A dangerous overdose at a drug rehab facility can cut oxygen to a patient’s brain, causing anoxic brain injury.
Brain damage can leave patients with permanent disabilities and in a coma or a vegetative state.
Patients and their families can be faced with a lifetime of medical care expenses that negligent drug treatment centers should be fully responsible for.
Overdose Brain Injury Risks
An overdose on a dangerous drug like heroin can affect brain function. But the brain can also suffer harm when the effects of an opioid (like heroin or fentanyl) interrupt the patient’s breathing process. Oxygen may be cut off to cause an anoxic brain injury (total lack of oxygen), or a hypoxic brain injury (a partial loss of oxygen).
Patients suffer different levels of damage depending on how long they go without oxygen and how long they go before they are discovered. The body may go into a comatose state, in need of 24/7 hospital care and dependent on mechanical ventilators.
This extreme harm is usually the result of negligent drug rehab center staff not keeping drugs out of a facility and not monitoring patients closely enough. It’s why drug rehab owners can be held liable for the costs of a patient’s constant care, and liable for their recovery expenses.
The Cost of Care and Who Should Pay
After a serious loss of oxygen during an overdose, victims may not be able to care for themselves, or even breathe on their own. They could require months or years of constant medical attention.
Patients may need to stay in intensive care for months or over a year. Each day in intensive care can cost over $6,000, with patients needing mechanical ventilation going well beyond that figure.
Unfortunately, California is considered to be one of the most expensive states for hospital care. KFF researchers found that the average for a day in a hospital run by California (like UCLA Medical Center) is almost $5,000 a day. A private hospital stay will cost around $3,000 a day on average.
Those still bedridden and in need of breathing assistance may be moved to special long-term care facilities. Some patients can go home in some cases but still require medical supervision 24 hours a day from nurses, which can cost $30 an hour or more.
When patients are in a vegetative state or can’t return home, the costs of a lifetime of care can extend into the millions of dollars.
Additional Care Overdose Brain Injury Patients Need
Beyond normal hospital bills, these are a few of the additional expenses the families of brain injury patients can expect to see:
- Surgery fees.
- Constant IV usage and monitoring machine expense.
- The costs of a portable Life-Support Ventilator (over $10,000 in some cases)
- Other medical equipment costs.
- Home renovation costs. Changes to allow patients to be able to return home.
- Therapy
- Physical therapy (to build strength in the body and regain balance for walking)
- Speech therapy (to relearn how to talk and swallow)
- Occupational therapy (to relearn tasks needed for home life, work, and school)
- Cognitive therapy (to rebuild thinking skills such as concentration and reasoning)
These and other expensive services need to be covered by a negligent care facility that allows a patient to access drugs and overdose. They should face justice for allowing a patient to sit so long, unattended, that they came away with brain damage.
Trusting a Lawyer With Your Drug Rehab Brain Injury Lawsuit
A California drug rehab negligence lawyer can help families collect the evidence they need to demand support for a loved one.
The support can help victims to face a life with a debilitating injury as comfortably as possible. It’s also critical support so that families can focus on caring for a family member instead of worrying about crushing medical debt.
A skilled lawyer can often win much more for victims than families could by handling a claim themselves.
What’s more, families that need our help to earn more don’t have to worry about how they’ll pay a lawyer. We aren’t paid unless we win the case for victims and their families. Then our attorney’s fee comes from the settlement check a facility must write.
Contact Us If a Loved One Suffered Brain Injuries While at a Drug Rehab.
Attorney Martin Gasparian offers a free, confidential consultation to help California families stay informed of the rights they have. It’s a no-risk way to learn how to hold a treatment center fully responsible for the costs of brain injury recovery.
Call us today or fill out a free case review form.