An unfortunate trend has emerged. Plaintiff firms already are advertising relating to the Covid-19 pandemic. As the country adjusts and learns how to cope with the reality of this disease, the plaintiff’s bar is taking advantage of the situation, making TV appearances, posting on their websites, blogs, and social media platforms, and using targeted language such as “understaffing” in order to incite anger towards health care providers and sympathy towards individuals who contract the disease.
In regards to a particularly severe cluster of Covid-19 cases in a local nursing home, one Chicago plaintiff’s attorney did an interview with ABC Channel 7, where the attorney said the following: “All problems stem from understaffing. Now we have an overtaxed nursing home staff, that is already understaffed, some of whom could have the coronavirus. All kinds of precautions need to be taken with the coronavirus and not enough staff to do it.”
Another Chicago Plaintiff’s attorney posted on Facebook: “Nursing home residents are … starkly vulnerable to the novel coronavirus, which has proven deadly to the elderly, and cut off from those who can most effectively speak up for them…Now, as nursing homes try to stem the tide of infection from the novel coronavirus…nursing homes are locking the doors of these facilities, blocking outside visitors and depriving family members of their ability to see their elderly loved ones or know what’s happening with their care.”
Their strategy is clear: Plaintiff firms use emotion to shift blame from the virus itself to the providers. The health care team at Johnson & Bell is committed to vigorously defending the doctors, nurses, hospitals, and long-term care facilities who are on the front lines of fighting this unprecedented disease. We will tirelessly defend against any attempt to place blame on the dedicated health care providers who are tasked with fighting Covid-19.
If you have questions about this development, please contact Sammi L. Renken or contact the Johnson & Bell attorney with whom you regularly work.
