Good! Supreme Court Upholds Right To Sue Public Nursing Homes Over Abuse

The Supreme Court upheld an individual right to sue public nursing homes for violated rights protected under a federal law that sets standards for these institutions.

The court affirmed an appeals court ruling in a 7-2 decision that found a private individual can sue for rights protected by the Federal Nursing Home Reform Act through Section 1983 of the federal code, which allows someone to sue for their federal civil rights.

The case arose after a man named Gorgi Talevski moved into a county-owned nursing home in Indiana in 2016. Talevski had dementia that his family was unable to care for, but he was able to talk, feed himself, walk and recognize his family.

But Talevski’s condition significantly deteriorated that year, and his family learned that the nursing home, Valparaiso Care and Rehabilitation, was chemically restraining him. The medications were later reduced and allowed him to be able to feed himself again.

The nursing home later asserted that Talevski was harassing female residents and staff and began sending him to a psychiatric hospital, according to the court’s ruling. But it eventually tried to force him to permanently move to a dementia facility without notifying him or his family.

Talevski’s wife, Ivanka, sued the nursing home, its manager American Senior Communities LLC and the Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County (HHC), arguing that they violated her husband’s civil rights protected by the federal nursing home law.

The US Supreme Court on Thursday morning ruled that nursing home residents and their survivors can sue publicly owned facilities to protect their rights under the Federal Nursing Home Reform Act.

The ruling, experts had predicted, could have far-reaching implications for millions of people, beyond those living in nursing homes, who rely on all kinds of federal benefits managed by government partners.