The family of an 11-year-old girl who died after surviving cancer was awarded $20.5 million after a jury determined prescribed morphine ultimately killed her.
Ava Wilson’s family filed a lawsuit against Advocate Health and Hospitals Corporation following her death in 2020.
On October 31 of that year, Ava died in her sleep “due to acute combined drug toxicity of morphine, hydroxyzine and gabapentin, the family’s attorneys at Salvi, Schostok and Pritchard P.C. said this week. The lawsuit claimed she had lethal levels of morphine in her system.
Ava had been discharged from a clinic in Illinois 36 hours before her death. While there, the child was “crying in pain” and “had difficulty walking and foot drop,” attorneys said.
Medical staff ran tests that later showed Ava had low platelet counts, low blood cell counts, high liver enzymes and low blood pressure, the release stated.
Her attorneys claimed her blood pressure had not been rechecked before she was discharged.
“Instead of admitting Ava to the hospital to get her blood pressure, heart rate and pain levels within acceptable and normal limits, Advocate employees sent Ava home with excessive pain medications,” Matthew L Williams, the lead trial attorney, said in a release.
“Ava’s body was yelling out to these clinicians, ‘help me!’, and they just ignored it.”
A nurse practitioner at the clinic prescribed Ava 100 mg of gabapentin to be taken three times a day and 15 mg of morphine to be taken every four hours as needed, according to the civil complaint obtained by The News & Observer.
The child’s oncologist did not examine her but endorsed the nurse practitioner’s recommendation.
“Prior to this appointment, all of Ava’s prior morphine prescriptions to be taken at home were for just 5 mg. (The nurse practitioner) also increased Ava’s gabapentin prescription and sent her home. When taken together, the medications can make each other stronger,” according to a news release from the law firm.
In a written statement, Advocate Health And Hospitals Corporation told the newspaper, “Our hearts go out to this family. We are committed to providing appropriate care to every patient. Due to patient privacy, we are unable to comment further.”
The Independent has emailed Advocate Health for comment.
Ava had been in remission from B-lymphoblastic leukemia.
A news release from the attorneys said her “outlook was positive” and “she had no detectable leukemia in her blood.”
