Practice Overview

MCB’s extensive experience in defending traditional medical malpractice claims has led to its prominence in the defense of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. Our background provides MCB with the ability to analyze and defend the medical issues in nursing home cases, while at the same time recognizing the aspects of nursing home cases which differ from those presented in traditional malpractice cases.

The Firm currently defends nursing homes and long- term care facilities, both through insurers and on a self-insured basis. The Firm’s experience includes the defense of claims involving:

• Pressure ulcers
• Resident falls
• Alleged neglect and abuse
• Alleged assaults upon residents
• Nutrition and hydration
• Medication errors

The Firm works to anticipates aggressive discovery tactics employed by plaintiffs' attorneys and formulates a proactive defense in each case. We realizes that nursing home defense cases require early and exhaustive investigation and work-up in multiple areas, and we seek to identify problems and obtain and preserve helpful information.

As in the Firm's other areas of practice, the Group believes communication is an integral part of its long-term relationship with its clients. At the outset of a case, the Group meets with appropriate personnel at the facility to discuss each case, and keep them informed of developments. MCB attorneys follow new developments in affecting our nursing home clients, so that we can provide proactive solutions to their legal problems.

MCB is well versed in the medical issues involved in these cases, including geriatric medicine, pressure ulcer care and prevention, nutrition and hydration, and wound care. MCB has extensive experience in dealing with statutory claims brought under New York’s Public Health Law. MCB’s attorneys are fully familiar with the various Federal and State statutes and regulations pertaining to nursing homes, enabling them to defend claims involving violations of such statutes and regulations. The Firm has also developed a library of legal and medical materials dealing specifically with nursing home issues, and we maintain a panel of experts in the field, including medical, nursing and administrative experts with actual "hands-on" experience in nursing homes.

The Firm is actively involved in alternative dispute resolution, including mediation of nursing home cases, where appropriate.

For more information, please contact Michael A. Sonkin, Managing Partner at

Attorneys

John J. Barbera
Joseph L. DeMarzo