UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 07-1667
LIBERTY NURSING AND REHABILITATION CENTER - MECKLENBURG
COUNTY,
Petitioner,
v.
MICHAEL LEAVITT, Secretary of the United States Department of
Health and Human Services; U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN
SERVICES,
Respondents.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the United States Department
of Health and Human Services. (A-07-67)
Submitted: March 28, 2008 Decided: October 2, 2008
Before MOTZ, KING, and SHEDD, Circuit Judges.
Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Joseph L. Bianculli, HEALTH CARE LAWYERS, PLC, Arlington, Virginia,
for Petitioner. Peter D. Keisler, Assistant Attorney General,
Daniel Meron, General Counsel, Howard H. Lewis, Acting Chief
Counsel, Erica C. Matos, Assistant Regional Counsel, Atlanta,
Georgia, for Respondents.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Liberty Nursing and Rehabilitation Center-Mecklenberg
(“Liberty”), a skilled nursing care facility, seeks review of a
final decision of the Secretary of the Department of Health and
Human Services (“Secretary”).1 That decision affirmed an
administrative law judge (“ALJ”) decision upholding: (i) findings
that Liberty failed to comply with Medicaid and Medicare program
requirements; and (ii) the imposition of civil monetary penalties
(“CMP”) against Liberty for its noncompliance. We deny Liberty’s
petition for review.
When the question before this court is whether an agency
has properly interpreted and applied its own regulations, the
reviewing court must give the agency’s interpretation “substantial
deference.” See Thomas Jefferson Univ. v. Shalala, 512 U.S. 504,
512 (1994). This court must defer to the Secretary’s reasonable
interpretation of its regulations so long as it is not “plainly
erroneous or inconsistent with the regulation[s].” See id.
Moreover, this court will defer to the Secretary’s findings of fact
if they are “supported by substantial evidence on the record
considered as a whole.” See 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7a(e) (2000).
Substantial evidence is “evidence which a reasoning mind would
accept as sufficient to support a particular conclusion. It
1
We have jurisdiction to consider Liberty’s petition pursuant
to 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7a (2000).
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consists of more than a mere scintilla of evidence but may be
somewhat less than a preponderance.” See Shively v. Heckler, 739
F.2d 987, 989 (4th Cir. 1984) (internal citation and quotation
marks omitted).
We find the record contains evidence that a reasoning
mind would accept as sufficient to support the Secretary’s
conclusion that Liberty did not comply with agency regulations.2
Accordingly, neither the ALJ nor the Secretary abused their
discretion in upholding the imposition of CMPs. See 42 C.F.R.
§ 488.438(e) (2008). We therefore deny Liberty’s petition for
review. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal
contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the
court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
PETITION DENIED
2
We reject Liberty’s assertion that the Secretary lacks
authority to issue citations for violations involving motor
vehicles. Because 42 C.F.R. § 483.25(h)(1) (2008) speaks of the
residents’ environment, it is to be interpreted as broadly as is
necessary to protect residents in all locations under the
facility’s control, including facility vehicles. It would be
incongruous to hold that residents travel at their own risk when
the facility to which they have entrusted their care transports
them off-site.
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