Lawsuits

Nursing homes cannot use arbitration agreements to combat lawsuits related to residents' care, the West Virginia Supreme Court ruled on Friday. The court decided, in the unanimous decision, that "disputes should be decided by juries of lay citizens rather than paid, professional fact finders who may be more interested in their fees than the disputes at hand," according to published reports.

Nursing homes with high quality ratings are sued almost as often as lower performing nursing homes, according to a new study published by the New England Journal of Medicine.

A federal appeals court decision in a case involving a skilled nursing facility—a decision once described as "shocking" by the American Health Care Association—has been allowed to stand by the U.S. Supreme Court.

President Obama last Thursday authorized $25 million for pilot programs to investigate tort reform options.

A federal law related to the oversight and inspection of nursing homes creates a legal pathway for private civil rights lawsuits to be filed against nursing homes in cases of alleged wrongful death, a federal appeals court recently decided.