Gretchen Whitmer may soon face Cuomo-like scrutiny over nursing homes, lawsuit plaintiffs say | ONN REPORTS
The state of Michigan is facing a lawsuit whose plaintiffs are seeking information on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s coronavirus-related executive order regarding the state’s nursing home residents.
Whitmer could soon find herself under scrutiny similar to that faced by a fellow Democrat, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the Michigan men taking the legal action against Whitmer say.
Plaintiffs Steve Delie and Charlie LeDuff outlined the purpose of their lawsuit in an article published Friday by USA Today. Delie is an official with the think tank Mackinac Center for Public Policy, while LeDuff is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist.
"It shouldn’t take a lawsuit to obtain this critical data," the pair write. "Gov. Whitmer made the same policy choice as Gov. Cuomo, forcing contagious senior citizens into close proximity with other medically vulnerable people. In fact, her policy, a similar version of which is still in effect today, went even farther, forcing some non-senior patients into nursing homes, including a 20-year-old. Michigan citizens deserve to know why she did this, and whether our governor is telling the truth about the consequences."
"Gov. Whitmer made the same policy choice as Gov. Cuomo, forcing contagious senior citizens into close proximity with other medically vulnerable people."
The writers say Whitmer issued her executive order April 15, 2020, just a few weeks after Cuomo issued his similar order in New York on March 25, 2020.
They go on to note the recent disclosures about the Cuomo administration’s alleged underreporting of deaths of New York’s nursing home patients as the coronavirus spread. New York patient numbers were underreported by more than 40% while the state’s deaths were underreported by more than 75%, they note, citing reporting by The Associated Press.
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