Family Wins $10.25M Wrongful Death Lawsuit

A couple in Kansas city won a $10.25 million wrongful death lawsuit against a drug and alcohol detox center that was filed on the behalf of their son.

Brandon Jacques checked into A Sober Way Home in Arizona before being transferred to Morningside Recovery in Newport Beach, Calif., to treat his struggles with bulimia and alcohol.

Brandon died from cardiac arrest induced by an electrolyte imbalance from his binging and purging after being transferred to First House LLC, another Newport Beach detox center, without his parents’ knowledge.

“First House served as an overflow place for Morningside,” said David Skeens, one of the two attorneys who represented the family. “There was kind of a buddy-buddy relationship between the owner of Morningside and the owner of First House. When Morningside had people knocking on their door ready to pay another $25,000, they shipped Brandon over to this place, which was candidly just a converted ranch house.”

According to Shawn Foster, the other attorney representing the family, the emails and practices of both centers “illustrated illegal kickbacks and referral agreements to induce facilities to refer clients.”

Skeens said Morningside’s “representation about its ability to treat eating disorders was false. Legally, Morningside wasn’t supposed to treat in-patient cases of eating disorders because it wasn’t a medical facility.”

Brandon’s parents, Ted and Kim Jacques, were awarded $10.25 million in damages and $40,622.50 for funeral and burial expenses.

First House was found to be 20 percent guilty for Brandon’s death, Morningside taking the other 20 percent.