Families almost never choose a nursing home by accident. You tour the building, read the brochures, and sit through the sales pitch. You are promised attentive, around-the-clock care, dignity, safety, and enough staff to meet your loved one’s needs. You trust those promises with the person you love most.
Too often, the reality behind the marketing is very different: chronic understaffing, missed medications, preventable falls, pressure sores, dehydration, and neglect. A new Michigan Supreme Court decision may give families another powerful way to hold facilities accountable when the care a nursing home delivers doesn’t match the care it advertised.
What the Court decided
On July 31, 2026, in Attorney General v. Eli Lilly and Company, the Michigan Supreme Court closed a loophole that, for more than two decades, let licensed and regulated businesses escape the Michigan Consumer Protection Act (MCPA).
Under two older decisions, courts routinely dismissed consumer-protection claims against any business that was licensed or regulated by the state, even when the misconduct had nothing to do with the licensing rules. Nursing homes are licensed health facilities in Michigan, which means this was exactly the kind of shield a facility could raise to get a deceptive-practices claim thrown out before a family ever had its day in court.
The Supreme Court overruled those cases. Being licensed, the Court held, is not a free pass. What matters is whether the specific conduct a family is complaining about was actually authorized by regulators , and deceptive marketing never is.
Why this matters for Michigan nursing home families
For families dealing with Michigan nursing home neglect, this ruling opens a door that had been largely closed.
Alongside traditional claims for negligence, abuse, and wrongful death, families may now have a clearer path to a Consumer Protection Act claim when a facility misrepresents the care it provides. The MCPA is designed to stop unfair, deceptive, and misleading practices in consumer transactions, and choosing and paying for a loved one’s long-term care is one of the most important consumer transactions a family will ever make. When there is a gap between what a facility promised and what it delivered, that gap can be deceptive under the law.
Some examples of the kinds of practices families encounter:
- Advertising “24/7 skilled nursing” and “individualized care plans” while the facility is chronically understaffed.
- Promoting low resident-to-caregiver ratios that do not exist on the floor.
- Marketing robust fall-prevention or memory-care programs that are not actually followed.
- Overstating physician availability, specialized services, or safety measures during the admissions process.
- Hidden fees or misrepresented costs buried in admission paperwork.
What the Consumer Protection Act can add to your case
A consumer-protection claim can reach conduct that a single-incident negligence case sometimes cannot. Rather than focusing only on one fall or one missed medication, the MCPA looks at the facility’s business conduct, its marketing, its promises, and the systemic gap between the two. In appropriate cases, the law also allows recovery of actual damages and attorney fees, and it can support claims on behalf of many affected residents, not just one.
It is important to be clear-eyed: this is a developing area. The decision does not automatically turn every nursing home dispute into a consumer-protection case. What it does is remove the automatic shield facilities used to get these claims dismissed at the outset. Whether the MCPA applies to your family’s situation depends on the specific facts and the conduct involved, and an experienced attorney can help you evaluate whether an MCPA claim belongs alongside a neglect or abuse claim.
What families can do
If you believe a nursing home misled your family, a few steps can help protect your loved one and preserve a potential claim:
- Keep the facility’s brochures, website printouts, admission agreement, and any written promises about staffing or care.
- Document what actually happened — dates, injuries, staffing problems, and conversations with staff.
- Report serious concerns to the facility and to the state, and seek medical attention for your loved one right away.
- Talk with an attorney who handles nursing home neglect and elder abuse cases about your options.
The bottom line
The Michigan Supreme Court’s decision strengthens accountability for licensed businesses across the state, and nursing homes are squarely among them. Families who were promised safe, attentive, fully staffed care and instead watched their loved one suffer neglect may now have an additional path to justice.
If your family trusted a Michigan nursing home that failed to deliver on its promises, you do not have to sort out your options alone. We would be honored to listen to your story and help you understand your rights.
This post is provided for general informational purposes and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice about your specific situation, please consult a licensed attorney.
About the Author
Emily Peacock — Nursing Home Neglect & Medical Malpractice Attorney
Emily Peacock is a Detroit-area trial attorney who represents residents injured in nursing homes, senior living facilities, and adult foster care homes, as well as individuals harmed by medical malpractice. With more than a decade of trial experience, she has litigated numerous wrongful death cases involving choking, physical and sexual abuse, and improper patient monitoring. She serves on the Executive Board of the Michigan Association for Justice.
Recognized by Super Lawyers (Michigan) and named a dbusiness Top Lawyer. J.D., Wayne State University Law School — Order of the Coif.