Nursing Home Litigation ElectroQuest, LLC Electrical Expert Services


Electrical Engineering & Safety (Mishap/Injury, Design for sites, systems & products)


Codes & Standards (OSHA, UL, National Electrical Code)


Grounding (Test/Evaluation including stray currents)


Intellectual Property (Power Devices, Magnetics, Electrooptics)


Lightning Protection & Safety (Accident, Damage & Injury Investigations)


Radiation Safety (Radio, lasers, cell phones & towers)


Products (Design, Safety & Compliance, Medical Devices)


Illumination (Ambient lighting conditions, mishap investigation) John M. Tobias, Ph.D., P.E.


(732) 270-2775 | info@ElectroQuest-LLC.com www.ElectroQuest-LLC.com Baltimore area office opening in Fall 2011.


A person may not engage in any unfair or deceptive trade practice, as defined in this subtitle or as further defined by the Division, in: (1) Te sale, lease, rental, loan or bailment of any consumer goods, consumer realty, or consumer services; (2) Te offer for sale, lease, rental, loan, or bailment of any consumer goods, consumer realty, or consumer services; …


Commercial Law Code Ann., §13-303. In interpreting the scope of this section, the Office of the


Attorney General instructed that nursing homes fall under the ambit of the Consumer Protection Act. Tis is because §13-101(d) defines “consumer services” as “services which are primarily for personal, household, family or agricultural use.” 63 Md. Op. Atty. Gen. 183 (1978). Section 13-101(j) goes on to define service as any “Subprofessional service” and the Office of the Attorney General “believe[s] that this term was used by the legislature in a generic sense which would comprehend health care facilities and thus make them subject to the Consumer Protection Act.” Id. Te Office of the Attorney General went onto instruct that the rules and regulations of the Department of Health & Mental Hygiene may or may not constitute violations of the Consumer Protection Act, to be determined on a case by case basis. Tis


44 Trial Reporter / Fall 2011


is because the “Consumer Protection Act is independent of any rules and/or regulations promulgated by the Department of Health & Mental Hygiene.” Id. For example, under the Maryland Code of Regulations,


a nursing home administrator “shall be responsible for the implementation and enforcement of all provisions of the Patient’s Bill and Rights Regulations under COMAR 10.07.09.” COMAR 10.07.02.07. COMAR provides that a “nursing facility may not interfere with the resident’s exercise of rights guaranteed under the Constitution or laws of the United States and Maryland.” 10.07.09.08. COMAR also requires that a nursing facility “shall” ensure that employees of the nursing facility are trained to “[r]espect and enforce the Resident’s Bill of Rights and the nursing facility’s policies and procedures that implement the Resident’s Bill of Rights.” 10.07.09.09. At admission, a facility may promise that it has adequate capabilities to perform a certain service such a wound care or ventilator care when in fact it did not. In a situation where an attorney can establish an unfair or deceptive trade practice on the part of a nursing home, potential damages include those for the injury or loss, and attorney’s fees. Commercial Law Code Ann., §13-408.


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