Thread by @CCamosy

moral and legal pressure now building in PA where state Attorney's General has opened up a criminal investigation into #NursingHomeDeaths pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2020/05/12/pen…

and class action lawsuits have begun wpxi.com/news/top-stori…

PA is only the first state to go; more will follow 1/

and are we surprised that PA health secretary, Rachel Levine, MD, made sure that her own mother was removed from a nursing home before she implemented her statewide policy of forcing other people's parents to be exposed to the virus in nursing homes? wjactv.com/news/local/cri… 2/

should be noted that half of patients in these LTC facilities have some form of dementia and were often maltreated before COVID-19. now, though we need more information, the early signs are that disabled patients in these homes are dying at higher rates disabilityscoop.com/2020/05/11/cov… 3/

CA has decided to *pay* LTC facilities to take patients who are COVID+. putting them in nursing homes is like throwing a lit match onto dry grass already soaked with gasoline. these residents are most at risk and staff doesn't have the proper training, equipment, or manpower 4/

last week, 90% of Connecticut's deaths were in nursing homes. in MN, 80% over their OVERALL deaths since they started counting have been in nursing homes. in PA it is 70%. overall in the US 40 to 50% of deaths from COVID have been nursing home residents freopp.org/the-covid-19-n… 5/

why don't these facts lead the news? why aren't LTC facilities and state officials hounded by investigative reporters? why isn't our national COVID strategy geared toward protecting nursing homes?

no excuses: we knew from the beginning...outbreak started in a WA nursing home 6/

it must be that we just don't care, right? these populations and institutions simply weren't a priority. they didn't get PPE. they didn't get proper training and staff. they got nothing.

well, that's not true...they got COVID+ patients and even nurses nypost.com/2020/04/29/ny-… 7/

already a classic example of throwaway culture before #COVIDー19, the way we've treated and covered these populations and institutions over the last two months has been absolutely shameful

finally, here's some brief speculation about why it happened...in larger sense of "why" 8/

we're a youth-obsessed, age/death-denying culture. with that comes a very strong urge to push our aging elders to the margins; it gives us plausible deniability with regard to our own aging and death. if we shut this reality away we don't have to face its coming for us one day 9/

our sell out to throwaway culture here has been reprehensible. indeed, it may have violated civil rights of older, disabled people

if you think this may be the case, you can make a complaint on behalf of yourself or someone else with OCV at HHS here ocrportal.hhs.gov/ocr/smartscree… /FIN