LAWSUIT: Instead of sending a client with Covid-19 to an ER, a facility advised him to stay in a hotel and continued to collect treatment fees.
— Attorney Arash Sadat
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, August 18, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ — A drug detoxification clinic denied medical care for a patient who had contracted Covid, and instead of discharging him to an emergency room, told the man’s brother to check him into a hotel, where the man died with foam coming out of his mouth and nose, according to a wrongful death lawsuit filed Aug. 11.
If staff at Bright Future Recovery had discharged Andrew McConnell to an ER the facility would no longer be able to collect fees McConnell was paying to get sober, according to the lawsuit filed in San Benito Superior Court.
McConnell, 49, was found dead in the hotel room on Aug. 24, 2021, just five days after being admitted to Bright Future’s Hollister, Calif. facility.
He’d initially sought treatment for alcohol and prescription drug dependency at My Time Recovery in Fresno. McConnell and his family agreed to 90 days of treatment following a “hard sell” from the facility’s owner, only to then be told his space was needed for a “cash patient” flying in from Georgia, according to the lawsuit. My Time then transferred McConnell to Bright Future Recovery; the owners are friends, the lawsuit states.
Four days after arriving at Bright Future Recovery, McConnell tested positive for COVID-19. Despite showing symptoms requiring emergency medical care, Bright Future Recovery released McConnell to his brother’s care and advised him to stay at a hotel and said they would continue his treatment via Zoom, the lawsuit states.
“Andrew was admitted to one treatment center and then immediately transferred to another one under circumstances that suggest profit over care,” said Los Angeles attorney Arash Sadat, a partner at Mills, Sadat, Dowlat LLP. “This pattern revealed itself again when he was clearly suffering from Covid and they decided to send him to a hotel so they could continue billing for his treatment.”
Bright Future staff instead should have brought McConnell to the nearest hospital for high-level emergency medical care, Sadat said.
Andrew McConnell, of Los Osos, Calif., relapsed into addictions after the unexpected death of a brother. He cherished his family, especially his two daughters. An outdoorsman, he loved the mountains, snowboarding, and the Oakland Raiders.
The lawsuit accuses Bright Future of negligence causing McConnell’s death, including not monitoring him, not providing medically supervised detox, and not transferring him to a hospital when required. My Time is accused of sending McConnell to Bright Future in exchange for a kick-back, the lawsuit states.
These events led directly to McConnell’s death, according to the lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of McDonnell’s two daughters and his estate.
“This case is not just about seeking justice for the McConnell family; it is a statement that life is not a commodity to be traded for profits,” Sadat said. “Such gross negligence and disregard for human life should never go unanswered.”
The lawsuit was filed in San Benito Superior Court; McConnell v. Bright Future Recovery, Inc., My Time Recovery, LLC, et. al; CU-23-00172 (August 11, 2023).
Arash Sadat’s legal expertise ranges from personal injury to employment discrimination to complex business litigation and contractual disputes, unfair competition and federal asset forfeiture. He is a partner at Mills Sadat Dowlat LLP of Los Angeles.
Robert Frank
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