Judge Randolph Moss of the District Court of the District of Columbia issued his order and opinion in response to the motion for preliminary injunction filed on May 14, 2020 in Costa et. al v. Bazron et. al.
Patients at Saint Elizabeths filed a lawsuit on April 16, 2020 challenging the District of Columbia’s utter failure to avoid a COVID-19 outbreak and manage the outbreak once it occurred. In issuing his opinion Judge Moss noted that “roughly one out of every twenty patients has died and more than one out of every three patients have been infected” and found that there is “an imminent risk to [patients’] health and well-being, and the consequences of contracting the virus are irreparable.”
“The Saint Elizabeths Hospital has become a COVID-19 “hot spot” with 14 deaths and more than 100 infections because the District failed to implement necessary infection control measures appropriately and in a timely manner. Today, Judge Moss entered a preliminary injunction to extend his prior orders to ensure that the District take basic steps consistent with the guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to protect patients, staff, and the community. This order is essential to slow the spread of the virus and limit further tragedy” states Kaitlin Banner, Deputy Legal Director of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.
Plaintiffs are represented by the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, the ACLU of the District of Columbia and Arnold & Porter.
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