facilities: Protection of the Resident; Referral for Prosecution |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-85 | Reporting Abuse or Exploitation of Residents in Long Term Care Facilities: Immunity |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-86 | Reporting Abuse or Exploitation of Residents in Long Term Care Facilities: Confidentiality |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-87 | Reporting Abuse or Exploitation of Residents in Long Term Care Facilities: Retaliation Prohibited |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-88 | Reporting Abuse or Exploitation of Residents in Long Term Care Facilities: Notice of Reporting Requirement Distributed |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-100 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities: Short Title |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-101 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities: Legislative Intent |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-102 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities: Definitions |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-103 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-104 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities: Right to Notification of Rights |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-105 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities: Date for Notification of Rights |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-106 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities: Right to Certain Information |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-107 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities: Right to Non-discriminatory Admission |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-108 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities: Right to Care, Treatment and Services |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-109 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities: Right to Freedom from Restraints, Isolation or Restriction |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-110 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities: Rights Relative to Pharmaceuticals |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-111 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities: Rights of Citizenship |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-112 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities: Right to Personal Choice |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-113 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities: Right to Personal Property |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-114 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities: Right to Privacy |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-115 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities: Right to Fiscal Management |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-116 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities: Rights relating to Transfer or Discharge |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-117 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities: Requirements for Temporary Suspension of Rights |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-118 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities: Right to Pursue Interest; Conflicting Rights; Right to Voice Complaints and Make Recommendation |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-119 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities: Coerced Contributions from Family Prohibited; Use of and Receipt for Contributions |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-120 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities: Access to Facility |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-121 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities: Residents' Councils |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-122 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities: Compliance |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-123 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities: Use of State or Community Ombudsman |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-124 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities: Grievance Procedures |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-125 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities: Administrative Hearings; Informal Resolution |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-126 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities: Enforcement |
| O.C.G.A. § 31-8-127 | Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities: Rules and Regulations |
| Associated Health Systems, Inc. v. Jones, 185 Ga.App. 798 (1988). | Statute restricting nursing home from imposing restraints on residents applied only to use of physical restraints or restrictions on mobility and did not encompass other forms of supervision, counseling, therapy or restriction of access to specified areas. Not only does nursing home owe contractual and statutory duty of care and protection to its residents to prevent harm to them, it also owes duty of supervision over any resident whose propensity to cause harm to others is known or should have been known to management |
