The family of an 11-year-old girl who died after surviving cancer received $20.5 million after a jury determined that prescribed morphine ultimately killed her.
Ava Wilson’s family filed a lawsuit against Advocate Health and Hospitals Corporation after her death in 2020.
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On October 31 of that year, Ava died in her sleep due to acute toxicity caused by a combination of morphine, hydroxyzine, and gabapentin, according to a statement released this week by the family’s attorneys, Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard PC. The lawsuit alleged that she had lethal levels of morphine in her system.
Ava had been discharged from a clinic in Illinois, USA, 36 hours before her death. During her stay, the girl cried in pain and had difficulty walking and foot drop, according to her lawyers.
Medical staff conducted tests that later showed Ava had low platelet counts, low blood cell counts, elevated liver enzymes, and low blood pressure, according to the statement.
His lawyers claimed that his blood pressure had not been checked again before he was discharged.
“Instead of admitting Ava to the hospital to bring her blood pressure, heart rate, and pain levels within acceptable and normal limits, Advocate employees sent Ava home with an overabundance of painkillers ,” Matthew L. Williams, the lead attorney in the lawsuit, said in a statement.
Ava’s body was screaming at the doctors, “Help me!” And they simply ignored it.
A nurse at the clinic prescribed Ava 100 mg of gabapentin to take three times a day and 15 mg of morphine to take every four hours as needed, according to the civil complaint obtained by The News & Observer.
The girl’s oncologist did not examine her, but supported the specialist nurse’s recommendation.
Before this appointment, all of Ava’s home morphine prescriptions were for only 5 mg. The nurse practitioner also increased her gabapentin prescription and sent her home. When taken together, the medications can potentiate each other, according to a company press release.
In a written statement, Advocate Health and Hospitals Corporation told the newspaper, “Our thoughts are with this family. We are committed to providing appropriate care to every patient. Due to patient privacy, we cannot comment further.”
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The Independent emailed Advocate Health for comment.
Ava had been in remission from B-cell lymphoblastic leukemia.
A press release from the lawyers said that his
“outlook was positive ” and that he “
had no detectable leukemia in his blood.”
