what type of lawyer is for a lawsuit against a rehab treatment center

As a result, when rehab center patients get hurt, their legal rights are not always clear. The personal injury lawyers at the law office of Gilman & Bedigian delve into some of the most common injuries that can happen at drug and alcohol rehab treatment centers and your legal rights if one of those situations happened to you.

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Can I file a lawsuit against an alcohol or drug rehab center?

Gilman & Bedigian Represent Those Hurt at Rehab Centers. The personal injury lawyers at Gilman & Bedigian strive to legally represent people who have been hurt in a variety of situations, including those who have been hurt at drug or alcohol rehab treatment centers.

Can negligent drug rehab centers cause serious injuries?

May 13, 2020 · To sue a rehab facility for an injury, you will have to prove that the rehab owed you a duty of care, breached that duty of care, and that you were seriously injured and suffered significant damages as a result. As long as you can hire an attorney who knows how to gather and present all evidence needed to prove that the rehab employers or staff ...

What are your rights if you’re injured at a negligent rehab?

Rehab Center abuse comes in a multitude of forms including: Physical assault. Sexual abuse. Verbal abuse. Early discharge. Not monitoring self-destructive actions. Humiliating the patient by taking humiliating photos and posting them on social media. Confining to a chair or bed. Overmedicating or under medicating.

Can a personal injury lawyer take my mental health malpractice case?

Many RTCs are owned by gigantic corporations which can pay for armies of lawyers at their disposal. The RTC industry as a whole is also very worried about negative publicity, so they have an incentive to aggressively fight any lawsuit. To be successful, you need an experienced RTC abuse attorney in your corner.

What Is usually Claimed in Mental Health Malpractice Cases?

The following are the most commonly associated claims in successful mental health malpractice cases: 1. Sexual impropriety 2. Incorrect treatment 3...

Are There Any Defenses to Mental Health Malpractice?

The same defenses for a medical malpractice case often work for mental health malpractice as well. The most common defenses are: 1. Statute of Limi...

Should I Contact A Personal Injury Attorney?

If you have suffered from injuries as a result of mental health visits, or have been accused of mental health malpractice, the advice and counsel o...

How do treatment facilities avoid lawsuits?

Covering up mistakes. Some treatment facilities try to avoid a lawsuit by lying to loved ones and trying to sweep problems under the rug.

What is a residential treatment center?

Residential treatment centers (RTCs) help people struggling with behavioral, chemical, and other issues. Millions of people have entrusted RTCs to provide top-quality service and to take care of loved ones. Unfortunately, RTCs also have a long history of abuse and other wrongful conduct. Residents suffer physically, mentally, and emotionally, ...

How to be successful in a RTC case?

To be successful, you need an experienced RTC abuse attorney in your corner. Bringing a lawsuit is a complicated, confusing process, and abuse and neglect cases have their own complications. For example, the loved one being abused might not be in the right mental state to offer compelling testimony of the abuse they receive. This situation requires a creative attorney who understands the rules of evidence.

What happens if a treatment center fails to perform a background check?

If an RTC fails to perform an adequate check, they might hire someone who is a clear danger to the residents.

What are unexplained injuries?

Unexplained injuries, such as bruises, fractures, cuts, or abrasions. A resident might be getting abused by staff, or they could have wandered away from the facility and injured themselves in a slip and fall.

Can RTC be liable for a loved one's injury?

Any of these behaviors can make the RTC fully liable for your loved one’s injuries, and you should fully document any that you see. An attorney can follow up and get to the root of the problem.

Can you see abuse in the RTC?

Abuse is often difficult to see. Many caretakers do not visit their loved ones regularly in the RTC. And when they do stop by, it is often for only short periods of time. Furthermore, the fact that your loved one is receiving treatment might account for any “odd” behavior that you notice.

What is a malpractice lawsuit?

A rapidly growing field of malpractice lawsuits stems from a category known as “mental health malpractice.”. A mental health malpractice claim may arise when a mental health practitioner (e.g., a psychiatrist) treats their patient in a negligent manner or abuses the power that they have over them as a professional.

Where to file a complaint with a mental health practitioner?

Alternatively, if you do not wish to bring a case, you may also file a complaint with a human rights officer who is located in your area, the ethics board that licensed your mental health practitioner, or with the mental health practitioner or facility’s human resources department.

How is mental health malpractice proven?

As is the case with many malpractice lawsuits, mental health malpractice claims are proven by using a negligence standard. The patient (i.e., the plaintiff) must be able to prove the following elements:

What is the Supreme Court case in Tarasoff v. Regents?

Regents of the University of California, held that mental health providers do have a duty to protect individuals that may be at risk of bodily harm based on information learned from their patients.

