Kentucky Introduces Bill on Nursing Home Deaths
In Kentucky, State Representative Tom Burch will introduce a new proposal to the House of Health and Welfare committee that could aid in reducing or possibly halting abuse and neglect cases in nursing homes by having nursing homes report all deaths to the coroner. According to the report from CBS affiliate WKYT, current law does not require nursing home staff to report a death if it is believed to be caused by natural causes.
However, this proposal calls for all nursing homes to call a coroner to report a death in the facility regardless if staff believes it is due to natural causes or not. The state Attorney General’s Office is reportedly backing this proposal as well in order to be aware of any and all potential cases of abuse or neglect in nursing home facilities in the state. The report states that coroners in the state of Kentucky will receive training to become familiar with the signs of elder abuse or neglect. The report also states that the Attorney General’s Office is pushing for more severe punishments for elder abuse/neglect incidents.
By implementing this proposal, the belief is that wrongful deaths causes by abuse and neglect would be reduced because there would be an unbiased second party (the coroner) involved in the matter to determine for themselves if the incident is abuse/neglect-related or not. Adding this sort of law seems like a good idea on paper. Since a coroner is trained in determining cause of death in any situation (either by means of chemicals or physical abuse) then there would be no way for a nursing home facility to falsify information to prevent any of the consequences. While it has yet to be seen whether this law will aid in reducing elder abuse and neglect cases, it seems very likely that it will have a drastic effect.
