An overdose death in a California rehab facility is always tragic, no matter what the circumstances are. Not surprisingly, though, it can bring a lot of scrutiny to the facility itself. While you have legal options, it’s also important to know how the government factors in. Our team can answer your questions with a free consultation. Set up yours today.
Are Overdoses Reported to the Department of Health Care Services?
In California, an overdose death at a California rehab facility comes with a lot of requirements after it happens. That includes reporting it to the state’s Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) quickly—usually within one day of the overdose.
Once it’s reported, the DHCS starts digging into what happened. With that, they typically follow up with inspections or investigations to see if the facility was negligent. But it’s not just on the DHCS.
How Can I Show the Facility Was Negligent with an Overdose?
Reporting an overdose death to the DHCS is an important requirement that every rehab facility has to follow in California. But at the end of the day, the DHCS is an administrative body. It’s not a judge and jury. If you want to get financial help because you or a loved one were the victim of the facility’s negligence, you’re going to have to prove it. Here’s a few ways you can do that:
- Reviewing the DHCS report. This is going to have the basic facts about what happened—time, date, facility, etc. However, the initial facts are going to be based on what the facility says. If anything feels off, you might have to wait longer for the DHCS to perform their own investigation and complete their report.
- Internal reports. There’s also likely to be internal incident reports made by the facility itself. It’ll have all the same basic facts. This is a good baseline for what the story the facility (and management) are likely going to have.
- Medical records. Medical records are important in this situation. Intake and ER records, doctor’s notes, and possibly even official cause of death are all going to be contained in them.
- Surveillance footage. The vast majority of rehabs are going to have some way of monitoring the facility itself through security cameras or some other form of surveillance. This can show that you were either left unattended or weren’t taken care of properly.
Of course, the rehab isn’t going to just hand over evidence that proves their negligence. The challenge is figuring this out early, and knowing what to go after. That’s exactly what our team can do for you.
Free Consultations After an Overdose at a California Rehab Facility
An overdose is always tragic, but even more so in a rehab facility. The whole goal of being in one of these places is to prevent such a thing from happening. But unfortunately, negligence creeps in and can leave you and your family looking for answers.
At Maison Law, our California drug rehab facility negligence lawyers will be there to help you through a claim. We’ll explain your options, help you gather the right evidence, and handle all the back-and-forth. Set up a free consultation today.
