Nursing homes and assisted living facilities are seen by many families as failing to take full responsibility for each patient's care by requiring upon admission that families sign arbitration agreements. The arbitration agreements agreed upon at admission are controlled by the facility and often kept secret from the public. Most families are focused on the immediate care of their loved one upon admission and do not have full awareness of the impact of signing the agreement until an incident occurs.
One attorney states it this way, “It keeps people from coming forward. It also keeps lawyers from wanting to accept the case. The agreement will be buried in an 83-page document that the family members are asked to sign. Even myself as a lawyer wouldn’t catch it … Currently in 75 percent of my cases I have to argue to the court against the defendant’s motion to compel arbitration.” Families should be leery of signing any type of document without full disclosure or explanation of the terms and impact. For more, read the story.
