Talevski v. Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County

Dist. Ct. erred in dismissing for failure to state viable cause of action plaintiff-nursing home resident’s section 1983 action, alleging that defendant-state-run nursing care facility violated Federal Nursing Home Reform Act (FNHRA) by failing to keep plaintiff (who has dementia) free from chemical restraints imposed for purposes of discipline or convenience rather than treatment and discharging plaintiff to different facility without meeting certain criteria for doing so. While Dist. Ct. found that FNHRA does not provide plaintiff with private right of action that could be addressed via section 1983 action, Ct. of Appeals found that both provisions of FNHRA at issue in instant case conferred privately enforceable rights upon nursing home residents that were addressable via section 1983 action. Ct. rejected defendant’s claim that FNHRA impliedly foreclosed any section 1983 claim because FNHRA provided federal and state enforcement schemes in addition to individualized mechanisms for recourse other than section 1983.