There’s a lot of ways that a California rehab facility tries to protect itself from lawsuits. One of the simplest happens at the very beginning of your stay—asking you to sign a liability waiver. For most people, this is where things end. But the reality is that waiver or not, the facility isn’t protected from negligence. Our California rehab facility negligence lawyers at Maison Law can look into your situation and help you. Set up a free consultation today.
Can I File a Wrongful Death Claim if a California Rehab Center Makes Me Sign a Liability Waiver?
You might not think about it, but you’re pretty familiar with a liability waiver. It’s basically a document that a business makes you sign where:
- You (and not the business) assume liability when you’re hurt or something goes wrong.
Liability waivers are legal in California, but it’s crucial to understand that:
- They don’t protect the business from negligence.
Here’s the main takeaway, then. If there’s a death in the rehab facility, you (or your family) can file a wrongful death claim—even with a signed liability waiver. While that’s a pretty broad interpretation, the details are going to be incredibly important.
How Can the Rehab Facility’s Negligence Lead to a Fatal Accident?
In a situation where you or someone you care about dies while in the care of the rehab facility, it’s not a question about your rights and options. It’s about what went wrong and who was responsible. A liability waiver might protect the rehab facility from certain situations, but ultimately, they have an overriding responsibility to:
- Provide safe medical care, treatment, and an environment free from negligence.
Even in an environment as tightly-controlled as drug rehab, there could be gaps. And in those gaps, things can go wrong, like:
- Lack of supervision. This is a huge one. The facility—through its staff and other ways—has a legal duty to make sure that patients are cared for and monitored. When there’s a lack of supervision through understaffing or some other kind of gap, it means mental health issues or symptoms can get overlooked. That can be fatal.
- Medical errors. Then there’s the actual medical side of things. Sometimes, patients in drug rehab need to be treated medically for a health issue. When the doctors or nurses make a mistake that ends up being fatal, a liability waiver won’t protect them.
- Understaffing. This is connected to a lot of different forms of negligence. When management tries to save money by keeping the staff numbers as low as possible, it leads to situations where there aren’t enough trained professionals to properly monitor patients, warning signs get missed, checks don’t get made, or charting falls off.
Not every death in a rehab facility is caused by negligence, but they’re largely the result of the above issues. And when negligence leads to the death of someone you care about in the rehab facility, you can file a wrongful death claim—liability waiver or not.
Talk Through Your Options With Maison Law
If a drug rehab facility makes you or your loved one sign a liability waiver when treatment starts, it’s coming at an incredibly challenging and vulnerable time. Right or wrong, patients are focused on their recovery, not what comes after a fatal accident.
That’s where Maison Law and our team of California drug rehab facility negligence lawyers can step in and guide you. We’ll explain your family’s options, help them gather the right evidence, and support a wrongful death claim from start to finish. Set up a free consultation today to talk through your family’s options.
