Understaffing & Corporate Negligence: Suing the Company Behind the Rehab

Families try to select rehab facilities that provide the most supervision and care to support a loved one’s recovery.

But the promises of “constant monitoring” and “quick response” to the patient’s needs can quickly be broken, especially if there isn’t enough staff around to address these critical needs.

The corporate owners behind California rehab facilities can cut staffing simply to increase profits. They may instantly create a more dangerous environment for patients. In turn, negligent owners can be left liable when patients are allowed to get injured.

When Is a Rehab Facility Understaffed?

There aren’t any strict staffing limits that apply to all California drug rehab facilities. The staffing requirements can depend on these and other standards:

The number of patients at a facility
The age of the patients (more staff required at adolescent rehab centers)
The level of care the facility offers
Standards in the health care industry
The facility owner’s own corporate policies
The time of the day (some facilities are allowed to have less overnight staffing)

But the corporations and equity firms that own chains of rehab centers must provide enough employees to provide a reasonable amount of care to patients.

California’s Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) can investigate claims of understaffing and cite facilities with too few nurses and other employees.

These investigations and penalties can serve as strong evidence for families when their loved one gets hurt.

See: Do I have a case?

Understaffed Treatment Centers — The Dangers for Patients

Sufficient staffing and properly trained employees make a huge difference in a patient’s recovery chances.

That extra staff can also be the difference between life and death for patients who manage to overdose.

When owners and operators don’t make sufficient hires, there are several ways that the quality of care suffers.

Less monitoring, missed Q15 checks (bed checks)
The potential for more delay in catching overdoses and medical distress
Fewer hands to help in an emergency situation (e.g., calling for an ambulance, administering NARCAN, sitting with patients still in overdose recovery)
Fewer supervisors (potentially)
Fewer substitute options when staff members get sick or are on vacations
Not enough staff to properly search new patients during intake
Not enough security staff to monitor visitors and watch exits so that patients can’t walk off

These examples of hazardous staff-to-patient ratios leave employers liable for the harm that comes to patients. However, strong evidence is still necessary when victims and families must go through insurance adjusters and corporate lawyers to earn the support they need.

Recovering Support for Families

Victims who may still be in the hospital after a dangerous fall or a relapse can file a claim, with the help of family, and seek full compensation.

A claim should help them recover support for all of their medical bills, their lost income while they can’t work, and their physical and emotional pain experienced.

But too often families are left to file claims on behalf of loved ones who have died due to a tragic overdose.

A successful wrongful death claim based on negligent staffing in California could include:

Support for funeral costs
Replacement of the financial support a loved one had provided the family
Support for the loss of love and care in future years
Support for the grief family members must cope with
Support for the special life moments that have been lost (e.g., holiday gatherings, weddings, the birth of children)
Loss of household assistance (e.g., house and car maintenance, childcare)
Loss of companionship, especially for parents who lose a child in an understaffed adolescent rehab facility.

Understaffing usually wouldn’t be considered medical malpractice. This is an important distinction when deciding how much support victims would receive. Medical malpractice awards are capped under MICRA. However, compensation for ordinary negligence cases would not be limited. Victims can often earn more.

Can I Get Punitive Damages?

Punitive damages are a type of penalty that extremely negligent drug rehab facilities are hit with. They are meant as a punishment for facility owners who allow the very reckless care of patients or who defraud families.

Punitive damages wouldn’t be a factor in most cases, but if they are assessed, victims would get to keep any fines paid.

We mention punitive damages because understaffing a rehab facility could be a reason a jury would decide to levy punitive damages on a corporation.

Contact Us if you Suspect Understaffing Hurt Your Loved One.

Attorney Martin Gasparian offers a free, confidential consultation to families who have a loved one get hurt or die at a California rehab facility.

We can also assist families in securing support, even if a facility has since closed down.

Call us today or fill out a free case review form.