Nursing home protections limit families who want to sue
By Staff | Feb 11, 2021
In this Nov. 28, 2019, photo provided by the Burrough family, Bessie Burden, center, poses with her daughters Theresa Burrough, left, and Lashieka Mitchell outside the Westbury Conyers nursing home in Conyers, Ga. Burden died Oct. 22, 2020, after becoming infected with the coronavirus during an outbreak at the nursing home. Burden’s daughters blame the home for their mother’s death, saying administrators kept the family in the dark about Burden being exposed to the virus and quarantined as a presumptive case. But the state has essentially blocked them from going to court. (Leah Burrough via AP)
Georgia Law Blocks Families of Nursing Home Residents from Suing Over COVID Deaths February 2, 2021
A suburban Atlanta nursing home where 22 people died from COVID-19 has been faulted by state inspectors for failing to control infections, but relatives of people who died say they can’t sue because Georgia lawmakers last year blocked lawsuits unless plaintiffs can prove the difficult-to-meet standard of gross negligence.
WXIA-TV reports that multiple state reports faulted infection control at Westbury Nursing Home in Conyers, where at least 85 residents have been infected. That includes an October inspection where Georgia Department of Community Health inspectors found Westbury put residents in immediate jeopardy by keeping COVID-19 positive and negative residents in the same rooms, improperly performing COVID-19 tests, and failing to notify state officials.
CONYERS, Ga. (AP) A suburban Atlanta nursing home where 22 people died from COVID-19 has been faulted by state inspectors for failing to control infections, but relatives of people who died say.