The family of an 11-year-old girl who died after surviving cancer has been awarded $20.5 million after a jury determined that the 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 toxicity from a combination of morphine, hydroxyzine, and gabapentin, the family’s attorneys, Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard PC, reported this week. The lawsuit alleged that she had lethal levels of morphine in her system.

Ava had been discharged from a clinic in Illinois, United States, 36 hours before her death. While there, the girl cried in pain and had difficulty walking and foot drop, according to her lawyers.

Medical staff performed tests that later showed Ava had low platelet counts, low blood cell counts, elevated liver enzymes, and low blood pressure, the statement said.

His lawyers claimed that his blood pressure had not been rechecked before he 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 medication ,” said Matthew L. Williams, the lead attorney in the lawsuit, in a statement.

“Ava’s body was screaming at these doctors, ‘Help me!’ And they just 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. Continues…