California drug rehabs are generally permitted to take residents off-site for group outings.

However, their duty to supervise and protect patients doesn’t end when they leave a treatment center.

Rehab owners are liable for the safety of patients on field trips, and families can hold them liable when a loved one is allowed to overdose and die while on an outing.

The Dangers of Drug Rehab Outings

Drug rehab facilities are 100% responsible when they take in vulnerable patients. They are liable for constant care for them as they go through withdrawal. They must prevent them from overdosing on a drug like Fentanyl. They must also react quickly to an overdose and have the training to prevent injury or death.

These responsibilities don’t end when a facility takes patients on a group outing. Drug treatment center owners are still liable to keep patients from getting hurt or harming themselves.

These “field trips” may include volunteer work. The trips can involve attending a talk with a motivational speaker. They may work in recovery-oriented time at a peaceful, natural setting to help patients gain inner peace and perspective.

These are all appropriate and helpful goals, but facilities must be absolutely sure residents are ready for this type of journey and that they can be protected from overdose temptations while out.

The Duty to Give Licensable Care Only On-Site

The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) does put one limit on group trips. Licensed facilities must not provide any of their licensable services anywhere but their treatment center grounds.

This care should not be administered while staff and patients are off-campus.

These and other licensable services should only be provided on property:

• Detoxification
• Individual sessions
• Group sessions
• Educational sessions
• Alcoholism or drug abuse recovery treatment planning
• Incidental medical services

If a company or corporation tried to provide these services to a patient who was away from the building, the owners could face fines and even closure. If someone got hurt, the facility could be held liable for an overdose injury or a tragic overdose death.

SEE: The Responsibility of Owners of Sober Living Homes.

Determining If Off-Facility Trips Are Safe

California authorities do not prohibit outings for rehab centers. But the responsibility to determine which patients can handle this freedom and what activities and destinations are appropriate and safe falls to the facility operators.

These and other factors would need to be considered before sending patients out the front door to a location that may not be as secure:

• A professional assessment to confirm that patients can handle leaving a facility
• Enough staff on the trip to prevent elopement of a patient
• Enough staff on a trip to prevent patients from going unsupervised and obtaining drugs
• Trained staff to react at any location if a patient manages to overdose on a drug like Fentanyl or Heroin
• Bringing doses of NARCAN on an outing and having staff members there who can use it properly
• Calling for an ambulance immediately when a patient on a group trip is discovered to have overdosed

Some facilities can issue a day pass to a patient to allow them to attend certain important family events. The decision to allow a patient to go out on their own must be considered carefully. If facility clinical staff, such as doctors, nurses, and counselors, allowed someone to leave who was not strong enough, and a tragic death occurred, the corporate owners of the center could be 100% financially liable for what happened. Families would have a strong negligent supervision claim.

Support Available to Families After a Fatal Accident in a Rehab

A California rehab facility wrongful death lawyer helps families collect the evidence needed to show the negligence of a rehab facility while on facility property and while on a field trip.

An experienced attorney would use the evidence to demand support for families and their difficult emotional and financial journey ahead.

An attorney would seek wrongful death benefits and support through a Survival Action:

• Coverage of all funeral and burial costs
• Money to replace the income a victim has provided through employment to support the family
• Support for a loss of love and guidance
• Support for lost special life moments, such as holiday gatherings, weddings, and the birth of children and grandchildren
• Support for a loss of companionship for parents who lose a teenager at a juvenile drug rehab clinic

• The patient’s ambulance fees and hospital bills left behind

Contact Us if a California Rehab Facility Caused Your Loved One Harm.

Families who lose a loved one at a California rehab facility, or during an outing, have up to two years to file a claim for a standard negligence case. When a case is filed as medical malpractice, the deadline is usually up to three years.

Which type of claim is filed can make a big difference in how much a family receives in benefits. Medical malpractice case awards can be capped. A lawyer can help your family determine the best way to file to win the most for those left behind.

Attorney Martin Gasparian offers a free, confidential consultation to all families.

Call us today or fill out a free case review form. If you need our help, we don’t charge your family anything upfront. We are only paid if we win the case for you. Then our fee comes out of the settlement that a negligent facility must provide.