COVID investigation sees FBI, state authorities raid Pennsylvania nursing homes

Updated

By Jefferey Jaxen

The Daily Mail is reporting:

“FBI agents raided two nursing homes in Pennsylvania on Thursday, including one facility that was already under investigation for criminal neglect after it suffered the worst coronavirus outbreak in the state.  

The FBI executed search warrants this morning at Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center in Beaver County, as well as Mount Lebanon Rehabilitation and Wellness Center in Allegheny County, the Justice Department confirmed.  

U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said agents from the FBI, the office of inspector general for Health and Human Services, the IRS Criminal Investigation unit and the state attorney general’s office were on the scene. 

In a news release on Thursday, Brady urged anyone with information on ‘suspected fraud’ or ‘abuse’ related to long-term care facilities and the pandemic to report it to the COVID-19 Fraud Task Force.“

Meanwhile, The New York Post reported:

“The raids were conducted pursuant to court-ordered federal search warrants, Pittsburgh US Attorney Scott Brady said in a prepared statement.“

The raids were the first of their kind against a backdrop of an August 26 Department of Justice request sent to governors of states that issued orders which may have resulted in the deaths of thousands of elderly nursing home residents. “New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan required nursing homes to admit COVID-19 patients to their vulnerable populations, often without adequate testing” wrote the DOJ in a press release.  

Jefferey Jaxen

Jefferey Jaxen is a health journalist and featured in his weekly segment, ’The Jaxen Report’, on The HighWire. As an investigative journalist, researcher, and compelling writer, Jefferey serves as Lead editor of The HighWire News and Opinion Team.