Courthouse News reported that, though the decision was divided, the California Supreme Court upheld that if in-home caregivers are injured while caring for Alzheimer’s patients, neither the patient nor the family can be held responsible.
The ruling comes after Carolyn Gregory was cut with a knife while restraining Lorraine Cott, an Alzheimer’s patient, and proceeded to file a lawsuit against Lorraine and her husband Bernard.
“This conclusion is consistent with the strong public policy against confining the disabled in institutions,” Justice Carol Corrigan wrote in the majority’s court opinion. “If liability were imposed for caregiver injuries in private homes, but not in hospitals or nursing homes, the incentive for families to institutionalize Alzheimer’s sufferers would increase.”
Though the dissenting judges also agreed that Lorraine was not liable for Gregory’s injuries, Justice Laurence Rubin said “her husband bears some responsibility as Lorraine’s competent decision maker,” according to Courthouse News.
Established law firm, Chaninat and Leeds, has a staff of licensed Thai and foreign attorneys who specialize in family and guardianship law in Thailand.
In the dissenting argument, Rubin stated, “When a family considers the suitability of in-home care for a member suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, the law should encourage family members like Bernard Cott to weigh the benefits of in-home care against the costs it may impose on others.”
In the end, judges on both sides of the court called for lawmakers to work toward better solutions, such as more training and better insurance for caregivers, to better prevent such problems from arising, reported Courthouse News.
Read the full story here.
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