What rights do patients have in mental health?

There are certain rights that patients have in a mental health facility. One of the primary rights that patients should know about is the right to refuse treatment. Regardless of whether the patient was committed to a mental health facility voluntarily or involuntarily, according to the law, a patient always has a right to refuse treatment. However, there may be some exceptions.

What rights do patients have?

One of the primary rights that patients should know about is the right to refuse treatment. Regardless of whether the patient was committed to a mental health facility voluntarily or involuntarily, according to the law, a patient always has a right to refuse treatment. However, there may be some exceptions.

Who is Jaclyn from LegalMatch?

Prior to joining LegalMatch, Jaclyn was a paralegal and freelance writer. After several years of working for both criminal defense and entertainment law firms, she enrolled in law school. While in law school, her law journal note was selected for first-round publishing, and can be found on various legal research databases. Jaclyn holds a J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, specializing in both intellectual property law and data law; and a B.A. from Fordham University, majoring in both Journalism and the Classics (Latin). You can learn more about Jaclyn here.

What are the physical injuries of a rehab patient?

Rehab patients may also be injured by inappropriate sedation, as well as straps, belts, or other physical restraints.

How to get a personal injury attorney?

Your personal injury attorney can: 1 Stop the facility from destroying important records (known as “spoliation of evidence”) 2 Subpoena the rehab center’s records, including internal emails and memos between staff members about dangerous conditions 3 Question staff members under oath who may know the injury’s cause 4 Secure a court order permitting your attorney access inside the center to photograph or video the dangerous condition 5 Uncover proof of prior health and safety violations at the rehab center

What is recovery addiction?

Recovering addicts are fragile patients, who have a right to heal in a physically and emotionally safe environment. When patients are injured by rehab facility negligence or malpractice, the long-term effects can be catastrophic.

Why are cell phones banned in rehab?

Just as important, devices that record pictures or sound are banned because they may infringe on another patient’s privacy.

What happens if you slip and fall in rehab?

Slip and falls: Patients and visitors in rehab centers can suffer broken bones, head injuries, or joint injuries after a slip, trip, and fall on uneven flooring, unmarked steps, torn carpeting, loose scatter rugs or icy walkways around the facility.

What records are needed for rehab?

Medical records: Your medical and mental health records before rehab will help establish the level of care you needed, and your injury treatment records will help link your new injuries or worsened condition to the negligence of the rehab facility.

Why do treatment centers have to do everything reasonably possible to make the environment safe from dangerous conditions?

Because of the fragility of most patients, treatment centers must do everything reasonably possible to make the environment safe from dangerous conditions. This doesn’t mean every dangerous condition and every harm, but foreseeable and preventable dangerous conditions.

Why are care facilities required to maintain living conditions that are adequately clean and sanitary in resident rooms and common areas?

Care facilities are required to maintain living conditions that are adequately clean and sanitary in resident rooms and common areas to prevent the injury or illness of patients in their care. They can be held liable in a civil lawsuit if a person in their care becomes sick or dies because they failed to maintain a clean facility.

What happens if you don't honor your duty to care?

If the people tasked with this duty, primarily medical professionals, don’t honor their duty to care, significant negative consequences can result. This is especially true for seniors who require higher levels of care. Many older Americans and their families trust care facilities and their staffs to keep them safe and healthy.

What happens when a facility follows a medical standard of care?

When sub-standard medical care results in harm to a resident, it may be appropriate to bring a medical malpractice case against the facility, or against the medical professional who treated the resident.

What does it mean to trust a facility?

By law, this means they can expect attention, caution and prudence that a reasonable medical professional in the same circumstances would exercise.

Who can be held vicariously liable?

Facilities which hire an employee who ends up neglecting, abusing or otherwise harming a patient or resident can be held vicariously liable. An employer who fails to properly train and supervise its employees can also be held liable in these cases.

Can you sue a facility for neglect?

If the facts and the evidence so warrant, attorneys can file a lawsuit against the facility to seek compensation for injuries caused by their abuse and neglect.

Debra Ann Thomas

Assuming the counselor failed to follow the treatment protocol for the patient by causing the patient to recall repressed memories, there may be a claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress -- if the patient has in fact been distressed by the memories.

Daniel Paul Buttafuoco

It doesn't appear you have grounds for a medical malpractice claim. However, find a local attorney that is familiar with your states laws and call for a free consult.

Jacob Adam Regar

I am not licensed in your state. I am licensed in CA. So, just to provide my impression, I don't believe these facts give rise to a malpractice claim. In a negligence claim, the plaintiff has to prove the defendant owed a duty of care (that means a duty to act as a reasonably prudent person in the face of a...