Survivors of a former North Carolina nursing home resident are suing the facility where she died in what McKnight's Long-term Care News reports "could be a litmus test for the patchwork of liability protections granted to healthcare providers across the country."
North Carolina is one of nearly 30 states that extended nursing homes legal immunity to shield them from lawsuits during the pandemic. Nursing homes claimed that they need protection since they became ground zero for the contagion. The industry lobbied unsuccessfully for national liability protections.
The family of Palestine Howze is pursuing a case against Treyburn Rehabilitation Center in Durham, NC, where she died in April of non-COVID causes. In many cases, immunity given during the pandemic extends beyond COVID-related cases.
The family’s lawsuit is believed to be the first of its kind to challenge nursing home immunity.” The family claims that Howze developed a pressure ulcer that became infected, and the facility declined to send her to the hospital for treatment citing the pandemic.
The family’s lawsuit is believed to be the first of its kind to challenge nursing home immunity.” The family claims that Howze developed a pressure ulcer that became infected, and the facility declined to send her to the hospital for treatment citing the pandemic.
North Carolina passed its liability shield law a month after Howze’s death and made it retroactive to March 10, 2020. It runs through the end of the public health emergency, which is currently extended into April but is projected to be lengthened at least through 2021.
“For the Legislature to say that the nursing homes need protection in the middle of a pandemic, not the nursing home patients, is outrageous and it’s unjust,” Elizabeth Todd, the family’s attorney, told NPR.
In October, a federal court ruled that a Pennsylvania nursing home could not claim preemption and federal immunity under the “Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act,” or PREP Act. Although then-Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) argued for federal corporate liability protections, he abandoned the fight in agreeing to a second COVID-19 relief package in December.
ProPublica and The News & Observer first reported on the Howze family’s suit. A lawyer for Treyburn’s owner, Sovereign Healthcare Holdings, reportedly stated that “the case is defensible, factually and legally, and we would prefer to let the legal process run its course on both fronts.”
ProPublica and The News & Observer first reported on the Howze family’s suit. A lawyer for Treyburn’s owner, Sovereign Healthcare Holdings, reportedly stated that “the case is defensible, factually and legally, and we would prefer to let the legal process run its course on both fronts.”
Many have expressed concern that protecting institutions from liability will only discourage institutions from behaviors and policies most likely to protect residents. This is troubling given that more than 40% of COVID-19 death nationwide are attributed to long term institutional care facilities like nursing homes and assisted living facilities. New reports suggest the numbers of institutional care COVID-related deaths is frighteningly under reported. Legal experts have opined that facilities may still be held liable for gross negligence under the orders.
The Howze case could prove the accuracy of the latter opinion. A North Carolina Superior Court judge must now decide whether to dismiss it because of the immunity statute or allow it to continue, possibly in arbitration. That could take months in a state where courts are already backed up due to the pandemic.
No comments:
Post a Comment