Kentucky association requests review panels for nursing home lawsuits

The Kentucky Association of Health Care Facilities is requesting the creation of a state law that would put potential lawsuits against nursing homes before review panels, which could help to eliminate unnecessary suits against the industry, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.

In a statement to the Herald-Leader, the association described the proposal as creating medical review panels made up of three physicians and chaired by a neutral attorney who would not have a vote on cases. The complaining party and the respondent would each choose a panelist, and those two panelists would choose the third and final participant.

The complaining party would still be allowed to pursue a lawsuit, but the panel’s findings would also be admissible in court, the report read.

The Kentucky Association of Health Care Facilities is requesting the law because of a “drastic increase in litigation from lawyers whose sole practice has been limited to targeting our nursing facilities,” association President Ruby Jo Cummins Lubarsky told the Herald-Leader.

Attorneys and nursing home watchdogs are outspoken against the proposal, saying review panels would be unfair to nursing home residents.

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