(WWJ) A prosecutor in metro Detroit is clearing the way for criminal complaints against the state of Michigan and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer over executive orders involving nursing homes.
Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido on Thursday said his office is expanding its look into possible endangerment of nursing home residents in the county —including due to so-called "involuntary" transfers.
In response to what he said have been numerous calls and emails that he's received, Lucido has set up a form for residents to download to assist them in filing police reports if they feel they have lost loved ones inappropriately in nursing home settings.
Lucido earlier in the week said that criminal charges against Whitmer regarding the deaths are a possibility.
"I'm not going after anyone; I never have," Lucido told WWJ's Jon Hewett and other reporters at a news conference Thursday.
"I'm seeking the truth because families that have lost loved ones deserve to know the truth."
The form is available on Lucido's website: yourmacombcountyprosecutor.com.
Lucido announced that he is also calling for the formation of an Elderly and Vulnerable Adult Death Review Board, which would include help from the Macomb County Medical Examiner's Office to review cases.
This all comes after Lucido testified in front of the Michigan legislature that the state's policy of transferring COVID-positive residents from hospitals back into their nursing homes was wrong and led to unnecessary deaths.
Lucido said he is now working with the Shelby Township Police Department to investigate an alleged death in a nursing home under that policy, after a complaint was filed in that municipality.
A second complaint, Lucido said, has been filed and is under investigation in Warren.
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Whitmer has said her policy was sound and necessary protect the state's most vulnerable residents, her office in a statement calling Lucido's comments "shameful political attacks based in neither fact nor reality."
Responding to that, Lucido said: "Remember something, that deaths occurred on both sides of the aisle. So, for her to say shameful... is a misstatement that I think that she would like to take back, because loved ones on both sides of the aisle were lost."
The governor's office said in an earlier statement said that the state “prioritized testing” of nursing home staff and residents “to save lives.”
“Early in the pandemic, the state acted swiftly to create a network of regional hubs with isolation units and adequate PPE to prevent the spread of COVID-19 within a facility. In addition, we have offered 100 percent of nursing home residents priority access to the vaccine. Both the former head of AARP, as well as an independent U-M study, praised our work to save lives in nursing homes,” the statement continued.
Data shows that one-third of Michigan's coronavirus deaths happened in nursing homes in the state.
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