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HIV-positive man admitted to nursing home that initially refused him

HIV-positive man admitted to nursing home that initially refused him

A nursing home that rejected a stroke patient because he had HIV has bowed to legal pressure and accepted him, and the gay rights group Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, which represented the man, plans to drop a federal discrimination complaint against the home. Cecil Little, 50, who had been forced to live in a nursing home 80 miles from his family in the Kentwood, La., area, recently moved into Kentwood Manor nursing home, said Lambda Legal attorney Jonathan Givner. Suffering two strokes and brain aneurysms, Little was on life support and in a coma for a month. A month before Little was discharged from the hospital, his mother and sister approached six nursing homes within six miles of their family homes, according to Givner. All agreed to care for Little but rescinded their decision after paperwork showed he had HIV. In July, Lambda Legal filed a complaint with the civil rights office at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, citing a federal law that forbids agencies receiving federal money from discriminating against people with disabilities. Givner said the complaint still stands against the five other Louisiana nursing homes that rejected Little, including Tangi Pines in Amite; Heritage Manor in Franklinton; Belle Maison of Hammond; Heritage Manor of Hammond; and Hammond Nursing Home.

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