Prior to the lockdown, the 78-year-old man, who lives in the same retirement community as his dementia-stricken wife, was able to assist his partner by brushing her hair and sometimes even her teeth. Per the new state order, he is now banned from even touching his wife.
Gary Hein, a resident of the El Castillo retirement community in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and lawyer Pierre Levy were handed a legal victory earlier this week after filing a lawsuit against the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) and its COVID-19 public health emergency order pertaining to nursing homes.
State District Judge Matthew Wilson appeared to agree with Hein and Levy in his recent ruling, which grants Hein’s request for a preliminary injunction and calls on the NMDOH to revise the order’s language to consider the constitutional rights guaranteed to nursing home residents and their families.
“Loss of familial association for even minimal amounts of time constitutes irreparable injury,” Wilson wrote on Monday, as reported by the Santa Fe New Mexican. “Nothing, such as video conferencing, is a substitute for in-person, physical contact with a loved one.”
Levy detailed to the Sante Fe New Mexican that the lawsuit arose somewhat organically, as he ran into Hein several times over the years while visiting his mother in the memory care unit of the retirement home.
“He was frequently there and we became acquainted because he was devoted to his wife and I was devoted to my mother … And both he and I wanted to make sure our respective family members had love, guidance and support,” he said.
However, New Mexico’s health secretary also has the opportunity to update the government order and return to the court.
Hein told the court that he has not given up hope that he will be able to physically meet up with his wife, even though much of her “personality and life is leaving” due to dementia.
As of this article’s publication, the NMDOH has logged 141,186 positive COVID-19 diagnoses out of 1,954,680 total novel coronavirus tests performed in the state since the contagious disease was identified. At least 2,436 related COVID-19 deaths have been recorded in New Mexico.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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