Nursing Home Resident’s Suit for Rights Violations Revived

A nursing home resident can sue the facility for violating rights set out in the Federal Nursing Home Reform Act because the law creates private rights enforceable through litigation under federal civil rights law, the Seventh Circuit said Tuesday.

Gorgi Talevski, in a suit brought on his behalf by his wife, showed that Congress enacted FNHRA specifically to benefit nursing home residents, identified the rights provided in clear terms, and unambiguously imposed binding obligations on nursing homes, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit said.

Valparaiso Care & Rehabilitation failed to rebut the presumption that the law ...