Marquette Law Review Volume 86 Article 4 Issue 3 Winter 2002 The alueV of a Parent-Child Relationship: Should Adult Children in Wisconsin be Permitted to Recover for Loss of Companionship of a Parent Who has Died at the Hands of a Nursing Home? Stacy E. Buening Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/mulr Part of the Law Commons Repository Citation Stacy E. Buening, The Value of a Parent-Child Relationship: Should Adult Children in Wisconsin be Permitted to Recover for Loss of Companionship of a Parent Who has Died at the Hands of a Nursing Home?, 86 Marq. L. Rev. 541 (2002). Available at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/mulr/vol86/iss3/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Marquette Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Marquette Law Review by an authorized administrator of Marquette Law Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. THE VALUE OF A PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP: SHOULD ADULT CHILDREN IN WISCONSIN BE PERMITTED TO RECOVER FOR LOSS OF COMPANIONSHIP OF A PARENT WHO HAS DIED AT THE HANDS OF A NURSING HOME? I. INTRODUCTION Until recently, litigation involving nursing homes has been sparse, especially in Wisconsin.' However, more than 1.5 million Americans are admitted to nursing homes each year, and studies indicate that as the "baby boom" generation reaches the age of sixty-five, the elderly population will increase resulting in a growing demand for extended- care facilities.2 With the increased maturation of the United States population and the resulting increased dependence on nursing home care, there will undoubtedly be an "increase[d] 3 need for quality nursing care." Today, many extended-care facilities overwork their employees and fail to adequately supervise their staff, resulting in patients often being left without basic care.4 Thus, it will not be uncommon for much of the 1.