Federally-protected rights of nursing home residents

I’m Katelyn Holub, an attorney focusing on personal injury law in northwest Indiana.

Welcome to Personal Injury Primer, where we break down the law into simple terms, provide legal tips, and discuss personal injury law topics.

Today’s episode takes a look at a recent case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States about the rights of a nursing home resident as it pertains to the right to be free from chemical restraints imposed for purposes of discipline or convenience rather than treatment as well as the right not to be transferred or discharged from a nursing home facility unless certain criteria are met. Health & Hosp. Corp. v. Talevski, 143 S. Ct. 1444 (2023).

The case centered on the language of a couple of provisions in the Federal Nursing Home Reform Act.  In general, the Act is a federal law that sets forth minimum standards of care that state-run nursing homes must meet to receive Medicaid funds. The Act also has a section that lists out certain rights of nursing home residents regarding their health and safety.

Included in that list of the rights of nursing home residents are provisions regarding the right to be free from restraints and the right not to be transferred or discharged from a nursing home facility unless certain prerequisites are met.

The Supreme Court affirmed the 7^th Circuit appellate court, answering the question about whether parts of the Federal Nursing Home Reform Act setting forth certain rights for nursing home residents to receive federal funding through the Medicaid program also conferred private rights of action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for nursing home residents to sue nursing homes for alleged violations of those rights.

The Court determined that the Act did confer privately enforceable rights of action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 regarding the right to be free from restraints and not to be transferred or discharged from a nursing home facility unless certain prerequisites are met.

What is 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and why is it important? The short answer is it is a federal law that gives an express cause of action to any person deprived (by someone acting under color of state law) of rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the US Constitution and federal laws.

Here, the federal law was the Federal Nursing Home Reform Act. The specific language of the Act enumerating the rights of a nursing home resident to be free from restraints provides:

The right to be free from physical or mental abuse, corporal punishment, involuntary seclusion, and any physical or chemical restraints imposed for purposes of discipline or convenience and not required to treat the resident’s medical symptoms. Restraints may only be imposed—

(I) to ensure the physical safety of the resident or other residents, and

(II) only upon the written order of a physician that specifies the duration and circumstances under which the restraints are to be used …

The other right of a nursing home resident described in the Federal Nursing Home Reform Act that was at issue in this lawsuit is the right not to be transferred or discharged from