Quick recognition of an overdose and quick action are the best ways to stop a fentanyl overdose. Doctors, nurses, and staff members should be administering Narcan within minutes of an overdose starting. If the first dose doesn’t stop the symptoms, multiple doses should be given over several minutes.
The staff’s immediate call to 911 would also be key to helping the victim. Paramedics and a trip to the ER may be necessary to fully stabilize the patient.
When staff members fail a rehab patient through negligence or recklessness, the facility can be sued for support to pay for recovery, or in tragic cases, funeral costs. But drug clinics will have corporate lawyers to help them cover up evidence and avoid blame.
You can fight back after a loved one’s overdose by contacting a Bakersfield Rehab Facility Overdose Lawyer. We offer victims and their families a free case consultation. It’s confidential and comes with no strings attached. It’s a no-risk way for families to determine how to hold a drug rehab facility accountable for an overdose and secure full support for recovery.
Holding Staff Members Accountable for a Drug Rehab Clinic Overdose Injury
Drug rehab facilities pledge to restrict a patient’s access to drugs and to act if they are somehow able to find a source for fentanyl and overdose. It’s all part of a legal “duty of care” any clinic must observe for its patients.
That duty should include easy access to life-saving Narcan (The brand name for Naloxone) that stops opioid reactions. And all staff members at drug rehab clinics should be trained in the proper application of Narcan.
That should mean that not just doctors and nurses know how to use it. Counselors, security personnel, and administrators should also be taught at least the basics of stopping an overdose and the life-threatening side effects.
Narcan blocks the opioid receptors in the brain, in effect, shutting down the harmful overdose effects for the patient.
Beyond administering Naloxone, staff members should be well versed in other protocols to save a victim’s life:
- Staff members should know to dial 911 immediately after signs of an overdose have been spotted.
- Staff members should be trained to provide mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to stop the effects of fentanyl on the patient’s breathing.
- Staff members should have training to help patients who remain unconscious into a “recovery position” on their sides. This is to keep them from choking on vomit.
When someone gets hurt, and it’s clear that the clinic staff wasn’t properly prepared to respond to an overdose, facility owners and operators can be held liable. But victims and their families
Finding Evidence of Staff Negligence After a Drug Rehab Overdose
Victims and their families should have access to all evidence showing how an overdose occurred and what mistakes may have been made in the facility’s reaction.
Some of this evidence will be internal and involve facility records. Getting these details can be difficult, especially with unhelpful company lawyers trying to block every request for evidence.
An experienced lawyer would demand access to medical care logs and even surveillance video.
A skilled attorney would raise these questions through an investigation of the staff’s reaction to an overdose:
- Was the patient monitored closely enough to spot the signs of overdose soon enough? (For that matter, were they monitored closely enough to prevent access to fentanyl?)
- Was Narcan administered correctly, in strong enough doses, and frequently enough?
- Did the patient have access to an ambulance soon enough and able to get to the hospital quickly enough?
- Was the overdose victim properly cared for during withdrawal and recovery?
Showing evidence of neglect in these often life-saving steps can help keep the blame with the right party, the drug rehab facility. A strong case backed with proof can help victims pay for all of their recovery costs, and perhaps come away with enough compensation to pay for rehab at a clinic truly focused on the wellbeing of patients.
The evidence can be used in a tragic wrongful death case to help families get financial help with burial costs and paying leftover medical bills. Families could also receive support to replace the income a loved one may have provided for a spouse or children. The family’s extreme emotional trauma over the loss of a loved one that could have been prevented may also earn support.
Contact a Bakersfield Drug Rehab Overdose Attorney
Maison Law Accident & Injury Lawyers of Bakersfield provides a free case review to all families after an overdose. This meeting comes with no strings attached and is always confidential. All family members should find out what their case is worth before lawyers for a rehab clinic try to tell them they don’t have a case, and they owe them nothing.
If we can help your loved one or your family seek justice and earn more, your family doesn’t have to stress about how to pay a lawyer. You don’t pay us anything if we don’t win your case. If we do win for you, our attorney’s fee comes from the settlement check the drug facility’s insurer must write for your family.