I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3995 
To protect the interests of each resident of intermediate care facilities for 
the mentally retarded in class action lawsuits on behalf of such resident. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 30, 2007 
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To protect the interests of each resident of intermediate 
care facilities for the mentally retarded in class action 
lawsuits on behalf of such resident. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. PROTECTING THE INTERESTS OF EACH RESI-
DENT OF INTERMEDIATE CARE FACILITIES 
FOR THE MENTALLY RETARDED IN CLASS AC-
TION LAWSUITS ON BEHALF OF SUCH RESI-
DENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, no entity that receives funds from the Federal 
government may use such funds to file a class action law-
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suit against an intermediate care facility for the mentally 
retarded on behalf of any resident of such facility unless 
the resident (or, if there is a legal representative of the 
resident, such legal representative), after receiving notice 
of the proposed class action lawsuit, has the opportunity 
to elect not to have the action apply to the resident. 
(b) NOTICES; RESIDENT RIGHT OF WITHDRAWAL 
FROM LAWSUIT.— 
(1) PLAINTIFF NOTICE OF PROPOSED LAWSUIT 
TO FACILITY.—If an entity uses funds from the Fed-
eral government to file a class action lawsuit against 
an intermediate care facility for the mentally re-
tarded on behalf of residents of such facility, the en-
tity shall provide notice of the proposed lawsuit to 
the facility at least 90 days before the date of filing 
of the lawsuit. 
(2) FACILITY NOTICE OF PROPOSED LAWSUIT 
TO RESIDENTS.—Not later than 30 days after the 
date the facility receives such notice, the facility 
shall provide notice of the proposed lawsuit to each 
resident of such facility on behalf of which the law-
suit is proposed to be filed and, if there is a legal 
representative of such a resident, to such representa-
tive. 
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(3) RESIDENT
RIGHT
TO
WITHDRAW
FROM 
LAWSUIT.—A resident (or, if there is a legal rep-
resentative of such a resident, the legal representa-
tive) may elect not to be part of such a proposed 
lawsuit by filing a notice of such decision with the 
facility within 60 days of the date the facility noti-
fies the resident or legal representative of the pro-
posed class lawsuit. 
(c) LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE DEFINED.—In this sec-
tion, the term ‘‘legal representative’’ means, with respect 
to a resident of an intermediate care facility for the men-
tally retarded, an individual who has been appointed under 
State law to be a legal guardian, conservator, or other rep-
resentative for the resident and who is authorized under 
law to make decisions on behalf of the resident with re-
spect to care and treatment of the resident in the facility. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply to 
lawsuits filed after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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