News Tagged ‘Senate Special Committee on Aging’

Elder abuse, neglect often goes unnoticed

You could say that Clifford Verity meant well. He moved in with his aging mother, Ruth, took her to doctors’ appointments, even brought home fresh fish for dinner. He had worked previously as a certified nursing assistant caring for elderly in a nursing facility, and felt he could grant her wish not to be moved into a nursing home, but to age and die gracefully at home.

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U.S. Senate debates arbitration

A joint meeting of the U.S. Senate Committee on Judiciary, Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition and Consumer Rights and U.S. Senate Aging Committee was held this morning to discuss S. 2838, The Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act, sponsored by Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., chairman of the Senate Aging Committee, and Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla. The bill’s sponsors argued that more facilities are requiring patients and their families to sign mandatory arbitration agreements, signing away their right to sue in the event of or , which they said is unfair.

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Alabama Among Worst

A review of the nation’s nursing home inspection reports by the Congressional Government Accountability Office (GAO) lists Alabama among nine states with the worst records of inspection accuracy, saying inspectors missed serious problems in more than 25 percent of all inspections from 2002-2007. The report said most states still fared dismally, missing at least one serious deficiency in 15 percent of all inspections.

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