Nursing homes were one of the first epicenters of the coronavirus crisis in the U.S. The country first learned how deadly COVID-19 would be when it tore through a nursing home in Kirkland, WA. Within weeks, scores of patients were dead after the facility mishandled the outbreak of the disease. This was just the first outbreak of a scourge that has caused scores of deaths across the country.
Coronavirus wrongful death nursing home lawyer
Liability for a nursing home Covid-19 death in Rhode Island
A sizable proportion of the total number of U.S. deaths have come at nursing homes. While not every COVID-19 death at a nursing home is automatically nursing home negligence, there have been some egregious examples of skilled nursing facilities that stood idly by as the virus spread through the home. In some states, nursing home deaths are roughly half of the total number of fatalities. The true scope of the havoc wreaked at nursing homes may never be fully known.
Even under the best of circumstances, nursing homes have a poor track record of infection control. Many skilled nursing facilities have a long history of putting profits over people. Even then, many homes lose money and cut back on staffing in order to inflate their profits. In an average year, nearly 400,000 nursing home residents will die of an infection. Federal nursing home inspections routinely turn up violations of federal rules on infection control. Nursing homes are required to have a written infection control plan and follow it.
Federal Government Nursing Home COVID Guidelines
While the federal government was slow to respond, it eventually issued guidance that laid out measures homes that nursing homes would need to take in order to protect their residents from COVID-19. CDC issued guidance about infection control that applied generally to health care providers. CMS issued more specific instructions to nursing homes. Then, states also gave their own guidance to their nursing homes. As a result, nursing homes had a series of guidelines to follow. This guidance was in addition to the general regulations with which nursing homes must comply.
CDC guidelines
The CDC did not begin to issue guidelines for nursing homes until several weeks after it was apparent that COVID-19 was going to become a major problem in nursing homes. Here are some features of the CDC guidance:
- Nursing homes need to be proactive in implementing guidelines, even if they do not have any cases of COVID-19 in their facility.
- Facilities must have a separate care area in the home for residents with COVID-19. Each part of the home must have a separate staffing plan.
- Nursing homes must maintain standard infection control procedures and also use PPE with residents.
- Staff must communicate with residents and their family members if they are diagnosed with COVID-19.
- Nursing homes must evaluate and manage staff members with COVID-19.
- No visitors are allowed into the facility except for a compassionate care situation.
There are numerous other guidelines as the CDC has supplemented and revised its guidelines as more has been learned.
CMS has also issued steps for nursing homes to follow. Since nursing homes receive money from the Medicare and Medicaid programs, they must follow the rules set by CMS. This agency has also progressively updated regulations as more has become known. Here is some of CMS has recommended that nursing homes do to prevent an outbreak of coronavirus in their facility:
- Nursing homes must report COVID-19 cases to the CDC.
- Nursing homes must report conditions inside the facility to residents and their representatives.
- The CDC will conduct stepped up visits to each facility in order to monitor compliance with infection control guidance and rules.
- Nursing home residents cannot gather in a community area or eat meals together.
COVID-19 Outbreaks in Nursing Homes
Nonetheless, many nursing homes have not taken effective steps to contain the outbreak of COVID-19 among their residents. Even after the federal government began to issue guidance, many nursing homes were overwhelmed and had massive breakdowns in their care. The result was numerous mass outbreaks in nursing homes that killed scores of residents.
Here are some examples of nursing homes that have been ravaged by COVID-19 with questionable actions on the part of the nursing homes:
- Sagepoint Senior Living in LaPlata MD was fined $10,000 per day by Maryland regulators because its staff failed to use any personal protective equipment. In addition, the nursing home failed to timely separate residents who had COVID-19 or were suspected to have had it. The facility also delayed receiving residents’ test results from the lab. The nursing home had the highest death toll in Maryland, and there have been over 100 cases of coronavirus tied to this particular home.
- A nursing home in New Jersey drew national outrage when bodies of residents were piled into a small morgue. After the media alerted the public of the grotesque situation, regulators conducted an inspection of the facility. What they found was horrifying. There were reports of fecal matter and urine on the floor and nonexistent infection control practices. Staff reported not using any PPE in their interactions with residents. In total, nearly 70 residents were reported to have died from COVID-19. The inspection resulted in a $220,000 fine for the nursing home.
- As mentioned above, the first nursing home to record a COVID-19 outbreak was in Kirkland, WA. The nursing home originally thought they were dealing with a case of the flu when scores of residents turned up sick. Accordingly, the staff did nothing to quarantine and separate sick residents. There were over 100 cases of coronavirus in the facility and 37 reported deaths. The nursing home received a massive $600,00 fine from the federal government for its substandard infection control practices. Families of those who died in the facility have begun to file wrongful death lawsuits against the nursing home.
