Like any other state in the country, California allows for wrongful death claims to be brought by surviving family members when another family member’s death was caused by the carelessness and negligence of somebody else. In a 2021 wrongful death case, a 33-year-old California man who had struggled with opioid addiction for more than half of his life committed suicide at a residential drug treatment and mental health facility. A jury returned a seven-figure wrongful death verdict founded on negligent supervision in favor of the decedent’s mother and against the facility. Although a drug rehab facility can be held liable for negligent supervision when a patient overdoses on drugs within its confines, there were no allegations in this case of drug use by the decedent during the six days he was at the facility before his death. The case was based on the rehab center’s negligent monitoring of the decedent.
A Residential Facility Overdose Case
About a year later, in 2022, another wrongful death case was brought against another California residential treatment facility on an overdose involving ingesting illegal drugs that the 20-year-old decedent could access while he was an in-patient there. The facility’s staff knew that the young man had recently relapsed, and it is alleged that its staff failed to monitor him 24 hours a day while under its care. To date, there is no indication of how the patient accessed the drug that killed him. The case remains pending, and it’s winding its way through the trial court.
What About Medical Malpractice?
The directors, doctors, and employees of addiction rehab centers all owe their patients a duty of care to be free from negligence. Proper medical support and care of patients are essential. The consequences can be devastating if a facility fails to provide appropriate medical care and treatment. One report from the Department of Health and Human Services showed that about 29% of Medicare beneficiaries suffered adverse or temporary harm during rehab hospital admissions. These harms caused prolonged admissions, transfers to other hospitals, life-sustaining intervention, and/or the death of patients. A significant percentage of those events were determined to have been perfectly preventable and attributable to improper patient monitoring and the failure to provide needed medical care and treatment. In the context of wrongful deaths, they might have been caused by the following:
- Improper training of facility personnel.
- Incompetent personnel.
- Negligent monitoring or improper monitoring of patients.
- Negligently prescribing or administering medication for patients.
- Negligence in smuggling narcotic drugs to patients, sometimes even by facility personnel.
- Brokering of patients between rehab facilities and related service providers.
Both for-profit and not-for-profit drug treatment centers open their doors daily to patients. As soon as one facility closes, another one opens. Aggressive and sometimes arguably deceptive advertising campaigns have drawn the scrutiny of more than a handful of California legislators. The California Department of Health Care Services licenses rehab facilities. A close, long and critical look at addiction treatment centers is warranted. Desperate families and addicts can be taken advantage of. Some futures and lives are at risk, and few regulations have been implemented. The California Department of Health Care Services and the drug rehab industry in California need stronger watchdogs that will work in conjunction with each other to investigate and regulate the industry. Other states are acting accordingly right now. California needs to act now too.
Contact a California Wrongful Death 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 essential 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 hardships should fall squarely on a healthcare facility that neglected to take proper care of a beloved family member.
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.
