First of all, if you have had a family member suffer harm in a drug rehab facility, we’re sorry. We hope that your loved one can fully recover and rebuild their life, despite the negligence of a rehab clinic.
And, yes, you can sue a Bakersfield rehab facility if a loved one is allowed to overdose on fentanyl while under their care. The case may result in an insurance claim or lawsuit against the company, or a wrongful death lawsuit in the event of a tragic death.
Of course, you’ll need strong evidence to prove the negligence of a clinic staff member, and that evidence can be difficult to obtain. A lawyer may be able to help families secure this proof and demand more for victims and their loved ones. You can contact Maison Law Accident & Injury Lawyers for a free, no strings attached case consultation to learn of all your options.
Deciding If Your Family Needs a Lawyer to File a Claim against a Negligent Drug Rehab Clinic
Holding a drug rehab facility accountable is rarely straightforward. These facilities are typically backed by legal teams and insurance companies whose primary goal is to minimize payouts and deflect blame. That blame is often misdirected at the patient or family.
Cases will need to be strong to stand up to insurance adjuster scrutiny and personal attacks from company lawyers. Families who have strong legal representation often have much more success earning justice and support after an overdose.
Families can always file a claim themselves, but these cases are often very complicated, involving stacks of paperwork, sneaky deadlines, and hard-to-pin-down evidence. An experienced Bakersfield Rehab Facility Overdose Lawyer conducts a full investigation and demands documents, logs, and even surveillance video.
Your attorney would file a liability insurance claim on behalf of your family. But Maison Law Accident & Injury Lawyers would also have a lawsuit prepared if a clinic refused to accept blame and offer a proper settlement to make things right. The threat of court action often results in a return to the negotiation table and a better settlement offer. Companies want to avoid embarrassment in court and the cost of going before a judge and jury.
What You’ll Need to Win a Drug Overdose Lawsuit
A successful drug overdose claim or lawsuit will need to be backed by hard facts. The negligence of the staff in preventing such a heartbreaking
A skilled attorney helps you collect these details and answer the many important questions surrounding an overdose case:
- Medical documents showing the use of fentanyl and its effects.
- In the case of a tragic, fatal overdose, securing toxicology reports and autopsies will be a key part of any claim.
- Submitting a subpoena to secure surveillance video before it can be erased.
- Gaining access to work logs and internal investigation reports.
- Determining if the staff had proper training.
- Did the staff act soon enough?
- Did the staff have access to Narcan, and was it administered in time?
- How did the patient gain access to a harmful substance, and why wasn’t it found?
- Did a member of the staff provide fentanyl?
- Was there a failure in security that allowed an unauthorized person inside the facility to provide drugs?
Proof of these and other lapses by the facility leadership and staff can leave rehab facilities with no choice but to accept blame. A lawyer can turn up the pressure to help victims and their families earn the support they require. Through aggressive settlement negotiations, our lawyers can often win families much more than they could by handling their cases themselves.
What Victims and Their Families Stand to Win in an Overdose Negligence Case
Overdose Personal Injury Cases and Medical Malpractice: In an overdose injury case, victims should earn money to cover 100% of the medical care they need, for as long as they need it. Their physical pain and intensified emotional struggle should also earn support. This can include the distress of a drug addiction setback and its mental toll.
Victims and their families should receive a refund on the money they’ve already spent to enroll in the clinic. This, perhaps, could be money used to find a Kern County clinic where victims are actually cared for as they should be.
Wrongful Death Settlements: Families forced to file a wrongful death claim after a tragic loss of life would be seeking help with their funeral bills and any remaining medical bills. They should demand that support be awarded for the emotional toll such a devastating loss will take on the family. This can include the loss of guidance and love in the years to come. It should factor in the precious life moments that have been lost, such as weddings, holiday gatherings, and the birth of children and grandchildren. If the victim’s income had been used to help support close relatives, such as a spouse and children, families should get help replacing weekly paychecks.
A Bakersfield wrongful death lawyer can represent the entire family in a claim or lawsuit. Our attorneys would make sure a deceased loved one wasn’t unfairly blamed for a rehab facility’s negligence. We would make sure families had what they needed to move forward and avoid financial distress in the future.
Contact a Bakersfield Fentanyl Overdose Wrongful Death Lawyer
Overdose victims and their families can turn to Maison Law Accident & Injury Lawyers of Bakersfield for a confidential and free case consultation. It’s a no-risk way to determine how to hold a careless Kern County drug rehab facility fully responsible.
And please remember, families never need to worry about finding the money to hire a lawyer at such a difficult time. We work on a contingency basis for victims and their families. We don’t accept any payment unless we win the case for our clients. Then, our attorney’s fee comes out of the settlement or judgment that a drug rehab facility must provide.