Arizona hospitals can be sued for "Elder Abuse"

Elder-abuse laws mean Arizona hospitals can be sued

APPEALS COURT REJECTS IDEA THAT LEGISLATURE MEANT TO EXEMPT THEM

PHOENIX - Arizona hospitals are subject to being sued under the state's "elder abuse" laws, the state Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.

Without dissent, the judges rejected arguments by attorneys for two major hospitals that the laws are designed to give individuals and their families a way to bring suit against nursing homes and assisted-care facilities.

Judge Patricia Orozco said the Legislature wrote the laws to cover those who "provide care." She said there is no way to logically read the law to conclude that does not apply to hospitals.

Orozco also rebuffed the contention that including hospitals was never the intent of lawmakers.

"Nowhere in the legislative history is there any suggestion that an acute-care hospital is exempt from liability," she wrote.

Attorney Robert Boatman, who represented one of the families who sued, called the ruling an important financial victory for victims.

Learn more: Elder abuse laws