Life Care Centers of Kirkland did not follow infection control policies that could have saved some residents’ lives during one of the earliest COVID-19 outbreaks, attorneys said as a civil trial over alleged pandemic failures got underway this week.
The families of two women whose deaths were among the earliest linked to COVID in the US are suing the national chain and a management company in federal court. It will be a trial closely watched by other skilled nursing operators and attorneys who defend them.
Testimony in the jury trial began Monday in US District Court for Washington’s Western District and is expected to run into next week. A ruling early this year allowed the case to proceed, even though so much about the virus was unknown at the time the women fell ill. That’s an argument Life Care attorneys had tried to make pre-trial and will no doubt pursue at trial.
Attorneys for Life Care had asked for summary judgment in the case, citing “inadequate evidence” to support claims of negligence, wrongful death, fraud and violations of state abuse and consumer protection laws.
The plaintiffs, survivors of two women who died in March 2020, allege that the facility ignored its own policy on outbreak control and management that was in place when the virus first began circulating in the US. According to court documents, the facility also did not update its policies and procedures in response to COVID in January or February, even after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued its first guidance on evaluating patients for the virus. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services did not publish its first COVID-19 guidance for nursing homes until March 9.
Law360 on Tuesday reported that the women’s family members testified on the trial’s first day that staff at the nursing home “failed to follow infection control policies” that could have saved their loved ones.
Family members of Barbara Dreyfuss and Robin Hamrick allege the facility was negligent in its care when they failed to identify signs of a COVID outbreak. Dreyfuss and Hamrick were diagnosed with COVID in late February and early March. The plaintiffs are also claiming that Life Care violated Washington’s Abuse of Vulnerable Adults Act and are seeking compensation “for the harms and losses to the deceased estates and for their personal loss,” according to instructions given to the jury this week.
No warning, guidance
But Life Care has denied those allegations, arguing it “had no warning, guidance, or ability” to prevent COVID-19 from entering and spreading through Life Care Center of Kirkland. Defendants “claim that they followed all applicable guidance and regulations in early 2020 and that there is nothing they could have done differently given the knowledge and guidance available in early 2020 concerning COVID-19,” the court told jurors.
A spokeswoman for Life Care Centers on Tuesday told McKnight’s Long-Term Care News the company would not comment on pending litigation.
Healthcare attorneys across the US have warned that it will become harder for defense teams to make arguments that lean on what providers knew and didn’t know about COVID as more time passes. As the virus has been normalized, vaccines have been introduced and the public health emergency ended, many Americans have forgotten the first scary months when even the nation’s top health officials were uncertain how the coronavirus spread, and tests and personal protective equipment were hard to come by.
The case also could be an important indicator of how well protections passed by many states and by the federal government (under the PREP, or Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness, Act) will provide well-intended providers legal cover for their early COVID actions.
Testimony in the jury trial began Monday in US District Court for Washington’s Western District and is expected to run into next week. A ruling early this year allowed the case to proceed, even though so much about the virus was unknown at the time the women fell ill. That’s an argument Life Care attorneys had tried to make pre-trial and will no doubt pursue at trial.
Summary judgment denied
Attorneys for Life Care had asked for summary judgment in the case, citing “inadequate evidence” to support claims of negligence, wrongful death, fraud and violations of state abuse and consumer protection laws.
The plaintiffs, survivors of two women who died in March 2020, allege that the facility ignored its own policy on outbreak control and management that was in place when the virus first began circulating in the US. According to court documents, the facility also did not update its policies and procedures in response to COVID in January or February, even after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued its first guidance on evaluating patients for the virus. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services did not publish its first COVID-19 guidance for nursing homes until March 9.
Bloomberg News on Tuesday reported that the women’s family members testified on the trial’s first day that staff at the nursing home “failed to follow infection control policies” that could have saved their loved ones.
Family members of Barbara Dreyfuss and Robin Hamrick allege the facility was negligent in its care when they failed to identify signs of a COVID outbreak. Dreyfuss and Hamrick were diagnosed with COVID in late February and early March. The plaintiffs are also claiming that Life Care violated Washington’s Abuse of Vulnerable Adults Act and are seeking compensation “for the harms and losses to the deceased estates and for their personal loss,” according to instructions given to the jury this week.
But Life Care has denied those allegations, arguing it “had no warning, guidance, or ability to prevent COVID-19 from entering and spreading through Life Care Center of Kirkland. Defendants “claim that they followed all applicable guidance and regulations in early 2020 and that there is nothing they could have done differently given the knowledge and guidance available in early 2020 concerning COVID-19,” the court told jurors.
A spokeswoman for Life Care Centers on Tuesday told McKnight’s Long-Term Care News the company would not comment on pending litigation.
Nationwide attention again
Healthcare attorneys across the US have warned that it will become harder for defense teams to make arguments that lean on what providers knew and didn’t know about COVID as more time passes. As the virus has been normalized, vaccines have been introduced and the public health emergency ended, many Americans have forgotten the first scary months when even the nation’s top health officials were uncertain how the coronavirus spread, and tests and personal protective equipment were hard to come by.
The case also could be an important indicator of how well protections passed by many states and by the federal government (under the PREP, or Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness, Act) will provide well-intended providers legal cover for their early COVID actions.
