Nursing-home reforms on the right track

The stories were almost too horrifying to read.

They told about a woman who died of a blood infection caused by multiple bedsores.

They included the tale of a man who had much of his lower abdomen removed due to gangrenous infections.

In both cases, experts found that improper nursing-home care caused the painful deaths. In many other cases, government inspectors, law enforcement and medical examiners have allowed such nursing homes to continue unsafe practices unimpeded.

But thousands of Missourians read those stories, the result of a yearlong investigation by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. For many, it was dose of harsh reality. For others, it merely backed up accounts they had been giving for years about what happened to their own relatives.

And finally, in the wake of the public outcry, the Missouri Legislature appears to be rising up against the power nursing home lobby and doing something for a class of Missourians that deserve the government's protection the most. These are people who have made their contributions as residents of this state for decades, worked on farms and in factories, cared for children and grandchildren and now need care themselves.

That's not to say that all nursing homes -- or even most -- are delivering improper care. For every complaint that one family has, there are countless other families who remember the fine care and kindness shown their elderly relatives.

The nursing homes that are providing the best care have nothing to fear about a proposed law given a unanimous endorsement in the Missouri Senate this week, sending the measure to the House of Representatives.

Among the bill's key provisions:

Boosting fines, which haven't been adjusted since 1979, to $25,000 from $10,000 for each day a violation exists.

Closing the loophole that currently allows nursing home owners to escape fines for serious violations by fixing the problem, even if death or serious injury had resulted.

Ensuring that operators can't dodge fines by selling a facility cited for violations.