14 September 2021: Ongoing Criminal Probes of Excess Nursing Home Deaths in NY, NJ and PA

Investigations into Northeast nursing homes ongoing as true COVID death toll rises by 16K

This report confirms state and federal prosecutors are probing nursing home deaths since early 2020 in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Readers will recognize that these states, along with Michigan, sustained policies very much like New York's deadly 25 March 2020 directive under Andrew M. Cuomo's administration, unlike nearly every other state in the U.S.

Prosecutors in New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey continued to pursue probes of everything from potential Medicaid fraud to governmental and operator malfeasance linked to thousands of nursing home deaths in the states since early 2020, the USA TODAY Network Atlantic Group has confirmed.

The investigations, several of which have already spanned nearly a year, are unfolding as new research suggested government counts likely missed more than 16,000 COVID-19 deaths in U.S. nursing homes during the early months of the pandemic last year....

The majority of the missing deaths impacted totals in Northeastern states hit hardest by the initial coronavirus wave before federal COVID reporting requirements took effect in May 2020.

The new death count findings come amid renewed calls from lawmakers, advocates and relatives of those who died due to COVID devastation in nursing homes that demand more answers from authorities about one of the pandemic’s darkest sagas.

While much of report covers territory already covered in the timeline, new information about the status of investigations in Pennsylvania that the timeline hasn't previously featured:

In Pennsylvania, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced in May 2020 that his office opened “several” criminal investigations into several Pennsylvania nursing homes as a result of reports of neglect received during the pandemic.

Those investigations were ongoing, an AG spokeswoman confirmed on Aug. 10 and declined further comment.

Last August, Shapiro confirmed that Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center in western Pennsylvania was under investigation over reports of “deeply troubling” conditions and practices.

The Beaver County nursing home had one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks among all 692 skilled nursing centers in Pennsylvania, with 83 resident deaths along with one staff member who died following positive coronavirus tests.

Meanwhile, the report adds the following information about the lack of reaction to the U.S. Department of Justice's probe of nursing home deaths in Democratic Party-controlled Philadelphia:

In Philadelphia, the Center for Advocacy for the Rights and Interests of the Elderly (CARIE) has not heard concerns from families or advocates about the decision to scrap the DOJ investigation into the admission of COVID-19 positive residents into nursing homes, advocacy manager Kathy Cubit said.

“Honestly we don’t have an official position, but my response to that in particular is not of concern,” Cubit added. “More concerns are about action being taken to reform the system.”

Rebecca Cordner, whose 89-year-old mother, Kathie Cordner, has been living in a nursing home in suburban Philadelphia since last year called the decision to suspend the federal investigation “atrocious, but not surprising,” asserting political motivations killed the probe.

That assessment concurs with the general consensus that President Joe Biden and his appointed attorneys in the DOJ are okay with all the excess COVID nursing home deaths in these states, which are all led by Democratic Party governors and could negatively impact their political interests if pursued. At present, the DOJ is only continuing to probe COVID related deaths at two veterans homes in New Jersey, where these institutions failed to cooperate with the Biden DOJ's minimal requests for data.