GROUP BYが出てきた日にゃ、目が泳いじゃって氏んじゃいますな。
各クエリレベルでツラを揃えれば階層関係がすぐ分かる。

SELECT
  C1.clainid,
  C1.patient,
  T2.status
FROM
  Claims AS C1,
  StatusCodes AS C2
WHERE
  T2.seq IN (
    SELECT
      MIN(S2.seq)
    FROM
      StatusCodes AS S2
    WHERE
      S2.seq IN (
        SELECT
          MAX(S3.seq)
        FROM
          Events AS E1,
          StatusCodes AS S3
        WHERE
          E1.status = S3.status
            AND
          E1.claimid = C1.claimid
        GROUP BY
          E1.defendant
      )
  )