One of the most important things Substance Use Disorder patients need is a secure environment, away from drugs like Fentanyl.
California rehab facilities can promise drug-free surroundings. Unfortunately, that guarantee can quickly prove false, especially when an overdose occurs.
A failure in security can allow a patient to smuggle Fentanyl and other contraband into a center, endangering themselves and other patients.
How Fentanyl Makes It Through Patient Intake
One of the most critical stages of a patient’s admission to a drug rehab program is the intake process.
This procedure should include a full search of the patient and the patient’s belongings. When security is lacking, that intake search is a weak point that can allow patients to smuggle Fentanyl onto the grounds.
These are just a few of the ways patients can sneak contraband past security and endanger an entire facility:
- Hiding fentanyl in body cavities not checked by security
- Ingesting drug packets and throwing them up later
- Hiding drugs in small devices such as pens and lighters
- Hiding drugs in the seams of bags and clothing
- Hiding drugs in shoes
- Hiding drugs in letters and packages
See: Premises Liability at a drug rehab center and the duty to find contraband.
Other Facility Negligence That Can Allow Drugs In
Of course, intake is just the first step in keeping drugs out of a treatment center. Staff members must continue to search patients daily, checking mattresses, pillows, and belongings.
Visitors (even family members) must also be thoroughly checked before gaining entrance.
A failure in any of these steps and precautions can leave facility owners fully liable for the consequences of a tragic Fentanyl overdose.
Understaffing can also lead to less thorough checkpoints and more security breaches. Sadly, this lack of proper staffing can be intentional, as facility owners put profits ahead of the well-being of patients.
Negligent Drug Rehab Facility Wrongful Death Settlements
By their own promises and contracts, rehab facilities are liable for the Fentanyl allowed into a facility and the deadly harm it can cause.
When an overdose occurs and a loved one is lost, facilities may be liable for the Fentanyl that was smuggled in, for a lack of monitoring to catch an overdose early, and for the mistakes made in treating an overdose patient.
For these and other careless errors, a parent company or corporation behind a facility may be responsible for the damages a grieving family faces:
- Funeral and burial expenses.
- Remaining ambulance and hospital bills.
- The family support lost now that the deceased can no longer provide income.
- The loss of care, protection, and love a victim can no longer provide.
- Support for the loss of companionship parents must cope with after losing a child to an overdose in an adolescent rehab facility.
- Support to pay for grief counseling.
- Punitive damages. These are penalties the facility is hit with to serve as a punishment for especially reckless actions that harm patients. They aren’t assessed for the family’s benefit, but families receive any money paid through fines. Punitive damages aren’t issued often, but they can boost the support a family receives.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Overdose Claim?
The deceased’s spouse, registered domestic partner, or the victim’s children would have first right to file a wrongful death claim. This person would usually file a claim against a negligent rehab facility on behalf of all family members.
The parents of a teenager taken in a tragic adolescent rehab facility overdose could file a claim. You can find out more on our page about the family members who can seek support.
A California wrongful death attorney can also file a claim on behalf of the whole family. An attorney would fully investigate an overdose accident. Evidence would be collected to make sure facility lawyers couldn’t place the blame for a death on a loved one. A skilled attorney also has a great chance to earn families much more in support. This is often much more than they could earn by taking on a rehab health network themselves.
Contact Us if a Rehab Facility Allowed Your Loved One to Overdose.
California attorney Martin Gasparian offers a free, confidential consultation to all family members after a loved one’s overdose death in a supposedly secure facility. It’s a no-risk way to determine what negligent rehab owners should pay and how to keep a facility from escaping blame.
Call us today or fill out a free case review form. Remember, you don’t pay for our legal services unless we win your case for your family.