Lucido to review nursing home virus deaths
Peter Lucido to review virus deaths in nursing homes
Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido has launched an initiative to make it easier for individuals to submit potential criminal complaints against the state or Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for deaths related to the placement of COVID-19 patients in nursing homes.
Lucido said at a news conference Thursday he and his office has received “hundreds” of informal complaints from relatives of those who have died in a nursing home or have suffered permanent health ailments af- ter they were moved from a facility where they sought care into a “hub” nursing home. Criminal complaints have been filed in with police in Warren and Shelby Township, he added.
Lucido, a Republican, said he is not “going after anyone, never have,” in response to Democrat Whitmer calling his efforts “shameful political attacks based in neither fact nor reality.”
“I am seeking the truth because the families of lost loved ones deserve to know the truth,” Lucido said. “Those seniors have died without their loved ones holding their hand. I want to stop all the calls, all the heartache.”
He added: “If anyone thinks they’re above the law in his administration, think again.”
The governor points out Paula Cunningham, state director of the AARP, and Eric Schneidewind, former national AARP director, have said they supported Whitmer’s efforts.
In addition, the University of Michigan’s Center for Health and Transformation found that the process was “logical and appropriate,” and that the infection rate in the hubs were not greater than the county’s rates. Lucido said he has set up a 3-page form available on the office’s website that a potential complainant can fill out and provide to their local police department. He conceded it is possible no charges will be filed against anyone.
“A team of subject matter experts and specialists will be assigned to review and report to me the suggested disposition of each claim,” he said. “It may be that a referral to a state or federal agency will be the best place to provide what our work has found. It may be that there is a rational, justifiable, lawful explanation for what is alleged to have occurred.
“But with the primary concern being on the welfare of our most vulnerable and elderly, these questions must be allowed to be asked and answered by competent authority.
“My concern is that we look at this in light most favorable to those that need this closure, they need this opportunity to find the questions that were not answered. All we’re asking for is that opportunity.”
Lucido also announced he is seeking to set up an “elderly and vulnerable adult death review board” to look at the deaths of elderly people in nursing home. The formation of such a “team” is allowed by law to be set up by county Medical Examiner Dr. Daniel Spitz. The board would consist of various entities including law enforcement, the Prosecutor’s Office and elderly care, he said.
The board would be similar to a death review board that looks into child deaths.
Lucido said the board would establish protocols of the board’s role related to investigations of cases. He did not say if charges are warranted what they would be, adding he is looking at two misdemeanor charges.