by In the early months of 2020, as COVID-19 outbreaks dominated headlines, Trever Schapers grew increasingly concerned about her father’s wellbeing at the West Lawrence Care Center in Queens, New York. She cherished the memory of her father, John Schapers, celebrating his 90th birthday with him at the nursing home that February. However, when the facility went into lockdown, her fears intensified.
Tragically, her father contracted COVID-19 and was transferred to a hospital, where he succumbed to the virus after two weeks on a ventilator in May 2020. Determined to seek justice, Trever Schapers filed a negligence and wrongful death lawsuit against the nursing home in 2022.
However, her case was dismissed by a judge due to a New York state law enacted early in the pandemic. Adaptation and Resilience This law grants immunity to medical providers for any harm or damages resulting from their actions or omissions in treating or arranging care for COVID-19 patients. Schapers is currently appealing the decision.
“I believe that families are being overlooked by the courts and judges, who fail to acknowledge the need for accountability,” said Schapers, a 48-year-old medical professional. “Something needs to change.”
The nursing home declined to comment on the matter. In a court filing, they argued that Schapers failed to provide evidence of gross negligence in her father’s care.
Over the past four years, hundreds of lawsuits alleging negligent care leading to patient deaths in nursing homes have been dismissed or stalled in the courts due to contentious legal battles. Some nursing homes that were shut down for safety violations have also claimed immunity against such lawsuits, according to court records.
Families who allege that nursing homes concealed information about COVID-19 cases or even denied their existence within the facilities have also faced dismissed cases. Schapers herself accused the nursing home of failing to inform her that they had admitted COVID-positive patients from a nearby hospital in March 2020.
In early April, she received a call informing her of COVID-positive residents at the facility. “The call I received was extremely alarming, and they refused to answer any of my questions,” she recalled.
Approximately two weeks later, a social worker contacted her to report that her father had a fever, but the staff did not test him for COVID-19, according to Schapers’ complaint.
*Note:
1.Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public sources, Desk research
2.We have leveraged AI tools to mine information and compile it
