DOJ Drops Cuomo Nursing Home Probe
A lack of accountability
In a shocking move, the Biden Department of Justice decided to close its civil rights investigation related to the Governor's policy requiring nursing homes to admit stable Covid patients. The investigation which began under the former administration of President Donald Trump in August 2020 was based upon enforcement of the Civil Rights of Institutional Persons Act and included Governors from the states of New York, New Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania. The investigation was initiated due to potential civil rights violations resulting from state Covid policies that led to the death of thousands of nursing home patients.
The actual New York policy was cited in the DOJ press release announcing the initial investigation, "No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to [a nursing home] solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of Covid 19. [Nursing homes] are prohibited from requiring a hospitalized resident who is determined medically stable to be tested for Covid 19 prior to admission or readmission." The New York policy also included a provision that allowed asymptomatic employees to continue to work in their facilities. Many of the nursing homes also lacked personal protective equipment and suffered from inadequate medical care.
In February, the US Attorney for the Eastern District and the FBI announced a probe related to the revelation of the Governor Cuomo's Secretary, Melissa DeRosa that the Governor under reported Covid deaths at nursing homes. The current status of that investigation is unknown. As the more serious investigation related to potential civil rights violations has been closed, the latter investigation is likely to go no where.
The real scandal involves the duplicity of the New York State Legislature. While Andrew Cuomo enacted the nursing home policy under his executive branch powers, the legislature included a bill in the omnibus state budget that prohibits patients from suing nursing homes and hospitals. Even the resulting investigative report by Attorney General Letitia James make no mention of the change to state law. It is truly sad that so many elderly New York residents had to die due to an incompetent public policy. What's worse?, No one willing to hold those responsible to account for their actions.