Brett Ryan hit the floor hard when he slumped over and died on the second floor of his mother’s Sumner home in February of last year. “I was laying in bed, starting to go to sleep, and I heard a thud,” said Judy Russo. A short time later, emergency crews told her that her son had possibly died from using fentanyl. Brett Ryan, 36, had a long-term drug and alcohol addiction that made his life a struggle. But a KING 5 Investigation reveals that Ryan, and possibly many others in similar situations, faced additional challenges from the people that were supposed to help them – their lawyer and drug counselors. After a DUI arrest in 2023, Ryan hired longtime Lakewood DUI attorney Barbara A. Bowden. Her office referred Ryan to Rainier Recovery Center, a substance abuse treatment center with three locations in Pierce County. But records from the Washington State Department of Health and interviews with four former Rainier recovery employees show that Bowden had a “deal” with Rainier owner and CEO Jeremiah Dunlap that was harmful to clients. READ MORE: https://www.king5.com/article/news/investigations/investigators/lawyer-washington-treatment-center-patient-death-investigation/281-a130f84f-9d58-46b5-b720-4e7f336318b6