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Orlando Lawyer Melvin B. Wright Discusses New Nursing Home Bill

Orlando nursing home abuse lawyer, Melvin B. Wright says a new bill has recently been proposed, which will limit lawsuits against nursing home operators. Mr. Wright, founding member of Colling Gilbert Wright, says the bill is yet another example of a health care system run amuck by industry profiteers. . .

“Never Events”: Hospital Mistakes Medicare Won’t Pay for
Medicare is refusing to pay for complications that result from doctor and hospital mistakes, so-called “never events” because they should never happen.
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Group Wants Hearing on Manor Care Sale
Regulators should consult the public, particularly nursing home residents, about a private investment firm’s proposed takeover of a major homes chain, sale opponents told Florida lawmakers Wednesday.
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Inquiries at Investor-Owned Nursing Homes
Two Congressional committees announced yesterday that they would investigate business practices at nursing homes owned by private investment groups.
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At Many Homes, More Profit and Less Nursing
Habana Health Care Center, a 150-bed nursing home in Tampa, Fla., was struggling when a group of large private investment firms purchased it and 48 other nursing homes in 2002.
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The Insurance Hoax-Bloomberg Markets September 2007
Property insurers use secret tactics to cheat customers out of payments–as profits break records.
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“The Right To Trial By Jury Shall Be Preserved”
The civil justice system in Florida, along with most other states, has been under assault for the last quarter century by those calling for reform due to what big business and insurance industry groups have called “lawsuit abuse”, “frivolous lawsuits”, “the litigation explosion”, and “the tort tax”, among other tag lines. Just in the last few years, misguided Florida legislators and citizens have permitted passage of a series of statutes and constitutional amendments that serve only to limit the rights of individuals in Florida to seek remedies in civil courts for serious, real, and legitimate injuries.

Variable Annuities Are Not Elder-Friendly
Like many investors, elderly retirees got burned when the unprecedented rise in the stock market, during the 1990’s, gave way to dramatic declines in early 2000. Elderly investors that typically invested in FDIC insured bank certificates of deposit had been lured into the equities markets with dreams of wealth and a better retirement. Sadly, when the markets corrected those dreams became a nightmare; forcing many retirees back into the workplace or into a greatly reduced quality of life. As such, many will never again invest directly in the stock market and for good reason – they don’t have time to recoup their losses.

Hospitals and Patient Safety
Nearly 200,000 people die from medical errors occurring in hospitals every year. When errors are discovered, the “blame game” begins, and it can be very difficult to determine who is truly responsible. Often, these errors are the result of a combination of factors which are controlled by the hospital itself. Until hospital boards start treating patient safety with the same, or higher, priority as hospital finances, these errors and the deaths and injuries will continue to spiral out of control.

Statutory Tort Claims Against Assisted Living Facilities in Florida
The rights of residents of assisted living facilities, also known as adult congregate living facilities and “ALF’s”, are governed by Chapter 429, Florida Statutes. Like the provisions of Chapter 400, Florida Statutes governing nursing homes, the “ALF” provisions of Chapter 429, Florida Statutes govern the rights of residents of assisted living facilities and establish the responsibilities and liabilities of operators of assisted living facilities.

Proving Abuse & Neglect
Law Enforcement Investigation
If your case involves a reported case of abuse or neglect, law enforcement authorities will often be called upon to investigate. After a full investigation, a an investigative report will result and can serve as a road map for litigation in many cases and, at worst, a valuable investigative tool for the civil litigation.

Crash worthiness
Crash worthiness is a vehicle’s ability to protect occupants from injury during a crash. It is distinctly different from a vehicle’s likelihood to crash. A vehicle may be very unlikely to crash, but very likely to cause injuries should a crash occur. Many design elements, both visible and hidden, contribute to a vehicle’s crash worthiness.

Dirty Surgical Instruments
The prospect of facing surgery is a frightening one which should not be made even more troublesome by concerns of negligence by surgeons and hospital staff. Yet, for many patients, routine surgery turns into a nightmare when they discover that one of the most basic elements of hospital safety, the use of sterile surgical instruments, has been neglected.

Hospital Acquired Infections
You go to the hospital to get well, not to catch a deadly infection, but in the US about one out of every twenty hospitalized individuals contracts an infection due to hospitalization. Infections acquired in hospitals are called nosocomial infections. About 2 million people contract nosocomial infections in the US every year.

No Immunity For Rental Car Companies
In 2005, the U.S. Congress passed the Safe, Accountable, Efficient Transportation Equity Act now. See 49. U.S.C.A. 30106. While I am not sure what was “safe or accountable” about its provisions, I can say that its obvious intended effect was to abolish state statutes and case precedent making car rental companies vicariously liable for accidents caused by their customers.

Choosing the Right Nursing Home For Your Loved One
The following questions may guide you in choosing a nursing home for your loved one. As always, consider the individual needs, preferences, and desires of your loved one and the facility’s ability to meet those needs based on your personal visits and observations, word of mouth referrals from friends or other relatives, and based upon written materials from the facility owner, as well as state and federal agency websites such as the Medicare’s Nursing Home Compare website which can be found at http://www.medicare.gov/NHCompare/Home.

Rotten Spare Tires,
Spare tire failures are causing serious accidents with catastrophic results. Bridgestone’s Firestone ATX and Wilderness tires, used primarily in Ford SUV’s, were recalled in August, 2000, but during the massive replacement program spares were often overlooked. Now those spares are being installed, often during normal tire rotation, and they are failing quickly, causing deadly rollover accidents.

Nursing Home Negligence,
Lack of insurance hinders recovery in nursing home cases.

MS Walk for a Cure,
Multiple sclerosis affects lives every moment of every year. At any time, someone with MS may suddenly be unable to stand up, hug their child or see a friend across the room.

Merck Liable,
In the first verdict of a Vioxx-related personal-injury lawsuit, a Texas jury found the drug’s maker, Merck, liable and awarded more than $253 million to the widow of Robert Ernst, who died in 2001 after taking the painkiller and arthritis medicine.

Insurance Abuse,
It seems the insurance companies have been misleading the public and lining their pockets with unjustified profits.

Born Into A Diaper
Discovering and prosecuting sexual assault in a nursing home

Find out how you can help the National MS Society’s November 19, 2005 MS Walk for a Cure.