A jury awarded a family $20.5 million after their 11-year-old died from an overdose of morphine. The young Ava Wilson from Crown Point, Indiana, had just beaten cancer as well, according to CBS News.
Videos by Suggest
Young Girl Dies From Lethal Painkiller Overdose After Beating Cancer
Ava was diagnosed with b-lymphoblastic leukemia in April 2020. She immediately underwent chemotherapy and consolidation therapy, reported PEOPLE, and by June 2020, Ava was in remission.
However, by October of that year, things changed at Ava’s follow-up appointment at the Advocate Children’s Hospital. The family’s attorneys said that Ava was crying from being in severe pain, and she allegedly had difficulty walking.
After several lab tests, the doctors discharged her with instructions to take 15 milligrams of morphine every four hours. This was triple the amount of Ava’s previous prescriptions. Meanwhile, a nurse practitioner also increased Ava’s gabapentin prescription.
36 hours after arriving home, Ava passed away in her sleep. Her cause of death was from drug toxicity of several substances. This included the lethal levels of morphine that were in her system when she died.
The nurse ignored Ava’s pleas for help and instead sent her home with “excessive pain medications,” said attorney Matthew L. Williams. “Ava’s body was yelling out to these clinicians, ‘Help me!’, and they just ignored it.”
“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,” said Williams.
The lawsuit mentioned how off Ava’s blood work was. She had low platelet counts, low blood cell counts, low blood pressure, and high liver enzymes. It alleged that Ava’s heart rate and blood pressure were abnormal, yet Ava only saw a nurse and not her oncologist.
After a lengthy civil trial, a jury finally granted the family $20.5 million in damages. Although the family received justice, they are still grieving the horrific loss of Ava.
“While nothing will ease the depth of Ava’s loved ones’ pain, the family appreciates that the jury recognized that Ava’s death was preventable and that she should still be with them today,” said attorney Aaron Boeder.