Maison Law can help you if you’re a patient in a Livermore drug rehabilitation facility and you’re injured due to negligence. Like a lot of patients in one of these facilities, you’re already dealing with a lot just trying to deal with the day-to-day. So when the facility fails in their most basic duty of keeping you safe, it hurts on another level. Our team can guide you through the claims process and help you recover. Set up a free consultation today.
Do I Need to Get a Lawyer?
In a lot of ways, the last thing you’re prepared for when you’re a patient inside a Livermore drug rehab facility is to get injured in some type of incident. You’re prepared for long, hard days of detox or treatment. But the reality is that, no matter what kind of program or facility you’re in, you’ve placed your trust in it.
That’s where you probably start asking questions, including whether you need a lawyer. The honest answer is that not every one of these types of cases need one. But most of the time, you do, especially if:
- The facility won’t provide clear records.
- The story keeps changing.
- You think understaffing could have played a role in what happened.
- The injury led to a hospital stay or lifelong injuries.
- Your loved one dies and you’re left with more questions than answers.
Most of all, we just want to make what comes next as easy as possible for you and your family. You’re already going through enough. Unfortunately, though, negligence quickly leads to injuries in this type of environment—and not in ways you might expect.
What Kinds of Negligence Causes Injuries in a Drug Rehab Facility?
Running a drug rehab facility is a huge task. And to be honest, facilities and the people that run them can’t reasonably be expected to catch everything. Accidents happen and you and the other patients in the facility are incredibly fragile. But that doesn’t mean it can just be brushed aside when something goes wrong and you get hurt. This is especially true in situations where:
- You and other patients aren’t monitored, especially if you’re high-risk in detox.
- The facility doesn’t have the right ratio of staff members to patients. California law requires facilities to keep enough trained staff on duty.
- There’s errors in giving out medication to you or other patients, or the medical staff make mistakes in treatment.
- The facility’s maintenance or security are lax. This creates a host of problems, from unsafe conditions of the actual building to people and substances getting in that shouldn’t.
Most people think an injury in a drug rehab facility is something dramatic. That’s rarely the case with negligence. Instead, it’s a series of small things that add up until finally the dam breaks. At that point, though, it becomes about information.
What Types of Information Can Help My Injury Claim After an Injury in a Drug Rehab Facility?
Right after something goes wrong and you’re injured, the last thing you’re thinking about is getting evidence and information. That’s okay to a certain extent: you should always focus on your immediate health first. But after that, when you want to move forward with a claim, information is going to be at a premium. Here’s what can really help:
- Internal incident reports from the facility. Detox monitoring logs and medication records can show whether procedures were followed. Staffing schedules from that day can reveal whether the facility was adequately staffed.
- Outside medical records. Just like any other injury claim, they’re going to connect injuries to the incident in question. Plus, they’ll sometimes provide an independent look at what condition you were in when you arrived.
- Pictures/videos. Visuals of the area where the injury happened can help, particularly in cases where your injuries happened due to unsafe building conditions.
- A timeline. It also helps to write down your own timeline while events are still fresh in your mind—who called you, what they said, and when those conversations happened.
People in your position usually worry that the rehab facility controls all the records. While it’s true that they maintain most of them, we can get those records for you through subpoenas and other legal moves. It’s about getting the right information, and once you have that, the focus shifts from “what happened?” to “who is responsible?”
Who Do I File My Claim Against After I’m Injured in a Drug Rehab Facility?
A big reason why getting hurt while under the care of a drug rehab facility is so confusing is because of the sheer number of different people and groups that are there. While you deal with other patients and nurses, aides, and the people that actually run the facility every day, you probably don’t know anything about the people who actually own and operate it.
What’s more, figuring out who’s ultimately responsible for your injuries depends heavily on the circumstnaces—what happened and whose action (or inaction) caused it.
At least legally, though, you’ll file your claim against whoever was negligent. That could be:
- The facility’s management or staff.
- The company that manages the facility or owns the building itself
- Contractors like doctors, nurses, security, or maintenance workers
- Outside vendors
- Other patients or visitors to the facility
Sorting this out takes a careful look at the facts. If you’re hurt, you’re not in a position to untangle that on your own, especially while dealing with detoxing, recovery, and emotional stress. But this is an incredibly important piece of the puzzle, because it gives you a roadmap for the upcoming claims process.
How Can I Actually File My Claim After My Injury?
The legal process sounds intimidating, but because it’s an injury claim, it works the same way as a car accident or slip-and-fall does. You can either:
- File an insurance claim out of court.
- Filing a personal injury lawsuit in civil court.
Drug rehab facilities are still businesses, so they have liability insurance coverage. That’s the policy you’ll file against when you’re hurt, with things moving to the adjusters from there. They get to decide what the evidence says and whether to accept your claim.
If the insurance company won’t give you a fair shake, you can move forward to filing a lawsuit. This means going to court, and that’s very intimidating in its own right. But it also takes the decision-making power out of the insurance company’s hands and into the hands of a judge and jury. They decide the case based on the presented facts, and what “damages” you get, like:
- Current and future medical expenses
- Current lost income or a loss of earning potential
- Repair/replacement costs for damaged property
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Reduced quality of life
- Funeral and burial expenses, along with others in a wrongful death claim for fatal injuries.
At the end of the day, it’s hard to put a dollar amount on your health and recovery from drug addiction. But with the right approach and help from our team, we can make sure you and your family have what you need to move forward.
Reach Out to Maison Law After Negligence at a Livermore Drug Rehab Facility
Being in treatment at a drug rehab facility in Livermore—whether it’s a private rehab or a part of a larger hospital system—is hard work. You’re there to get clean and rebuild your life. So when there’s negligence and you get hurt, it throws everything off. At Maison Law, our Livermore drug rehab facility negligence lawyers will be there from the beginning to support you. Get a free consultation today and let us talk you through your options.
