BHB STOPPING ELDERLY ABUSE: NURSING HOME RESIDENT DUMPING AND ILLEGAL DRUGGING
The Impact Practice filed this lawsuit along with AARP to enjoin a national nursing facility chain from dumping residents. In Single, et al. v. Cathedral Pioneer Church Homes II, et al., No. 34-2017-00220058 (Sac. Cnty. Super. Ct.), we won summary judgment against the nursing facility and the action is ongoing. The case has received national attention, was featured in a radio piece on NPR by Ina Jaffe, in the New York Times, and in other media.
“We have the impetus to go sue and get injunctions against any facilities in California that are engaged in dumping.”
The firm has filed several other lawsuits aimed at putting an end to resident dumping. We won the only appellate decision addressing resident dumping in California, St. John of God Retirement & Care Center v. Dept. of Health Care Servs., 2 Cal. App. 5th 638 (2016), and the only Ninth Circuit decision as well. See Anderson v. Ghaly, 930 F.3d 1066 (9th Cir. 2019). Link to oral argument here.
The firm recently settled two class actions, one in federal court in San Jose, and one in state court in Ventura County against large nursing home chains for illegally dumping residents. See Mou v. SSC Operating Co., et al., No. 5:18-cv-01911-EJD (N.D. Cal. 2018), which resulted in a groundbreaking injunction; and Fleming v. S-H Opco Camarillo, et al., 56-2018-00521232-CU-MC-VTA (Ventura Sup. Ct.), where similar relief is being finalized.
BHB Impact has a long history of protecting the elderly from abuse, including stopping the misuse of psychotropic drugs at 55 skilled nursing facilities in California by obtaining a first-of-its kind settlement for class of California residents that includes a sweeping injunction to prevent overuse of psychotropic drugs in nursing facilities. This was covered in 67th Los Angeles Area Emmy winning piece “Overmedicated and Misinformed,” KCET Media Group’s investigative piece featuring BHB partner Matt Borden and our client Aleah Davis.