The Supreme Court decided on Nov. 21 not to take up the case of a California nursing home operator that is trying to duck a lawsuit filed in state court over the COVID-19-related death of a resident by moving it to federal court to obtain legal immunity.
Ricardo Saldana died in March 2020 at age 77 after living for six years at a nursing home run by Glenhaven Healthcare in Glendale, California. Two months later his family sued in state court, claiming the company was liable for elder abuse, custodial negligence, willful misconduct, and negligence.
The company and industry groups argued that when Alex Azar, then-President Donald Trump’s Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), declared a public health emergency in early 2020, doing so activated part of the federal Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP) of 2005, according to Reuters….