Nursing home abuse and neglect of the elderly is hard to tolerate in a society whose very constitutional principles are rooted in protecting those citizens that are most vulnerable. Unfortunately, Nursing Home abuse and neglect does occur in Connecticut and it happens with too much regularity. Nursing Homes and Rehab facilities tend to locate near the population centers, which in our State means concentrations in Hartford, New Haven, New London and Fairfiield Counties.The actionable injury cases in this area may include a wide variety of different bad outcomes which occur more frequently in the presence of physician or nursing staff negligence. These range from Falls producing serious fractures and Death, Bed sores and nutritional neglect to actual physical abuse.
The requirement for a Nursing home facility to plan for and provide for the Health, Safety and well being of its patients is a duty which arises under Federal and Connecticut statute and related regulations.In contrast to other forms of medical care delivery which are largely governed by various specialty boards and norms determined within the community of similarly trained providers, Nursing homes are highly regulated and subject to both Federal and State standards governing their operation and patient care delivery. Connecticut's legislature has , for example, adopted a patient bill of rights set forth in Conn General Stat. Section 19a-550 which mirrors the Federal regulations which apply to the level and quality of patient care mandated to be delivered by nursing homes
While no doubt there are some aspects of traditional medical negligence analysis which may apply in the Nursing home context, the institutional functioning of these facilities are clearly subject to special rights and duties which places them in a special category. To illustrate the distinction , a general hospital is not a nursing home facility. Campbell v Charlotte Hungerford Hospital, 2004 WL 2668283( Conn Super 2004( ). As noted by the Sunrise Court, Connecticut's legislature has elected to participate in federal programs which not only govern admission to facilities and financial arrangements associated therewith but also patient care standards which cannot even be waived by the patient. Sunrise Healthcare Corp v Azariagian, 76 Conn App 800 (2003) (referring to 42 USC 1396 and CGS 19a-550). It is axiomatic to state that a duty of care may arise by Statute and Regulation just as it can via contract or other circumstances.Calderwood v Bender 189 Conn 580,584 (1983). The implications for Nursing Homes delivering sub-standard care are clear given the particular landscape that surrounds their specified duties.
