Louisiana likely to make it harder to sue nursing homes over wrongful deaths

Louisiana lawmakers gave final approval to legislation Tuesday to limit the amount of money nursing home residents and their families receive from lawsuits over injuries, neglect and wrongful deaths. 

Senate Bill 134 has been one of the most controversial bills of the legislative session. Advocacy organizations for seniors and people who are disabled made it a top priority to defeat the bill, saying it would protect nursing homes owners who keep their residents in dangerous situations. 

“We are supposed to protect the elderly – not somebody who is trying to make more money off the elderly,” said Rep. Mandie Landry, D-New Orleans, who opposed the bill.

Supporters insisted the proposal was not just about nursing homes and would protect a variety of medical facilities from frivolous lawsuits. But Louisiana’s powerful nursing home owners were the primary backers of the bill and made it the focus of their legislative agenda this year. 

“We’re going to have those health care facilities turning in their keys because they can’t do business in this state anymore” if these lawsuits continue, Wes Hataway, policy director for the Louisiana Nursing Home Association, said at a legislative hearing last month. 

There are more than 60 lawsuits pending against nursing homes across the state that could be limited by the legislation. They are being brought by residents and families, often alleging a loved one developed bedsores or injuries from repeated falls while living at a facility.  

The lawsuits allege the nursing homes and their management companies don’t hire enough staff to watch the residents adequately, instead prioritizing lower costs and maximum profits. 

The bill would limit the damages that can be recovered from such a lawsuit. It would bring many of the lawsuits nursing homes currently face under the state Medical Malpractice Act, which caps awards at $500,000.

Recently, lawsuits against Chateau St. James Rehab and Retirement in Lutcher and Heritage Manor West in Shreveport over infected bedsores that contributed to residents’ deaths had produced awards worth millions of dollars, far more than the legislation would allow. 

Nursing home owners are among the state’s biggest political donors and one of the most influential industries at the Louisiana Capitol, focusing many of their contributions on state lawmakers and governors. 

A handful of legislators also have direct ties to the nursing home industry. 

Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, and Sen. Bob Hensgens, R-Abbeville, are part of the 10-person ownership group of Acadia St. Landry Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Church Point. Their nursing home currently faces a wrongful death lawsuit. 

The nursing home industry pushed for this bill particularly hard, employing extra lobbyists and recruiting other influential groups such the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry and the Louisiana Hospital Association to support the proposal.

The legislation passed easily, with a 58-37 vote in the House Tuesday and a 26-11 vote in the Senate in April. Gov. Jeff Landry could still attempt to block the legislation from passing into a law with a veto however. 

Legislators opposed to the bill attempted to water down the legislation by adding an amendment that would block a nursing home from being put under the $500,000 medical malpractice cap if it was poorly rated by the federal government.

The U.S. Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services give nursing homes ratings of one to five stars based on factors such as facility inspections and staffing. The proposed amendment would have permitted lawsuits carrying greater risk to be brought against those nursing homes receiving one- or two-star ratings.

“Don’t we want our seniors, our family members, our grandparents …to be in a safe space?” asked Rep. Stephanie Hilferty, R-New Orleans, who sponsored the amendment on the House side.

Backed by AARP and other advocates for seniors, similar amendments failed in both chambers, with the Senate voting one down 20-16 and the House voting one down 57-39. 

Louisiana has some of the worst-rated nursing homes in the country, with approximately two-thirds of the facilities receiving one- and two-star ratings, according to Hilferty. She said those poorly-rated nursing homes make up 50% of such facilities in Metairie, which she represents in part, and more than 70% of nursing homes in Baton Rouge. 

Rep. Michael Melerine, R-Shreveport, defended the nursing home industry on the House floor, saying the facilities might face challenges with keeping residents healthy because of Louisiana’s high rates of obesity and diabetes. He also said the state’s general shortage of nurses contributes to low staffing at the facilities. 

“You cannot address this without addressing the shortage of registered nurses,” he said.

Melerine’s law partner, Sen. Alan Seabaugh, R-Shreveport, is one of the sponsors of the legislation. Seabaugh is an attorney who was representing a nursing home facing a lawsuit over neglect in Bossier Parish. A jury ruled in favor of Seabaugh and the nursing home after a two-week trial last month.

Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that a jury made the decision over a lawsuit about a nursing home in which Sen. Alan Seabaugh represented the home.