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California Drug Rehab Clinic Fentanyl Overdose Lawyer

If you have family members who died while under the care and supervision of a California fentanyl rehabilitation clinic, you should be aware of the benefits available through wrongful death claims.

With the growing opioid epidemic on the rise, more families in California resort to checking their loved ones into drug rehabilitation clinics to treat fentanyl addiction. This highly-addictive prescription opioid devastates victims and, in some cases, the negligence at rehab facilities further endangers patients and even places their lives in jeopardy.

A California Fentanyl Overdose Lawyer can help you seek justice after a tragic death at a clinic that didn’t provide the requisite protection and care to patients and their families.

What Is Fentanyl?

Fentanyl bottleFentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid one can obtain with a prescription or through illegal means. Prescribed opioids typically go to people recovering from surgery as a pain relief medication. People with chronic pain also use fentanyl.

It is up to 50 times more potent than heroin. Its potency often leads to immediate side effects and life-threatening overdoses. Especially when one obtains it illegally. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) warns that some drug dealers mix fentanyl with other opioid drugs such as heroin. It’s sold as heroin, but users will be unaware of the increased strength of the drug and are more likely to suffer an opioid overdose.

The symptoms of fentanyl overdoses leave victims appearing to be in a daze. Their pupillary size will change. Cyanosis is also possible. This is a bluish discoloration of the skin caused by reduced oxygen in the bloodstream. In the most extreme overdose cases, victims can fall into a coma, and suffer respiratory failure leading to death.

Fentanyl Overdose Dangers in California

Overall, across the U.S., around 91,000 victims lost their lives in drug overdoses in 2020. An estimated 82% of those deaths were attributed to synthetic opioids like Fentanyl.

The Center For Disease Control and prevention found that California recorded the most drug overdose deaths of any state in 2020. Almost 9,000 people died due to overdose in our state. That was a big increase over the 6,198 fatal cases reported in 2019.

According to Substance Abuse And Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) figures from 2020, California has the most public and private substance abuse facilities in the country. Our state is home to 11% of all facilities in the country and serves 6% of the nation’s clients.

Overdose Liability for California Fentanyl Drug Addiction Clinics

A dangerous drug like Fentanyl will certainly claim lives each year, but, sadly, many of these tragic fatalities can be prevented and yet, somehow, aren’t.

Too many fentanyl overdose deaths occur inside the facilities themselves after families have been promised 24/7 monitoring of patients. California, particularly Southern California, has been a hot spot for for-profit clinics that get away with providing less than safe conditions for their clients.

When families check someone into rehab clinics, they absolutely should be able to trust that their loved ones will receive compassionate and focused care. Sadly, that trust diminishes, and in many instances, drug rehab facilities avoid blame for their negligent behavior.

A Fentanyl Overdose Lawyer works on behalf of a traumatized family to investigate what actually caused a victim’s death. With evidence in hand, an attorney for the family seeks financial support from every party that bears the blame for a fentanyl overdose fatality.

Negligent Supervision and Hiring in Fentanyl Overdose Wrongful Death Claims

After the tragic death of a rehabilitation patient due to the lack of care from a facility or a staff member, families may file a wrongful death lawsuit. This lawsuit would seek financial support from the clinic’s owners, operators, and insurance providers for the family left behind.

The first step will be proving negligence on the part of the fentanyl rehab clinic. You can achieve this by demonstrating a “negligence of supervision” and other forms of negligence contributing to the loss of a patient’s life.

Negligence of supervision is a legal term that describes an employer that has a legal duty to properly train and monitor employees. When employees neglect this duty and a patient at a drug rehab clinic tragically dies, an employer or a company can be fully liable.

These are just a few of the factors that can leave a fentanyl clinic financially liable for the death of a patient over negligent supervision:

  • Employees allowed to sell or give a patient fentanyl or another illegal drug.
  • Staff members failing to prevent a patient from entering a clinic with drugs or failing to prevent a drug delivery to the facility.
  • Staff members providing the wrong dosage of a treatment medicine such as naloxone (NARCAN). Providing the wrong medications that lead to the death of a patient.
  • Fentanyl clinic employer not providing proper training to employees.
  • Unqualified and unprofessional employees. Employees can be lacking the education to administer care to patients. They may also be prone to reckless behavior that endangers a fentanyl user.

Another duty an opioid addiction clinic may have neglected is its responsibility to check the backgrounds of its employees. This would fall under “negligent hiring” by the facility. If an employee with a questionable background contributed to the reason you lost a loved one, a facility may face major liability for the oversight.

Thoroughly check each potential employee’s credentials before you hire them. When employees have a criminal past or past instances of carelessness, their employers can be liable for any dangerous actions they take.

Contact a California Fentanyl Overdose Lawyer

Nothing can bring back the life of a loved one, but families should seek justice after the carelessness of a fentanyl rehab facility causes the tragic loss of life. A wrongful death claim can be an important step to holding opioid rehab clinics accountable. It’s also a way to protect families from financial harm after the sudden death of a close relative.

A spouse, domestic partner, and children will be without the guidance and income the deceased would have provided in the years ahead. These are hardships that should fall squarely on a healthcare facility that neglected to take proper care of a beloved member of the family.

Please Contact Maison Law for a free case consultation to find out what your case may be worth to you and your family. Martin Gasparian, the founder of Maison Law, desires to ensure families receive fair support after a tragedy. He also wants to hold drug addiction facilities fully liable for their negligent practices.

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