California permits detox centers to treat Substance Use Disorder (SUD) patients, but only some facilities are allowed to utilize more heavily monitored prescription drugs and other higher-level services. What’s allowed is often determined by whether a facility provides 24/7 medical supervision or not.
Facilities that offer care and services they aren’t approved to provide, such as medication therapy, can face penalties.
If a detox center admitted a SUD patient it wasn’t allowed to treat, it could also face fines and lose its license. And if a patient got hurt, victims and their families could seek support.
Licensed Detox Centers in California
California has different levels of detox centers. Some are outpatient, lower-intensity programs that don’t include 24/7 medical supervision.
Inpatient, overnight facilities would usually be required to provide medical supervision. A medical director for the facility would be required, meaning a licensed physician. Inpatient, medically supervised facilities would usually treat patients at most risk. This is often Benzodiazepine use patients, and alcohol abuse patients at most risk during withdrawal. Some Opioid Use patients would also be included.
California’s Department of Healthcare Services (DHCS) requires overnight facilities to earn a Residential Detoxification Facility License and to maintain that licensing. Medically supervised detox centers must also earn a Narcotics Treatment Program License.
When facilities offer care that requires these licenses, but don’t have them, they can face state and federal penalties. This might include an outpatient treatment clinic, a sober house, or traditional housing.
The care that shouldn’t be undertaken by these lower-level facilities could include:
- Providing group therapy and individual sessions
- Offering treatment planning
- Advertising as a licensed detox center
- Continuing to offer care after being written up for a serious violation
- Providing access to certain medications
When these mistakes and even criminal acts cause a detox patient to get hurt or lose their lives, families also have grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit, a personal injury claim, or a wrongful death claim.
What Detox Patients Should Know About Incidental Medical Services
When detox facilities go too far in their treatment, it can also involve Incidental Medical Services (IMS). The DHCS requires certified drug rehab facilities to offer certain approved services.
When families see these services involved in an injury or a fatality at a rehab center, it could be proof of a violation and of fault for a tragedy.
The DHCS allows licensed facilities to provide these and other IMS services:
- Obtaining medical histories
- Monitoring health status
- Testing associated with detoxification from alcohol or drugs
- Providing alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment services
- Overseeing patient self-administered medications
- Treating substance abuse disorders, including detoxification
Title 9 and Title 22 Compliance for Detox Centers
California’s Code of Regulations (CCR) also goes into the requirements for the state’s rehabilitative and developmental services rehab facilities.
Title 9 of the code sets forth the rules for detox centers. This includes staffing requirements for detox providers. There isn’t one set guideline for the number of staff members required. The requirements are determined by the type of facility, the number of patients, the needs of the patients, and established medical standards. Facilities can face huge fines and injury liability when owners cut staffing to dangerous levels to earn extra profits.
Title 22 offers additional staffing guidelines, especially for detox treatment centers for juveniles. It also provides more guidelines for state-operated detox programs under Medi-Cal (California’s version of Medicaid).
When facilities fail to follow these codes, or offer care not allowed under their current level of licensing, and a patient is injured, families can seek justice for a loved one.
See: When facilities that violate codes can be liable under Negligence Per Se.
ASAM Levels Families Should Be Made Aware Of
DCHS also follows the American Society of Addiction Medicine’s (ASAM) criteria when licensing detox facilities and holding owners and operators accountable.
The ASAM says its guidelines help providers evaluate a person’s needs and recommend the right level of treatment. It’s a set of standards that help patients get evaluated properly to assess their needs and to help them find help at the right facility.
The ASAM protocols also factor into the designated levels of facilities found in California.
When these guidelines are ignored by a facility, and a patient gets hurt, it’s just further proof for families to bring forward.
Support Available for Families After a Tragic Wrongful Death
A code violation or missed guideline can have devastating consequences for vulnerable patients. A simple mistake, like a bed check missed by 10 minutes, or a failure to call 911 five minutes sooner, can lead to a tragic death.
Nothing can bring back the life of a loved one, but families should hold facilities liable. They should also collect wrongful death support to prevent an even more difficult future.
These are the types of things that would earn support for families after a tragic death:
Wrongful Death Support
- 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 ju
Survival Action (These are awards for the victim’s hardships endured before they passed on)
- The patient’s ambulance fees and hospital bills left behind
- Reimbursement for any property damage the patient suffered
- Replacement of the income a patient lost while forced to miss even more time at work
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are penalties added on to some wrongful death cases. They are meant to punish detox centers that were extremely negligent in their duty to care for vulnerable patients. Perhaps accepting a patient they couldn’t treat properly just to earn extra profits. Perhaps providing care they weren’t licensed to offer.
Punitive damages are meant to serve as an extra punishment and warning to negligent facilities. However, victims receive any money paid through fines.
Contact Us if a California Detox Allowed Your Loved One to Get Hurt.
Attorney Martin Gasparian offers a free, confidential consultation to victims who were hurt or families who lost a loved one at a California Detox facility. There’s never any obligation for this informational session.
We can help families, even if an at-fault facility has since shut down.
Call us today or fill out a free case review form.
Remember, if you need a lawyer to help you earn justice, you don’t have to find the money to hire one. We begin work immediately, but are only paid if we win your case for your family. Then our fee comes out of the settlement check a drug treatment facility must write for you.