On Aug. 22, 2015, plaintiffs’ decedent John Cunningham, 58, a retiree, was found hanging by a belt in his bedroom closet at Bright Future Recovery, in Hollister. Cunningham was addicted to benzodiazepines, such as Ativan and Xanax. As a result, Cunningham’s sister paid “Redwood Cliffs” (also known as Narconon Redwood Cliffs, an organization that provides alcohol, drug and substance abuse dependency prevention and treatment) for her brother to get rehabilitation treatment. After Cunningham arrived in San Jose from Washington, where he was from, Cunningham was sent by Narconon Redwood Cliffs to detox at Bright Future Recovery, a medical drug and alcohol detox center in the bay area. Seven days later Cunningham committed suicide. The decedent’s wife, Cindy Cunningham, and their two daughters, Carley Cunningham and Chelsey Cunningham, sued Bright Future Recovery Inc.; the owner and operator of Bright Future Recovery (who was also a former addict who had treated at Narconon Redwood Cliffs), Cheree Davilla; and the operator of Narconon Redwood Cliffs, Halcyon Horizons Inc. The Cunningham family alleged that Halcyon Horizons and Narconon of Northern California were negligent in the treatment of the decedent and in referring the decedent to Bright Future Recovery. They also alleged that Davilla and Bright Future Recovery were negligent in the treatment of the decedent and in failing to properly monitor the decedent, resulting in the decedent’s wrongful death. The matter ultimately continued against Halcyon Horizons and Bright Future Recovery only. Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that six weeks before arriving at the Halcyon Horizons facility (Narconon Redwood Cliffs), Mr. Cunningham reported to his psychiatrist that he had a plan to shoot himself. Counsel claimed that Cunningham and his sister informed Halcyon Horizons of Cunningham’s extensive psychiatric history, suicidal ideations and hospitalizations, as well as the medications Cunningham was taking, including Remeron (for depression), and that Halcyon Horizons informed Cunningham and his sister that Cunningham would be perfect for its rehabilitation program. Counsel contended that Cunningham was taken to Bright Future Recovery for detox because Halcyon Horizons did not offer medically assisted (taper) detox, which Cunningham needed before he could start the actual rehabilitation. However, counsel noted that at the time, Bright Future Recovery had only been open for six weeks. Plaintiffs’ counsel argued that Bright Future Recovery had an inexperienced staff, minimal supervision of clients, no withdrawal assessments, no treatment planning, no higher level of care policy and no suicide assessments. Counsel also argued that Bright Future Recovery was so badly run that Davilla did not even know that one of the risks of mismanaging a detox was that a client might commit suicide. Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that Cunningham was taken to the emergency room three times in five days for benzodiazepine withdrawal because Bright Future Recovery never assessed the extent of his withdrawal and failed to have Cunningham properly medicated because Bright Future Recovery was keeping the physician who initially prescribed the taper medication uninformed about Cunningham’s condition and because the facility failed to give Cunningham his depression medication. Counsel also contended that Cunningham was unchecked and untreated at Bright Future Recovery when Davilla found him. In addition, plaintiffs’ counsel contended that after Cunningham’s death, the family learned that Halcyon Horizons was really scientology’s version of detox/rehabilitation. Counsel argued that Cunningham was unfit for Halcyon Horizons’ facilities because its program had no psychiatry staff and was not based on traditional medicine and that Halcyon Horizons negligently referred Cunningham to Bright Future Recovery. Plaintiffs’ counsel further argued that Bright Future Recovery mismanaged Cunningham’s withdrawal and that, as a result, it kept Cunningham in withdrawal and then negligently left Cunningham alone, unchecked and untreated, for five hours leading up to Cunningham’s death. Halcyon Horizons’ counsel contended that Cunningham arrived at the Halcyon Horizons rehabilitation facility (Narconon Redwood Cliffs) early in the morning and slept for about five hours. Counsel also contended that Cunningham was then taken to a prescribing physician, who was a private practitioner who contracts independently for both Halcyon Horizons and Bright Future Recovery, and that the physician recommended that Cunningham receive his detox treatment at a facility like Bright Future Recovery. In addition, counsel contended that before Cunningham was transported to Bright Future Recovery, the physician prescribed phenobarbital as a “tapering” medication while Cunningham detoxed. Halcyon Horizons’ counsel noted that because Cunningham spent only eight hours at Halcyon Horizons’ facility before he went to Bright Future Recovery and because Cunningham did not complete the program, the treatment fee was refunded to Cunningham’s family. Counsel also maintained that Halcyon Horizons fully disclosed the program to Cunningham and his sister through its website and contract and that Cunningham and his sister signed the contracts disclosing the program. Counsel further argued that Halcyon Horizons appropriately sent Cunningham to the prescribing physician, who referred Cunningham to Bright Future Recovery and approved the detox level of care for Cunningham, which was for Cunningham to receive non-medical residential detox and Bright Future Recovery level of care. In addition, counsel argued that if Halcyon Horizons had known that Cunningham had revealed a plan to shoot himself, it never would have accepted Cunningham as a client. Bright Future Recovery’s counsel contended that Bright Future Recovery sent Cunningham to the emergency room three times that Cunningham was assessed for suicide each time and that the emergency room cleared Cunningham each time to return to Bright Future Recovery. Counsel also contended that the prescribing physician approved Cunningham to detox at Bright Future Recovery. Bright Future Recovery’s counsel further contended that, on Aug. 16, 2015, Cunningham saw a mental health specialist, who was the best to determine where Cunningham should be placed and that the specialist determined that Cunningham was a low suicide risk and was convinced that Cunningham was not a danger to himself. Counsel maintained that on Aug. 17, 2015, Bright Future Recovery contacted the prescribing physician about Cunningham’s increased anxiety, that the physician adjusted Cunningham’s medication accordingly and that Bright Future Recovery set up an appointment for Cunningham to go back to the prescribing physician on Aug. 20, 2015, but that Cunningham refused to go. In addition, counsel argued that Bright Future Recovery was constantly monitoring Cunningham since the facility was very small, its staff was always in the facility and there were only four clients at Bright Future Recovery during that week., Cunningham committed suicide at Bright Future Recovery. He hanged himself and asphyxiated. Prior to his death, Cunningham was addicted to benzodiazepines for about four years. He had been to five detox programs but relapsed after each one. In July 2015, he had his last relapse before going to the Halcyon Horizons facility. His wife believed that she needed more help in getting her husband to stop relapsing, so she called Cunningham’s older sister, who was a retired athletic director, coach and teacher of 33 years. However, Cunningham committed suicide while detoxing at Bright Future Recovery. He was 58 years old. He was survived by his wife, Cindy Cunningham, then 48 years old; his two adult daughters, Chelsey Cunningham, then 24 years old, and Carley Cunningham, then 22 years old; and his sister. The decedent’s family sought recovery of $28 million in wrongful death damages. Defense counsel asked the jury to award the decedent’s family between $1 million and $3 million in total damages, if anything. Bright Future Recovery’s counsel introduced the decedent’s prior records, which showed previous suicidal ideations, a lack of family support, noncompliance with doctors’ orders, and failed rehabilitations. Counsel for Bright Future Recovery and Halcyon Horizons argued that the decedent had a poor prognosis and a shortened life expectancy, given the decedent’s addiction, repeated relapses, lack of family support and untreated post-traumatic stress disorder, which was due to the decedent witnessing three of friends drown while he was in the Coast Guard.