| Thurman v. Pruitt Corp., 212 Ga.App. 766 (1994). | Statutory cause of action for damages against long-term care facility for failing to provide rights guaranteed by Bill of Rights for Residents of Long- Term Care Facilities was distinct claim from allegations that nursing home committed professional malpractice by delivering below-standard nursing care |
| Coastal Health Services, Inc. v. Rozier, 176 Ga.App. 240 (1985). | O.C.G.A. § 31-8-58, which authorizes disclosure by ombudsman of complaint concerning care and treatment of elderly patient of nursing home, merely removes problem of confidentiality in allowing disclosure of such investigative information in judicial proceeding, and does not eliminate application of regular rules of evidence. |
| David P. Chapus, Annotation, Criminal Liability under Statutes Penalizing Abuse or Neglect of the Institutionalized Infirm, 60 A.L.R. 4th 1153 (1988). | KF132.A522 4th ser. | Considers the validity of statutes criminalizing the abuse, neglect or mistreatment of a resident or a patient in a nursing home. Abuse and/or neglect includes the failure of a nursing home to properly feed a resident, failure to properly staff a nursing home, and the use of physical force or restraint. |
| Laurent B. Frantz, Annotation, Patient Tort Liability of Rest, Convalescent or Nursing Homes, 83 A.L.R. 3d 871 (1978). | KF132.A522 Ser. 3 | Analyzes the cases dealing with the liability of rest, convalescent or nursing homes for unintentional torts to their patients/residents. |
Robin Cheryl Miller, Annotation, Construction and Application of State Patient Bill of Rights Statutes, 87 A.L.R. 5th 277 (2001). | KF132.A522 5th ser. c.1 | Collection and analysis of state and federal cases that discuss the construction or application of state patient bill of rights statutes insofar as those statues regulate the medical treatment or nonmedical care offered the patient at a health care facility, including whether a private cause of action is available under such a statute. |
John W. Bellflower, Jr., Respecting our Elders: Can Tennessee Do More to Protect its Elder Population from Institutional Abuse and Neglect?, 66 Tenn. L. Rev. 819 (1999). | .T2975 .L4162 | Examines Tennessee's deficient Nursing Home Statute and Adult Abuse Act, the problems with Tennessee's attempt to provide a statutory cause of action through its Medical Malpractice Act, methods used by other states to provide a private cause of action, and a nursing home resident's bill of rights which is enforceable as a statutory standard of care. |
| David F. Bragg, Dealing with Nursing Home Neglect: The Need for Private Litigation, 39 S.Tex.L.Rev. 1 (1997). | .S726 .T49 .L384 | Examines the applicable law, federal and state, with regard to nursing home abuse and neglect and the causes of action available for such cases. |
| Angela Snellenberger Quin, Imposing Federal Criminal Liability on Nursing Homes: A Way of Deterring Inadequate Health Care and Improving the Quality of Care Delivered?, 43 St. Louis U.L.J. 653 (1999). | .S132 .L57 .U54 | Analyzes the current mechanism used to ensure that nursing home residents receive appropriate care. Explores the possibility of imposing federal criminal liability on nursing homes as a means of deterring nursing homes from providing poor care to its residents. |
| Jennifer Marciano, Mandatory Criminal Background Checks of those Caring for Elders: Preventing and Eliminating Abuse in Nursing Homes, 9 Elder L.J. 203 (2001). | .E43 .L39 | Addresses the abuses that nursing home patients suffer at the hands of nursing home employees and defines the different types of abuse that occur most frequently. |
| David A. Bohm, Striving for Quality Care in America's Nursing Homes: Tracing the History of Nursing Homes and Noting the Effect of Recent Federal Government Initiatives to Ensure Quality Care in the Nursing Home Setting, 4 DePaul J. Health Care L. 317 (2001). | .D47 .J68 .H43 | Examines the nursing home industry in the context of past and present measures advocated by the federal government in its role to ensure quality care in the nursing home setting. |
| Jennifer N. Phan, The Graying of America: Protecting Nursing Home Residents by Allowing Regulatory and Criminal Statutes to Establish Standards of Care in Private Negligence Actions, 2 Hous. J. Health L. & Pol'y 297 (2002). | .H843 .J687 .H43 | Examines the different types of elder abuse, possible factors that contribute to elder abuse, negligence actions associated with elder abuse, mechanisms that are supposed to effectively deal with elder abuse problems and why the do not, and why criminal and regulatory statutes should establish the standard of care in elder abuse negligence actions. |
| Margaret Colleen Cox, Amy Marlyse Burgert & James Eloi Doyle, Nursing Home Litigation and the Admissibility of State Surveys, 41 S. Tex. L. Rev. 593 (2000). | .S726 .T49 .L384 | Discusses the Texas Department of Human Services Survey, their satisfaction of the Texas Rules of Evidence and their admissibility in civil cases. Also discusses the legislative history of TDHS surveys. |
| John Pray, Note, State v. Serebin: Causation and the Criminal Liability of Nursing Home Administrators, 1986 Wis. L. Rev. 339 (1986). | .W811 .L416 | Examines the court's decision and argues that the homicide causation analysis is applied in a stricter way than in the neglect conviction or previous Wisconsin cases, and the difficulties of prosecuting corporate criminals and the use of the criminal justice system in the nursing home context. |
