5th Circuit Finds Nursing Home COVID-19 Death Suit Not Preempted By PREP Act

Mealey's (March 16, 2022, 2:02 PM EDT) -- NEW ORLEANS — Calling “the trio of jurisdictional doctrines” invoked by the owners and operators of a nursing home sued by the family of a resident who died after contracting COVID-19 at the facility “inapplicable,” the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 10 found that the family’s negligence claims are not preempted by the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act, do not raise a substantial federal question and do not fall under the federal officer removal statute; it affirmed remand of the action to a Texas state court....