Arbitration of Medical Malpractice Claims

Beth Janicek

Attorney
(866) 735-1102 Ext 395

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Many nursing homes and some hospitals are asking their patients to sign arbitration clauses as part of their admission to the facilities. "I find this whole situation absolutely outrageous. These guys are preying on people who are vulnerable and clearly not in a frame of mind to make the kind of decision that could affect their legal rights forever," said Paul Lyon of the Committee for Justice for All, a nonprofit group that advocates for patients rights. Lyon said he was "appalled" when he read it. The hospital claims that the patients are not required to sign them for admission to the facility. However, many patients and their families are under great stress when they are being admitted to these facilities and do not realize they are waiving their rights to a jury trial. Binding arbitrations have not been proven to be cheaper or quicker than the jury system. Most of the arbitration agreements require the binding arbitration be done by arbitrations organizations run by individuals involved in the health care industry. The binding arbitration agreements may have other clauses such as changing the proof required to recover and limiting the damages available.

A Kindred Hospital administrator states "expediency also benefits patients who, if they were injured, would get compensated much sooner." I doubt any hospital is truly having an arbitration agreement signed so that the patients who are injured may be compensated sooner. I do think this is what is told to patients and families to convince them to waive their right to a jury. The prudent action would be to confer with an attorney prior to signing any binding arbitration agreement so that you fully understand the consequences of the document. Hospital and nursing homes should be prohibited from asking patients to sign the documents without legal counsel.