Case Description
On September 9, 2002, the Plaintiff's Decedent was admitted to the Defendant Hospital for evaluation of an area of gangrene on her right foot. Due to the pain from which she suffered, duly authorized agents and/or employees of the Defendant Hospital started the Plaintiff's Decedent on Morphine -- a Class A narcotic. It is alleged that the administration of Morphine under these circumstances constituted a breach in the standards of care, as the Plaintiff's Decedent had previously been confined at the Defendant Hospital and was known to be allergic to the drug. Notwithstanding this information, hospital personnel negligently began the drug by injection, and on September 12, 2002, switched to administering the Morphine through a PCA pump.

It is alleged that the Plaintiff's Decedent was not only allergic to the drug, but received an overdose of the Morphine such that she was difficult to even arouse. In fact, the Plaintiff's Decedent was scheduled for a colonoscopy on September 13, 2002 at the Defendant Hospital, with the PCA pump in place. She was taken to the endoscopy suite. However, when physicians evaluated her prior to performing the colonoscopy, they found her somnolent due to overdose of the Morphine and canceled the procedure. Accordingly, she was sent back to her hospital room because she was overmedicated with the Morphine.

Notwithstanding the Decedent's physical condition -- manifesting obvious signs of overmedication with the Morphine, as well as an allergy to the drug, these Defendants did nothing to terminate use of the Morphine and reverse its effects. Furthermore, it is alleged that hospital personnel breached their own protocol by failing to appropriately assess the Decedent's condition as required when she was receiving the Morphine via the PCA pump. In essence, the Plaintiff's Decedent was ignored by hospital personnel on an ongoing basis.

Due to the ongoing negligence of duly authorized agents and/or employees of the Defendant Hospital, the Plaintiff's Decedent continued to receive an overdose of the Morphine when she should have received no Morphine whatsoever. As the direct and proximate result of this ongoing negligence, a nurse found the Decedent in cardiorespiratory arrest with a resuscitation allegedly started at 10:05 p.m. It is further alleged that the resuscitation was not performed in accordance with the standards of care, and therefore constituted additional negligence in the Decedent's care and treatment.

As the direct and proximate result of the negligence referred to herein, the Plaintiff's Decedent suffered a global brain injury due to deprivation of oxygen for a prolonged period of time. The net result was a deterioration of her physical and mental condition, culminating in her tragic and untimely demise on September 16, 2002.