Losing someone during drug or alcohol treatment is devastating. Families often chose a rehab facility because they believed it would be safer than leaving a loved one untreated. When a death happens in detox or residential care, it can feel impossible to understand how it occurred and whether it could have been prevented.
If you have questions, well help you find answers.
Perlmutter & Pourshalimi represents families across California in cases involving wrongful death in rehab, including deaths linked to overdose, unsafe detox, medical neglect, delayed emergency response, assault, and other preventable failures in treatment settings.
Call (310) 295-2236 for a FREE, CONFIDENTIAL CONSULTATION.
Overdose is not a rare event in state run rehab treatment facilities and privately run rehab centers.
According to the California Department of Public Health, close to 8,000 Californians died from opioid-related overdoses in 2023. That statistic reflects the broader crisis families are living throughand it underscores why safety, monitoring, and emergency response protocols matter so much in any rehab or detox setting.
A wrongful death case is not about blaming someone for addiction. It is about whether a facility that accepted responsibility for care failed to provide basic safety and timely medical response.
A wrongful death occurs when a person dies because of someone else’s wrongful act or negligence. In the rehab context, that may involve a facility’s failure to:
Not every death in treatment is legally actionable. But when the evidence shows preventable failures, families may have the right to pursue accountability.
Every case is different, but many fatal incidents fall into a few recurring categories.
Overdose deaths may involve:
In opioid overdoses, minutes can be the difference between survival and fatal oxygen loss.
Detox can be medically dangerous, especially for alcohol and benzodiazepine withdrawal. Potential failures may include:
Families are often shocked to learn that staff may hesitate before calling emergency services. A wrongful death investigation may focus on the timeline:
Residential treatment facilities may accept patients with complex needs including mental health conditions, trauma history, and medical comorbidities. Negligence may involve:
Some deaths involve violence between residents or unsafe conditions that were foreseeable and preventable with proper supervision.
Facilities that accept high-risk patients may have duties to assess suicide risk, implement safety plans, and monitor patients appropriately. Failures in screening, supervision, or emergency response can have tragic consequences.
Families often sense that something doesn’t add up. Potential red flags include:
You do not need to prove negligence before calling a lawyer. A consultation can help you understand what questions to ask and what records may matter.
In the immediate aftermath, families are grieving and also trying to make sense of a system that may feel closed off. When possible, consider:
Surveillance footage, staffing schedules, and internal communications may be time sensitive. Acting quickly can matter.
A thorough investigation may include reviewing:
Where appropriate, qualified medical experts may help evaluate whether the care met accepted standards.
Wrongful death claims can involve different categories of damages under California law. The availability and amount depend on the facts of the case and who is legally eligible to bring the claim.
While no case can undo a loss, legal action can:
If you lost a loved one in a California rehab, detox center, residential treatment facility, or sober living home, you may be facing grief, confusion, and unanswered questions.
If you have questions, well help you find answers.
Call Perlmutter & Pourshalimi at (310) 295-2236 for a FREE, CONFIDENTIAL CONSULTATION.
Contact our firm today to discuss what happened, ask questions, and learn whether legal action may be appropriate.
