Sober living scandal: Native American woman incapacitated after being given fentanyl by staff, lawsuit says
Woman allegedly given fentanyl by sober living staff
A lawsuit claims the state of Arizona knew Native Americans were exploited, injured, and dying in sober living facilities and one complainant alleges a staff member gave an alcoholic fentanyl, causing incapacitation. FOX 10 Investigator Justin Lum has the story.
PHOENIX - Arizona is still cleaning up the aftermath of a massive Medicaid scandal that defrauded the state for almost $3 billion dollars.
We recently told you about a class action lawsuit filed against the state and the complaint reveals tragic stories of Native Americans who wanted to get sober but got caught up in a scheme targeting their addiction.
What We Know
The complaint shifts the root of the blame to state leaders who allegedly knew about a scam preying on Native Americans back in 2019 and didn’t do enough to stop it.
Lawyers say some of the plaintiff’s loved ones died trying to escape fraudulent facilities.
"The state knew about the natives being exploited and natives were getting injured, natives were dying and yet they still funded these folks," said John Brewer, partner at Brewerwood Law Firm.
John Brewer and Dane Wood are two of the lawyers leading a class action complaint against Arizona’s Medicaid agency "AHCCCS" and the Arizona Department of Health Services.
They represent family members of Mackenzie Joseph.
The lawsuit says she wanted to get sober and was trying to leave an allegedly fraudulent sober living home for good when she was hit by a car near 91st Avenue and Camelback in January 2023.
She was consistently intoxicated, enrolled in several intensive outpatient programs, and housed in different sober living homes until her death, lawyers say.
A family member of Randy Ben is also part of the class action complaint.
The lawsuit says Ben stayed at a behavioral health residential facility in Phoenix, called BSS Care, LLC.
He was found dead at the home back in March.
Featured
Sober living crisis: Class-action lawsuit launched against State of Arizona
We have been following Arizona's sober living crisis for quite some time, and recently, a group of lawyers involved in a class-action lawsuit against Arizona say state officials knew about the scheme years ago.
Dig Deeper
Records from the Department of Health show BSS Care was previously cited and fined for violations, including the failure to ensure four behavioral health technicians had the skills to provide services and failing to ensure a registered nurse was present at the facility or on-call.
One story that did not end with death sticks out to the lawyers.
Their client, Randy Honyumptewa, was detoxing from an alcohol binge, staying in a gated community known to have dozens of sober living homes at the time and was not feeling well.
"The house manager says ‘I have a pill for you. This will help take care of you.’ Turns out it was fentanyl," said Wood.
Honyumptewa went into cardiac arrest and sustained a traumatic brain injury.
"She’s on a feeding tube. She’s totally incapacitated. She can’t speak or communicate, eat or do anything," Wood added.
The lawsuit accuses the state of gross negligence, saying it let the sober living scheme run rampant, allowing thousands of Native Americans to be victimized.
Both AHCCCS and ADHS are not commenting on pending litigation but their entire statement can be read here.