COVID-19 Lawsuits Against Nursing Homes
Family members with loved ones who died from COVID-19 at nursing homes have begun to file wrongful death lawsuits against the facilities where their loved ones perished. Here are some examples of recent lawsuits that have been filed:
- A nursing home in Salisbury, NC was the site of a COVID-19 outbreak. The family members of a resident who became seriously ill with COVID-19 filed a lawsuit against the nursing home. The complaint gave a vivid description of how the coronavirus overwhelmed the understaffed nursing home and how the hygienic problems at the facility allegedly led to an outbreak of the disease. The lawsuit alleged that family members often did not know that their loved one was sick until they received a call from doctors in the ER.
- Family members of five residents who died at one of Georgia’s hardest hit nursing homes filed a lawsuit against the Arbor Terrace nursing home. In all, at least 52 residents at the facility tested positive for COVID-19, and 15 of them died. One family member who was a part of the lawsuit said that when he went to visit his 84-year old mother at the nursing facility, he saw a staff member enter the home without a mask. The staff member claimed that they left their PPE in their car. Other residents’ families also claimed that the facility allowed staffers to work without the proper protective gear.
Some states have tried to shield nursing homes from liability for COVID-19 related lawsuits. Numerous state governors have tried to issue executive orders and legislatures have tried to pass bills protecting nursing homes to an extent. At this writing, 15 states have either passed legislation or had governor’s orders issued to grant some form of immunity to nursing homes in their states.
Wave of lawsuits t related to the COVID-19
The nursing home industry wants you to believe that the wave of lawsuits that they are facing related to the COVID-19 outbreak is nothing more than trial lawyers trying to profit off of the deaths of loved ones. However, the legal industry had absolutely nothing to do with the way that the nursing homes responded to the pandemic in their facilities. Trial lawyers were not standing in the hallways directing staff members not to wear PPE or call families to tell them that their loved one was ill.
The nursing home industry is exerting political pressure on the rest of the states to extend them protection from lawsuits. However, even in states that have some form of immunity for the nursing homes, the protection does not extend to gross negligence. There are still numerous ways for nursing homes to be held accountable for their conduct. In fact, many of the instances of conduct in which COVID-19 resulted in large scale nursing home fatalities could be considered gross negligence.
Arguably, gross negligence could include:
- Failure to follow federal guidelines in screening workers for COVID-19 symptoms
- Failure to inform nursing home residents and their families of an outbreak in the facility
- Disregarding COVID test results for residents and staff members
- Ignoring signs of an outbreak and not separating residents who appear to be sick
Still, nursing homes would seemingly get a pass on poor care decisions that they made as a result of a staffing shortage caused by COVID-19. This protection, however, would only apply to lawsuits that have their basis in the pandemic. Even if they end up immune to COVID-19 suits, nursing homes would still not be off the hook for standard negligence lawsuits that result from other breakdowns in care.
Damages in a Nursing Home Lawsuit
Those who are successful in a lawsuit against a nursing home may recover the following damages:
- Pain and suffering
- Medical expenses
- Wrongful death
- Emotional distress
- Loss of consortium
Here, people who died of COVID-19 experienced some agony in their last moments. Thus, there may be considerable pain and suffering and emotional distress involved in these lawsuits.
What a Nursing Home Neglect Lawyer Can Do for You
One can expect that nursing homes will fight these lawsuits and do so very hard. If they are found liable for the scores of deaths that occurred due to the COVID-19 outbreak, it may put many nursing homes out of business. Therefore, it is likely that skilled nursing home facilities may not settle these cases like they do others.
Here, it may take some doing to recreate the conditions at the nursing home during the time that it was ravaged by coronavirus. Many of the seniors who would have been witnesses to the conduct at the facility are no longer here to tell the story of what happened. Recreating the timeline and documenting what happened will take the skill that an attorney can bring.
Rhode Island Covid-19 Nursing Home wrongful death lawyer
Working together with the family, a Rhode Island Coronavirus wrongful death attorney can investigate the circumstances of your loved one’s death or illness and may be able to establish that the conditions at the nursing home at the time was the cause of the resident’s death. If the nursing home does not succeed in getting a waiver of liability from their state, you will have to prove that they were negligent in order to succeed. This required that you show that:
- The nursing home owed a duty of care to your loved one
- They did not uphold the standard of care by not acting as a reasonable nursing home would
- Your loved one was injured
- Your loved one would not have been injured but for the actions of the nursing home.
RI wrongful death lawyer
Even if the nursing home has a liability waiver from their state, you may still be able to file your lawsuit by proving all of the elements above plus the fact that the nursing home acted in reckless disregard of, or with a lack of substantial concern for, the rights of others. This is what it takes to prove gross negligence. Thus, you can see that nursing homes can be sued even if the states try to excuse them from liability because the recklessness of their actions during COVID-19 can be considered gross negligence which would not be included in the waiver. Thus, if your loved one died when the nursing home’s actions went beyond simple negligence, your family may still be able to file a lawsuit.