Feds Inspect Detox Center Where SJC Man Died

Agents with the Drug Enforcement Agency conducted a “surprise inspection” of a residential detox facility in a Huntington Beach neighborhood  Tuesday where a San Juan Capistrano resident mysteriously died last year, according to ABC News.

“Typically DEA conducts inspections of these types of facilities every three-to five years or as needed,” DEA Special Agent Sarah Pullen told Patch. The center has come under fire since last year’s death of Jason Redmer, who checked in April 2012 to kick an alcohol addiction but wound up dead four days later.

"DEA would be looking into issues regarding the handling of controlled substances," Pullen said. 

This week, Channel 7 news aired a five-minute piece on West Coast Detox and the death of Redmer. In the report, seen here, an attorney for the center acknowledged the staff had broken rules in the past but insisted the center’s past problems have been taken care of.

“In the past, West Coast was not as vigilant as it should have been with respect to locking up the medications and destroying them on a regular basis,” Green told ABC. “All of that’s been changed.”

As Patch reported in December, the state’s Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs found a number of violations in the treatment of past clients, including some that may have led to Redmer’s death, the department concluded.

The violations included administering powerful drugs without a prescription and keeping a stash of confiscated medications – which staff called “dead meds” – unsecured in the garage attic.

Green acknowledged that the center violated the law by dispensing drugs but added that non-prescribed medication wasn’t the cause of his Redmer’s death. She also said staffers believed they could monitor Redmer’s health and didn’t call 911 until he was already dead.

The Orange County Coroner’s office has not been able to pinpoint the cause of death. It remains “undetermined.”

Meanwhile, Lynne Redmer, Jason’s mom, told Patch she is likely to fly to Sacramento and testify on behalf of proposed legislation.

 “The bill [AB 40, introduced by Allan Mansoor, R-Costa Mesa] will mandate medical personnel be on site at all times at any detox facility,” Redmer said.

It “needs to be passed into legislature – so other lives can be saved,” she said. “No one else needs to die as Jason did. We don't want that to happen, and Jason wouldn't either.”