Discharge Of Resident From Intermediate Care Facility: Court Throws Out Family Member's Suit For Retaliation

Legal Eagle Eye Newsletter for the Nursing Profession

October 1996

   The court concluded the facility was unable to handle the challenging medical-care issues arising from his weight problem, sleep apnea, gastrointestinal reflux, esophagitis, asthma and environmental allergies, along with his cognitive deficits.

   Nevertheless, the resident’s mother filed suit over her son’s discharge from the facility. She claimed in her suit that her son’s discharge was motivated by an intent by the facility’s administrators to retaliate against her for her continued complaints over the manner in which her son was being treated at the facility. The mother had filed complaints with state authorities saying her son was beaten and subjected to verbal abuse as part of a behavior modification treatment plan to control his overeating and morbid obesity.

   The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit determined that the resident had not been beaten or verbally abused, that there were valid patient-care concerns which necessitated the resident’s discharge from the facility in order that he could be placed in a more appropriate setting better geared toward meeting his needs, and that the facility’s administrators had not been motivated by any intent to retaliate against the resident’s mother in making decisions concerning his care and placement.