Ava Wilson, 11, was prescribed a lethal amount of morphine, hydroxyzine and gabapentin by staff at Advocate Children’s Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois and died around 36 hours later
A 11-year-old girl who had just beaten cancer died in her sleep days after being prescribed a lethal dose of pain medication.
Ava Wilson was in remission from b-lymphoblastic leukemia when she was taken by her mother to Advocate Children’s Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois for a follow up on October 29, 2020. Ava, of Crown Point, Indiana, “had no detectable leukemia in her blood” but was “crying in pain” and having a hard time walking during the visit, according to Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C., the legal team representing her family.
Tests results revealed that Ava had “low platelet counts, low blood cell counts, and high liver enzymes” in addition to low blood pressure. Instead of admitting the schoolgirl overnight, Ava was instead sent home and prescribed increased dosages of morphine and gabapentin.
Ava was told to take 100 milligrams of gabapentin three times a day and 15 milligrams of morphine every four hours as needed following her appointment on October 29. The amount of morphine prescribed was triple the amount of her past prescriptions.
On the night of October 31, Ava died in her sleep at home of “acute combined drug toxicity of morphine, hydroxyzine, and gabapentin”, the family’s legal team said. Lawyers noted that “when taken together, the medications can make each other stronger”.
Ava’s devastated parents went on to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the hospital, with Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C claiming staff should have admitted the young girl to get her blood pressure and heart rate under control, as well as treat the cause of her pain. Instead, they claimed in the lawsuit, hospital staff sent her home with an “excessive” amount of pain medications.
“Ava’s body was yelling out to these clinicians, ‘help me!’, and they just ignored it,” attorney Matthew Williams said. The complaint stated that while Ava’s regular oncologist did not see the girl at what would be her final appointment, she “endorsed” the new treatment plan for “at-home pain management.”
During the civil trial at Illinois’ Cook County, which began on May 29, the hospital’s legal representatives, Hall Prangle LLC, argued medications prescribed were “within the recommended range”. Ava’s symptoms at her appointment were consistent with complications from leukemia, hospital staff had argued.
On Thursday, a jury awarded Ava’s family $20.5million in damages for “their past and future loss of society and past and future grief, sorrow and mental suffering”, reports Law&Crime. “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,” attorney Aaron Boeder said.
Advocate Children’s Hospital said in a statement: “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.”