March 31, 2025 – The parents of Justin Cartwright, a man who was featured in the Chronicle after fatally overdosing inside San Francisco’s largest addiction treatment program, have sued the operator, HealthRight 360, alleging that it failed to ensure their son’s safety. 

The lawsuit, filed Thursday by Dawn Poole and Michael Cartwright in San Francisco Superior Court, accuses HealthRight 360 of breaching its “duty of care” and lacking meaningful oversight. It further alleges that “reckless conduct” by HealthRight 360 leadership in managing and operating its facilities created a “dangerous milieu where clients would fatally overdose due to known shortcomings” of the nonprofit. 

HealthRight did not immediately return requests for comment. 

Cameron Sehat, the attorney representing Cartwright’s parents, said Monday that the conditions inside HealthRight’s facilities were “the perfect fuel” for Cartwright’s death, which he said reasonably should have been prevented.

September 25, 2024 – The mother of a 19-year-old woman who died at a San Luis Obispo County mental health facility, though no one noticed for eight to 10 hours, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court on Monday seeking monetary damages and closure of the facility. The lawsuit names SLO County, Sierra Mental Wellness Group and eight of the group’s employees.

Linda Cooper had her 19-year-old daughter Elina Branco of Paso Robles admitted to Twin Cities Community Hospital on the morning of May 15 because of a drug overdose, with plans to take the teen to a drug treatment program the next day. After assurances her daughter would be in good hands, Cooper agreed to have her daughter transferred to the SLO County Crisis Stabilization Unit for a one night stay.

Shortly after 5 p.m., Branco was transferred to the Crisis Stabilization Unit. Even though the policy is to take the patient’s personal items and clothing, Branco was placed in a bed with the clothes on her back. It is suspected she had narcotics on her person.

Staff at the unit documented Branco’s stay, noting on her chart that she went to bed at 9:35 p.m.

At 11:30 p.m. on May 15, and again at 1:30, 3:30 and 5:30 a.m. on May 16, the chart logs are identical: “Engaged in therapeutic rest without incident. Breathing is even and unlabored. Will continue to monitor for any changes.”

During shift change at 7:30 a.m., the log entry changes: “The client is lying in bed with eyes closed, breathing evenly and without labored breathing. Relevant information be passed on the day shift for continuity of care.”

However, it appears no one actually checked on Branco who the coroner calculated died between 10 p.m. and midnight on May 15.

By the time staff actually checked on Branco, between 8 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. on May 16, they realized she had died and was already in the process of “livor mortis,” according to the lawsuit.

Cooper’s attorney, Cameron Sehat with the Newport Beach-based Sehat Law Firm, is seeking general, compensatory and punitive damages. He is also asking the court for injunctive relief, such as closing the Crisis Stabilization Unit to ensure future client safety.

Cynthia Rizalla was 53 she died at Todd Road Jail in June 2023. She had been homeless and was arrested a few weeks earlier in Oxnard, on suspicion of drug possession, shoplifting and illegal lodging, according to the investigative report on her death by the county medical examiner’s office.
Her family’s lawsuit states that she was suffering from “severe opiate withdrawal and mental health problems.” In the days before she died, she refused her meals and medication and began exhibiting “erratic behavior,” according to the medical examiner’s report, “yelling incoherent words and kicking the cell door and walls.” A judge canceled her court hearing, and she was referred for a psychiatric evaluation on June 5.

At 12:50 a.m. on June 4, a deputy doing a routine check saw her sitting on the toilet in her cell. Another deputy saw her in the same position about 20 minutes later, with her pants up and her chin resting on her chest. That deputy returned after another half an hour and saw that she hadn’t moved. Deputies called for paramedics, who were not able to save Rizalla.

The medical examiner ruled that the primary cause of Rizalla’s death was heart disease, compounded by high blood pressure and chronic drug use.
Cameron Sehat, the attorney for Rizalla’s family, said jail staff should have monitored her physical and mental condition more closely and should have sent paramedics much sooner on the night she died.

“Every minute counts,” Sehat said. “When you delay cardiopulmonary resuscitative efforts, after an hour the chances of survival are slim to none.

Read the entire story here.

VICTORVILLE — The family of a Victorville man who died after being repeatedly stunned with a Taser last month filed a federal lawsuit to seek justice.