On September 7, 2023, the United States Attorney’s Office- District of New Jersey released an investigation report detailing their investigation, findings, and conclusions related to the handling of the Covid-19 virus by the Veterans Memorial Homes at Menlo Park and Paramus starting in April 2020. The full report can be accessed through the link below. The report concludes that the United States Department of Justice has “reasonable cause to believe that the State of New Jersey has systematically violated the Fourteenth Amendment rights of the residents of the Veterans Memorial Homes at Menlo Park and Paramus…[t]hose violations continue”. The investigation showed that “…the facilities were unprepared to keep their residents safe. A systemic inability to implement clinical care policy…let the virus spread virtually unchecked throughout the facilities.” Through the investigation, the US Attorney’s Office was able to determine that it became “…clear that the number of deaths during Covid’s early months was substantially higher than the numbers publicly disclosed…”
The report highlights that since the events of 2020, DMAVA replaced some of the officials who administered the facilities during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, “[b]ut the agency did not charge its new leadership with examining what went wrong in 2020… Notably, the Veterans Homes’s ongoing inability to implement basic infection control protocols continues to place residents at risk of Covid and other serious infections”. The investigation also found that “DMAVA fails to ensure that the [Veterans Homes] implement basic infection control practices, provide adequate medical care, or have competent leadership and oversight”.
In the wake of the US Attorney’s Office- District of New Jersey’s findings, Paul M. da Costa, Esq. is actively accepting clients that are victims or whose loved ones are or have been victims of the ongoing violations occurring at the Veterans Memorial Homes at Menlo Park and Paramus. For consultation, please contact our office at 973-274-5200.
Investigation of the New Jersey Veterans Memorial Homes at Menlo Park and Paramus
