This is hot off the presses! The U.S. Supreme Court has denied “certiorari” (that’s the latin word for the court’s discretionary review of cases from the lower courts) in the Grammer v. Kane case.

That means that in the third circuit (Pennsylvania, NJ, Delaware and the U.S. Virgin islands) the law of the land is that you can pursue a federal civil rights claim when you are injured in a government run nursing home as the result of abuse and neglect. This is a huge victory for residents of state run nursing home  and their families.

My hat goes off to my colleague in Pittsburgh, Bob Daley, who has handled this case from the beginning.

This suit arose from treatment that the plaintiff’s mother received in the Kane Center – a Pittsburgh-area skilled nursing and rehabilitation center. While a resident there, Mrs. Grammer developed decubitus ulcers (bed sores)  became malnourished and eventually developed sepsis (a total body infection) that led to her death.

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals found that the Federal Nursing Home Reform Amendments did create “rights” entitling the estate of Mrs. Grammer to pursue these claims. Because the Supreme Court has denied “certiorari” this decision will now stand as the controlling precedent.

Before this, claims were limited to state-law “tort” claims. If you or a loved one were injured in a state run facility, your recovery was limited by sovereign immunity. This denial of “certiorari” will open the door for full and fair recovery for abuse and neglect in state run nursing homes.