27 August 2022: NJ's Handling of COVID at Veterans Homes Under Fresh Scrutiny

NJ's handling of COVID at veterans homes under fresh scrutiny — 41 new lawsuits filed

This report from 25 August 2022 summarizes the civil lawsuits filed by families of veterans who died of COVID in New Jersey's state government-operated nursing homes. The excerpts below are taken from a radio interview of NewJersey.com reporter Scott Fallon with WNYC host Sean Carlson:

Sean Carlson: Tell us a bit about who is suing the administration and what sorts of problems they're citing.

Scott Fallon: So we've already had about 190 families of veterans home residents who passed away that have sued the Murphy administration. Those lawsuits have been settled to a tune of $69 million. This month, 41 employees at the Menlo Park veterans home filed lawsuits against the Murphy administration, claiming that they got ill because of a lack of infection control measures, ill preparedness and a number of other claims.

[...]

Sean Carlson: What are the prospects of accountability here? These 41 lawsuits are not the first to deal with how New Jersey handled the pandemic at long-term care facilities. Are these going to change anything?

Scott Fallon: Generally, the lawsuits are all being settled out of court. So there will not be a day in court in which everything will be disclosed. Murphy has said for two years, many times, that he wants a "post mortem" on how his administration handled the pandemic, but he has yet to move on that at all. We even asked him [Tuesday] about it. And he said, again, it's a wait-and-see prospect, but he vows that it will happen.

There are three investigations going on, one by the (state) attorney general, one by the Department of Justice and one by the State Commissioner of Investigation. Where those stand, we don't know just yet. But nothing official has happened with them.

It has been months since any of the official criminal investigations have shown any visible signs of progress.