Beware The Danger Of The Non-Medical Drug Detox Facility

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A large part of the country is suffering from a drug crisis. Quite naturally, a lot of people are heading to rehabilitation centers around the nation for treatment. Unfortunately, where there's a misfortune that leads to an economic opportunity, there are also people willing to take advantage of the situation.

Many of the drug rehab centers that are proudly and loudly proclaiming their services to help addicts aren't licensed medical facilities and they may be putting addicts in as much -- or even more -- danger than the drugs they're already using. This is what you need to know before you or a loved one goes into rehab.

A License To Operate Doesn't Equal Medical Care

Many facilities can boast of a license to provide rehabilitation services, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they're medical facilities. For example, in California where the rehab service industry is booming right alongside the drug industry, 1/3 of the facilities that have a license to operate are considered "non-medical" facilities. That fact may be glossed over in the pamphlets they send out to potential clients -- many of whom come from other states where non-medical facilities can't be licensed. Patients and their families may incorrectly assume that all state licensing requirements are the same as their own.

Detox Without Genuine Medical Supervision Is Dangerous

Many of the facilities that offer detox will allude to "supervised" detox or say that there is medical care provided during the process. What they don't tell clients and their families is that the medical care amounts to nothing more than making sure that the detoxing client doesn't hurt himself or herself and having someone on the site who knows CPR.

Detoxing can be more dangerous than using drugs if someone goes into detox too quickly or has an underlying medical problem that needs care. No one should be allowed to go through withdrawal without first being examined by a physician for health issues. Even then, abrupt withdrawals are often discouraged for long-term addicts. Drugs like methadone can be used, instead, to make sure that a detox patient's body doesn't go into shock or have seizures.

While facilities without real medical staff members are supposed to screen potential patients and send high-risk cases to medical facilities, the screeners are often poorly trained. Who gets in and who goes somewhere else depends a lot on how prospective patients self-report -- something that many addicts can't adequately do.

If your loved one suffered a needless death after being given inadequate care in a facility that promised to keep him or her safe during drug detox and addiction recovery, talk to a personal injury attorney today.

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6 April 2018