In May, Linda Cooper transferred her daughter to a Crisis Stabilization Unit, or CSU, in San Luis Obispo. Elina Branco had been at Twin Cities Community Hospital after an overdose.
The 19-year-old would soon be pronounced dead at the psychiatric facility.
CSU staff was supposed to monitor Branco every two hours. But an emergency responder assessed that she had been dead for at least eight hours before she was discovered.
The wrongful death lawsuit alleges that Branco’s treatment was so poor that it violated her civil rights. It claimed the CSU lacked skilled, trained, and experienced workers, and that staff missed mandatory welfare checks and falsified records.
Cooper’s attorney, Cameron Sehat, told KCBX that, “had Ms. Branco not been admitted to the CSU she would be alive today.”
In a recent court filing, the county said that Cooper did not have the facts to back up her allegations and unreasonably delayed bringing legal action. Citing the ongoing litigation, a county spokesperson declined to provide additional information.