| Christine V. Williams, The Nursing Home Dilemma in America Today: The Suffering Must be Recognized and Eradicated, 41 Santa Clara L. Rev. 867 (2001). | .S285 .L38 | Addresses the substantial abuse occurring in long-term care facilities and some solutions the country will need to implement in order to correct the exploitation and mistreatment that exists in nursing homes today. |
George S. Ingalls, Linda T. Layton & Nomiki B. Weitzel, Elder Abuse Originating in the Institutional Setting, 74 N.D. L. Rev. 313 (1998). | .N864 .D35 .L38 | Addresses abuse originating in the institutional setting designed specifically to protect the elderly population. |
| Michael S. Reeves, Elder Care and Nursing Home Litigation in Georgia, § 2-4 (2000). | KFG363.N8 R44 2000 | Discusses the purpose of nursing homes from a historical context and the statutory regulations enacted in an attempt to protect these elderly residents. |
| Joan M. Krauskopf, Robert N. Brown & Karen L. Tokarz, Elderlaw: Advocacy for the Aging, § 12.38 (2d ed. 2003). | KF390.A4 K7 1993 | Discusses tort remedies for nursing home residents |
| Sanford V. Teplitzky & S. Craig Holden, Health Law Handbook, § 8.42 (2003). | KF3821.H43 | Discusses the criminalization of nursing home fraud and abuse. |
| William H. Danne, Jr., New York Jurisprudence, § 43 (2d ed. 2003). | KFN5065.N48 1979 | Discusses reporting, investigations and protection against patient abuse, mistreatment or neglect. |
| Christopher T. Hurley, Nursing Home Ills Better Background Checks, Monitoring are Needed, Fulton County Daily Report, May 23, 2002, Vol. 113, No. 101. | Discusses the need for better background checks and monitoring with the use of "Granny cams" of nursing homes. | |
| Cherie Song, States Cap Nursing Home Damages, Fulton County Daily Report, July 8, 2003, Vol. 114, No. 131. | WESTLAW | Discusses the pros and cons of imposing caps on nursing home damages and examines some of the states that have instituted damage caps. |
| June D. Bell, 'Bad Faith' Shown in Discovery Means Home Loses Suit, Fulton County Daily Report, September 9, 1998, Vol. 109, No. 175. | WESTLAW | Discusses the effects of defendant's bad faith shown in discovery. |
| Staff, Nursing home residents need relief, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, November 16, 2000, at A18. | Examines several instances in which the Office of Regulatory Services with the Department of Human Resources, the state agency responsible for handling nursing home complaints, failed to act. | |
| Diane Loupe, Abuse alleged at nursing home 96-year old is hospitalized, Atlanta Journal Constitution, May 28, 1992, at B2. | Recounts an incident of abuse at a local nursing home, Cobb Geriatric Center. | |
| David Beasley, Alleged sex abuse, neglect probed at nursing home, Atlanta Journal and Constitution, January 10, 1987, at B1. | Recounts an alleged incident of sexual abuse at the Wilcox County Nursing Home | |
| Staff, Nursing-home neglect posses danger, Atlanta Journal and Constitution, December 19, 2000, at A16. | Discusses the fact that nursing home residents are being neglected and abused and no state regulatory agency is doing anything about it. | |
| Julia Malone, Study: Overseers ignore nursing home complaints, Atlanta Journal and Constitution, November 10, 2000, at D1. | Discusses the fact that state regulators ignore the complaints of abused and neglected nursing home residents and rarely interview the residents involved. |
| Findlaw | This cite is absolutely FREE and provides links to many useful websites. This is a great place to begin your research projects |
| Westlaw | This is my favorite website. It is extremely user friendly, however it can be very expensive. Westlaw has recently begun to offer various different plans which can reduce the cost. It is free to law students. |
| Lexis | This website is very similar to Westlaw. It, too, is very expensive. This site is also free to law students. |
| LoisLaw | This website is a great tool for smaller firms that cannot afford the expensive versions of Westlaw or Lexis. It is free to law students and offers great rates to recent graduates. |
| This is a great site for searching almost any research topic. It is a great place to start. | |
| Yahoo | This site is very similar to Google. It is also a great place to start any research project. |
| Atlanta Journal Constitution | This is a good place to search the local news in Georgia. However, you can only search the archives. If you want to read the entire article, you must subscribe. |
| New York Times | This is a good place to search national and internation news. However, you can only search the archives. If you want to read the entire article, you must subscribe. |
| USA Today | This website allows you to search both the newspaper and the internet with a google search engine. It also allows you to access several articles for free, but it requires you to subscribe to get the rest. |
| Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Information Center | Investigative and Consultant Service provided by the Bauman and Rasor Group, Inc., which assists law firms in investigation and litigation of nursing home abuse and neglect cases. |
| American Trial Lawyers Association | Offer several CLEs regarding Nursing Home litigation and abuse or neglect of the elderly. Offers many resources on their website; however, you must be a member in order to access them. |
