Law Allows Cameras In Nursing Homes: On June 7, 2023, Governor Joe Lombardo of Nevada signed into law Assembly Bill No. 202, which is described as “AN ACT relating to medical facilities; authorizing a patient in a facility for skilled nursing or his or her representative to request the installation and use of an electronic communication device in the living quarters of the patient; prescribing requirements for the selection and operation of such a device; prohibiting a person from taking certain actions concerning such a device or the images and sounds broadcast by such a device; prohibiting a facility for skilled
nursing or an employee of such a facility from taking certain additional actions; providing penalties; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.”
The new law is known as “Henry’s Law,” which the family of Henry Owens pushed for due to the nursing home neglect that Henry allegedly endured while a resident of a Nevada nursing home, where he allegedly suffered numerous urinary tract infections due to being left for hours in soaking diapers and sheets. Henry developed severe bed sores and required hospital treatment on multiple occasions for urinary tract infections, severe dehydration, MRSA, and sepsis, leading to amputation of a toe, as alleged in the family’s nursing home neglect lawsuit filed against the nursing home.
Henry’s Law
Section 9 of Henry’s Law authorizes a patient in a facility for skilled nursing or the representative of such a patient to request the installation and use of an electronic communication device in the living quarters of the patient under certain circumstances. Among other requirements, section 9 requires the patient or representative of the patient to: (1) agree to waive the right to privacy of the patient; and (2) obtain the consent of the roommate of the patient or his or her representative, if applicable.
Section 9 further requires a facility for skilled nursing to make reasonable efforts to accommodate a patient whose roommate fails to provide such consent. Section 9 also authorizes a patient, representative or roommate to revoke a request for, or consent to, the installation and use of an electronic communication device. Section 9 requires a facility for skilled nursing to approve a request for the installation and use of an electronic communication device if the applicable requirements are met. If such approval is granted, section 10 of this bill provides that the patient or his or her representative is responsible for: (1) choosing the electronic communication device, subject to certain limitations; and (2) the cost of installing, maintaining and removing the electronic communication device and any repairs required due to the installation or removal of the electronic communication device.
Section 11 of the new law generally prohibits a person other than the patient or the representative for the patient who has requested the installation and use of an electronic communication device from intentionally: (1) obstructing, tampering with or destroying any such device or recording made by such a device; and (2) viewing or listening to any images or sounds which are displayed, broadcast or recorded by any such device except as otherwise authorized. Section 11 authorizes an attorney for a patient or certain government officials to view or listen to any images or sounds which are displayed, broadcast or recorded by an electronic communication device or to temporarily disable or turn off such a device. Sections 9 and 11 authorize a patient or the representative of a patient to authorize additional persons to view or listen to images or sounds which are displayed, broadcast or recorded by an electronic communication device.
Section 11 prohibits a facility for skilled nursing from denying admission to or discharging a patient from the facility or otherwise discriminating or retaliating against a patient because of a decision to request the installation and use of an electronic communication device. Section 12 subjects a person or entity who violates the provisions of section 11 to certain civil and criminal penalties, and section 1 subjects a facility for skilled nursing that violates the provisions of sections 3-14 to disciplinary action.
Section 13 on the new law (1) requires a facility for skilled nursing to post a notice in a conspicuous place at the entrance to the living quarters of a patient which contains an electronic communication device stating that such a device is in use in that living quarters; and (2) prohibits an employee at a facility for skilled nursing from refusing to enter the living quarters of a patient or fail to perform any of the duties of the employee on the grounds that an electronic communication device is in use in the living quarters.
Section 14 (1) authorizes the State Board of Health to adopt regulations necessary to carry out the provisions of sections 3-14; and (2) makes the provisions of sections 3-14 inapplicable to an electronic communication device that is installed by a law enforcement agency and used solely for a legitimate law enforcement purpose.
If you or a loved one may have been harmed as a result of medical malpractice or nursing home malpractice in Nevada or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find a Nevada medical malpractice lawyer, or a medical malpractice lawyer in your state, who may investigate your medical negligence or nursing home negligence claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a medical malpractice or nursing home case, if appropriate.
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