There has been controversy over Michigan's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to nursing homes. | stock photo
There has been controversy over Michigan's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to nursing homes. | stock photo
Michigan residents with relatives who have died from COVID-19 in nursing homes will be unlikely to prevail in lawsuits against the state, an attorney said on WJR's "The Frank Beckmann Show."
“The state is protected with what is called 'governmental immunity',” said attorney Todd Flood, managing partner at Flood Law. “You can pierce that protection, but it’s a very high standard.”
That would take evidence of “deliberate indifferent or high gross negligence,” by the state, the attorney said on the radio program.
This is not going to be similar to water contamination Flint, Michigan, where “they knew about it and they swept it under the rug and they didn’t tell the public,” Flood told the host.
Michigan officials did not hide COVID-19, the attorney pointed out.
“They are addressing the issue,” Flood said on the show. “Whatever mistakes they may make, the proactive approach protects them from being sued. If you can find a government actor who tried to sweep it under the rug, that’s a different story, but you’re not going to find that here.”
However, that does not mean individual nursing homes aren’t liable for their actions.
“The private entity, they’re the ones that are going to be in trouble because they did not follow the proper protocols,” Flood told the host. “Almost 50% of our nursing homes that were inspected fell below the protocols and safety measures that were put in place in the state of Michigan.”
It could be that nursing homes were negligent or deliberately indifferent, Flood explained.
“You go in there as an elderly person, you have heart disease, you have diabetes, whatever the case may be. You catch COVID and you’re certain to be in peril,” he said on the show. “A nursing home that is a private facility that doesn’t follow the protocol, that’s what we’re looking at right now, what we’re exploring with our experts.”
Flood said his firm is looking at two cases where a person was released from the hospital and put into a nursing home, was not isolated properly and spread COVID-19 to other residents of the nursing home.
“I’ve seen a couple of those cases,” Flood told the host.
Alerts Sign-up