Lawyers contest DHS’ move to dismiss care-cut lawsuit

Attorneys for a leukemia-stricken woman who is suing the Arkansas Department of Human Services said that their client’s harm can be traced to the agency’s failure to operate an adequate benefits system, according to a Friday response to the state’s motion to dismiss the case.

Jacquelyn Dearmore, 71, of Yellville, filed a lawsuit in February in U.S. District Court in Little Rock after the hours of in-house care she received was reduced from 33 hours per week to 24, according to court filings.

Attorneys from Jonesboro-based Legal Aid of Arkansas, who are representing Dearmore, argued that the court “could provide relief” to remedy the harm caused by the reduction in homecare hours.

Dearmore suffers from a chronic myeloid leukemia and other ailments, her lawyers said. Last month, attorneys for the department’s employees named in the suit

— including Secretary Cindy Gillespie — filed a motion to dismiss the case. They alleged, in part, that the plaintiff could not identify a constitutional violation on the part of the department, nor could she “establish a pattern of unconstitutional conduct.” Additionally, attorneys argued that Gillespie and others named in the suit are entitled to “Qualified Immunity.”

The defendants’ motion also states that the law “does not require a state Medicaid agency to implement a flawless program.”

Dearmore’s attorneys countered that the situation is a “straightforward exercise” in the need to hold public officials accountable when they “exercise power irresponsibly.” According to the lawsuit, the reduction in Dearmore’s medical care went into effect Dec. 1, 2019, even though she had filed an appeal two weeks earlier. Her attorneys said Dearmore checked the proper box indicating that she wanted her benefits to continue while the case was pending.