Nursing Homes Ownership May Deter Abuse Lawsuits, Promote Neglect
As part of their ongoing reportage of the graying of America, the New York Times Business Section has released a report on an increasing and disturbing trend in nursing home care: private investment companies buying national nursing home chains, having their shell corporations with little funds run the homes on a shoestring budget, and profit off the nursing home industry. The results can be death, neglect and abuse.
The article is entitled “At Many Homes, More Profit and Less Nursing” by Charles Duhigg and is worth checking out for its information on how big business profits on nursing home care. The online article also has a great presentation on how these investment firms are able to channel profits up the corporate ladder while keeping the lowest rungs running the nursing homes bereft of funds.
The Times article also details what nursing home abuse attorneys have known for years: Getting justice for those abused in nursing homes has gotten a whole heck of a lot harder.
You can’t get blood from a stone, and the big investment firms know this. The lower rungs that provide the actual services to nursing home residents and that own the nursing homes’ assets are underfunded, despite being forced to cut costs and corners. Instead, profits are sent up the corporate ladder of ownership to the parent investment companies where it is safe from nursing home abuse fines from government agencies as well as from nursing home abuse lawsuits. So when a jury awards the victim of a negligent nursing home a monetary award, there’s no money in the shell company to pay, and in recent years these straw men companies have proved scarecrows to personal injury lawyers scaring them away from complex nursing home abuse cases.
The Higgins Firm maintains its dedication to plaintiffs who have suffered abuse, injury, or death while in a nursing home. If your loved one has suffered from nursing home abuse, let The Higgins Firm’s nursing home abuse attorneys help.
Author Bio
Jim Higgins, founder of the Higgins Firm, is a seasoned personal injury attorney with deep roots in Nashville, Tennessee. A 4th generation Nashvillian, Jim carries on the legal legacy of his father, a judge for over 30 years. After graduating from the University of Memphis School of Law, Jim’s career began on the other side of the courtroom, defending insurance companies and learning their tactics for minimizing settlements. However, he soon realized his true calling was fighting for the rights of the injured, and for the past several years, he has exclusively represented plaintiffs in personal injury cases.
Since then, his dedication and skill have earned him membership in the prestigious Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an organization limited to attorneys who have secured million and multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements for their clients. Licensed to practice in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia, Jim focuses on personal injury, product liability, medical malpractice, and workers’ compensation cases. His exceptional work has been recognized by his peers, earning him a spot on the Super Lawyers list from 2021 to 2024, a distinction awarded to only a select group of accomplished attorneys in each state.
