Alcohol Rehab Patient Suffers Brain Injury:
$2 Million Settlement
2024 Medical Malpractice Case Report
By Attorney Andrew H. Miller
Anoxic brain injury to 22-year-old women blamed on inappropriate combination of medications
On 6/15/19 at 2:30 a.m., the 22-year-old Plaintiff was admitted to the Franklin Recovery Center/Behavioral Health Network, Inc. for alcohol abuse. She reported alcohol use and no other drug use. Her urine toxicology screen on admission was negative for opiates and, inconsistently, positive for oxycodone. The patient was admitted and placed on the Alcohol Detox Protocol which included Gabapentin and Librium.
At 12:18 p.m., the physician defendant called in a telephone order to the nursing defendant for the Plaintiff to begin Subutex Protocol, despite standing orders that Protocols for Opiate Detox were not applicable to the Plaintiff.
The Plaintiff consulted and retained an expert who was prepared to testify that the use of Buprenorphine (Subutex) together with Gabapentin and Librium increases the risk of potentially lethal central nervous system and breathing issues. The expert was prepared to testify that prescribing and administering Buprenorphine along with Gabapentin and Librium was not appropriate or acceptable, especially as there was no evidence that the Plaintiff suffered from an opioid addiction, which would have been the only reason for prescribing Buprenorphine.
The Defendants continued to give the Plaintiff Buprenorphine with Gabapentin and Librium over the next two days, despite signs that she was increasingly tired and lethargic.
At 8:40 a.m. on 6/18/19, the Plaintiff was found unresponsive in her bed. She was admitted to Baystate Franklin Medical Center and it was determined that she had suffered a serious brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen.
The Plaintiff’s expert was expected to testify that the inappropriate combined administration of Buprenorphine, Gabapentin, and Librium is what caused the lack of oxygen and the brain injury that the Plaintiff still lives with today.
The Plaintiff still suffers from spasticity on the left side of her body that forces her to use either a walker or a cane to get around. She also continues to have difficulty with fine motor skills and she requires assistance for daily living activities. She struggles with impulse control and has impaired memory.
The case settled for the defendants’ combined insurance policy limits of $2,000,000 during discovery.
Attorneys Andrew C. Meyer, Jr and Andrew H. Miller represented the plaintiff in this medical malpractice case.
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