NEW YORK — A federal judge has dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo over his response to the coronavirus pandemic.
In March 2020, Norman Arbeney was an 89-year-old Korean War veteran living in a nursing home in Brooklyn.
“He was a man full of life and love,” plaintiff Daniel Arbeney said.
Shortly after, then-Gov. On March 25, Governor Cuomo issued a directive requiring nursing homes to accept patients who have tested positive for the new coronavirus. Norman Arbeney himself tested positive and died. He was one of 15,000 elderly people in New York nursing homes to die from coronavirus..
“It's very easy to see the web of lies and deceit that the governor has engaged in over the years to cover it up,” Daniel Arbeney said.
Daniel Arbeney filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit against Cuomo two years ago. However, a judge dismissed the lawsuit on Monday. Her reasons for doing so have not yet been revealed.
“We cannot allow something like this to happen again to our most loved ones, our grandparents and parents in nursing homes. It cannot be done and if we don't learn now, we will never learn and the same will happen again,” Daniel Arbeney said.
In early September, Former governor testified before Congress about pandemic responsefollowing a House committee report accusing Cuomo of intentionally underreporting deaths in nursing homes.
“You're responsible for this. My question is, when were you negotiating multi-million dollar advances on book contracts while elderly people were dying in nursing homes?” Elise Stefani Representative Ku said.
“Congressman, you can’t make up facts,” Cuomo responded.
“The debate over coronavirus in nursing homes has been unrecognizably weaponized and distorted by those who are using this situation for their own political purposes,” Cuomo spokesman Rock Azzopardi said Monday in a statement regarding the lawsuit's dismissal. “However,” he said in part. , whenever this is removed from the political arena, truth wins. ”
Daniel Arbeeny has said he will appeal.
“This is a difficult case, but we are not afraid because we know the truth,” he said.
More from CBS News
Ari Bauman
