The United States Justice Department has completely disgraced itself. On July 30, 2008, Keith Nelson, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the United States, wrote a letter to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in which he attacked S. 2838, a bill that would ban the use of pre-dispute mandatory arbitration clauses in nursing home contracts. [Update: Yesterday, a coalition of consumer groups sent this response letter.]
Why does the United States of America oppose the idea that nursing home patients – perhaps the most vulnerable segment of our entire nation – should be given a choice of whether or not to take disputes (many of which involve medical neglect like untreated bed sores that become severely infected leading to serious disease or death, or elder abuse such as rape or murder of very old people) to court or arbitration?
