The Santa Barbara County Department of Behavioral Wellness (DBW) and Marian Regional Medical Center are facing wrongful death allegations from a family who said their relative wasn’t given proper care.
In a lawsuit filed in the Cook Division of Santa Barbara County Superior Court on Oct. 20, Pamela Madrigal alleges that her husband, Leonard, was prematurely discharged from the hospital after seeking mental health treatment and later committed suicide on Oct. 24, 2015.
Madrigal further alleges that the hospital failed to comply with standard medical and psychiatric practices, and failed to obtain informed consent. No further details were available.
Calls to Jack Schuler, Madrigal’s attorney, were unreturned before press time. A spokeswoman from Marian couldn’t discuss details of the case.
Among the defendants, the lawsuit also lists the DBW Crisis and Recovery Emergency Services (CARES), which is a dedicated field response team on-call 24 hours a day to handle mental health emergencies.
According to DBW spokeswoman Suzanne Grimmesey, CARES is a countywide program with units in Lompoc, Santa Barbara, and Santa Maria that perform mental health assessments and determine if a person needs psychiatric hospitalization.
Citing privacy laws, Grimmesey wouldn’t say how CARES was involved with Madrigal.
“If someone goes to the emergency room, the doctor in charge would be the hospital treating doctor,” Grimmesey said, adding that it would be up to them to make the decision to call CARES, if needed.
Madrigal’s son, Mark, is also listed as a plaintiff. According to the lawsuit, they both claim loss of household services, love, care, comfort, affection, burial expenses, and are seeking more than $25,000 in damages.
This article appears in Nov 3-9, 2016.