Mealey's (July 25, 2019, 2:13 PM EDT) -- SAN FRANCISCO — Noting merit to a lower court’s conclusion that California Health and Safety Code Section 1418.8, which allows nursing facilities to make decisions for incapacitated nursing residents without someone with legal authority, is constitutionally deficient, a state appeals panel on July 22 agreed with the director of the state Department of Public Health that “the proper course is to construe the statute to uphold its constitutionality rather than enjoin its enforcement and use” and, thus, reversed and remanded for entry of a modified judgment requiring nursing homes utilizing Section 1418.8 to adopt additional procedures necessary to preserve that statute’s constitutionality (California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, et al. v. Karen Smith, et al., No. A147987, Calif. App., 1st Dist., Div. 4, 2019 Cal. App. LEXIS 658)....