The statistics concerning kidney disease in the United States are alarming. As many as 15% of Americans have kidney problems in part due to aging, diabetes and hypertension. Kidney disease is one of the leading causes of death in our country. Dialysis is the primary treatment for end stage renal failure. More than 500,000 Americans are undergoing dialysis treatment as of 2020. While dialysis treatments can extend lives and increase quality of life in many situations, there are large corporate interests who have used laws to their advantage to make dialysis very profitable to the detriment of dialysis patients.
The Dark-side of the Dialysis Industry
There are a few very large corporations that have cracked the profitability code for dialysis treatment. These corporations are usually treating Medicare patients, and so they are incentivized to do as little work as possible to stay profitable. That being said, decades ago, dialysis was provided by a far greater breadth of facilities. This was a necessary medical service not a profit center. As a few publicly traded companies bought up clinics throughout the country, there were several consequences. First, there are usually very few options in any geographic area for dialysis treatment, and this is because these few companies have cornered the market. Second, because dialysis treatment is frequently paid for by Medicare, these large companies have their prices set by the federal government. Third, in order to ensure that their clinics are as profitable as possible, these dialysis companies do everything possible to cut the costs of providing dialysis. Fourth, the conduct of dialysis corporations flouts antitrust laws in the United States. As stated above, in any geographic location, there are now only one or two options for dialysis treatment, and this trend has developed because dialysis corporation take advantage of the minimum antitrust threshold rules. Because the large publicly traded dialysis companies are buying up small clinics on a piecemeal basis throughout the country, they have been able to create quasi monopolies without reporting their conduct for antitrust scrutiny.
Who is paying for the profits of publicly traded dialysis corporations?
These dialysis corporations can't increase their net profits by increasing the cost of dialysis because they are paid by medicare. So they increase their profits by cutting costs. Costs are cut in dialysis clinics not just by increased efficiency. Rather, they cut costs by understaffing, by increasing patient count, and by removing doctors from clinics. There are no doctors in dialysis clinics on a day to day basis. These clinics are primarily run by unskilled laborers and nurses. This paradigm is a tinderbox for injuries to vulnerable dialysis patients.
Dialysis injuries and malpractice
Dialysis corporations have figured out how to create tremendous profits by cutting the costs associated with dialysis treatment. Unfortunately, this has exposed dialysis patients to tremendous risk. In the event that you or a family member have suffered an injury during the course of dialysis, you should consider contacting Zayed Law Offices for a free, no-obligation consultation. We have the experience and resources not only to promptly asses the merits of your case, but we have the resolve to do what it takes to secure compensation to remedy the wrong done to you. Please contact our office at 855.726.1616 in the event that you have suffered any of the following injuries in a dialysis setting:
• Death
• Medication errors
• Falls
• Port and vascular access-related injuries
• Excess blood loss and/or prolonged bleeding
• Improper responses to machine alarms
• Failing to clear dialysis machines of cleaning solutions
• Failing to monitor blood pressure and other vital signs
• Contamination of line or machinery causing bloodstream infections
Errors Happen Daily at Dialysis Clinics
Errors happen daily at dialysis clinics. Not every mistake results in injury, and not every dialysis related illness or setback is the result of negligence. That being said, if you or a family member has been injured as a result of negligence, we implore you to contact the medical malpractice and dialysis injury team at Zayed Law Offices at 855.726.1616. A legal team is the only way to level the playing field with the large corporations who are behind the frequently compromised treatment provided by these dialysis clinics.