Families can hold drug treatment centers liable when patients are allowed to overdose and suffer injuries or a tragic death.

However, in some cases, a troubled facility may shut down or be closed by the state before family members can file a claim.

Families still usually have several paths to file lawsuits and earn justice.

A corporation can still legally exist even if a California facility has closed its doors. The insurers for the facility will still be in business and may still have to provide coverage. In some cases, a facility is taken over by a new owner, and that new company could be held liable.

Filing a Claim After a Drug Rehab Overdose

After a fatal overdose at a rehab clinic, families are allowed to file wrongful death claims. They can demand help with things like funeral costs and the loss of income a loved one may have supported the family with.

Unfortunately, a treatment center with a bad safety record may have been in trouble long before this most current example of negligence. The facility’s owners may decide to shut the center down. The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) may also step in and revoke the clinic’s license.

But families who have had a loved one taken from them can still often take legal action.

Suing Rehab Owners: A facility may have locked its doors for good, but the parent company or corporation would usually still exist. The corporation may remain intact and own other fully operational facilities. In other cases, a parent company may be shutting down, but must still legally exist while matters are finalized. This period is also an opportunity for victims and their families to take legal action against the company before it’s dissolved for good.

Filing a Claim with the Insurer: Drug rehab facilities can’t operate without having commercial liability insurance. A company may be going under, but the insurer would usually still be operational and liable for any injuries or fatalities occurring at the facility.

Suing Individual Medical Staff: A rehab health network may have shut down, but families can hold individual doctors, nurses, and counselors financially liable for a senseless overdose death.

Suing New Rehab Owners: In some cases, a rehab company that’s struggling may be sold to a larger business. The new owner may not open up the shuttered rehab center right away, but that owner can be held liable for the mistakes of the purchased company.

It’s important to work with a skilled California Negligent Rehab Wrongful Death lawyer when figuring out who to sue. An experienced attorney can also help victimized families determine what at-fault owners should be paying and make sure they receive every benefit.

Evidence for a Strong Case Against a Rehab Owner

If your loved one’s overdose played a role in forcing a negligent facility to close its doors, it’s often strong evidence you can use against the facility. A DHCS investigation and the documented violations (and past violations) can go a long way towards proving negligence.

Other evidence will need to be collected. Some of it will be tightly guarded in the owner’s filing cabinets and on servers. When a facility is closing down, there may be disputes over who has access to important documents.

Your attorney can cut through the red tape to secure this and other difficult-to-obtain evidence:

• Staff logs showing a patient wasn’t checked on frequently enough.
• Legal requests for surveillance video, perhaps showing security issues that allowed drugs like Fentanyl or cocaine into a “secure facility.
• Phone records showing 911wasn’t called soon enough.
• A failure to administer NARCAN or give the right dose.
• Evidence that a patient was left to suffer fatal withdrawal complications without supervision.
• The results of an internal investigation into how the tragedy occurred.
• The results from a California medical examiner or a coroner.

Contact us if a drug rehab facility caused the death of a loved one.

Attorney Martin Gasparian offers a free, confidential consultation to all family members who have lost a loved one at a California drug treatment center. He can help families gather evidence and sue facility owners, even if the rehab center has since been shut down.

This meeting comes with no obligation. There are also no upfront fees if you need to hire a lawyer. We don’t get paid unless we win the case for your family. Then our fee comes out of the settlement your family receives.

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