Girl beat cancer, then nurse gave her too much morphine, killing her, suit says
The family of an 11-year-old girl who died in Illinois was awarded $20.5 million after filing a wrongful death lawsuit, according to the family’s legal team.
The lawsuit was filed against Advocate Health And Hospitals Corporation.
“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,” a representative from Advocate Health And Hospitals Corporation told McClatchy News in a June 17 email.
The lawsuit and $20.5 million award stem from the death of 11-year-old Ava Wilson.
Ava was in remission from b-lymphoblastic leukemia, a news release from the family’s attorneys said.
The Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. legal team said Ava’s “outlook was positive” and “she had no detectable leukemia in her blood.”
On Oct. 29, 2020, Ava went to a follow up appointment at the Cancer Center at Advocate Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn. While there, she was “crying in pain” and “had difficulty walking and foot drop,” attorneys said in the release.
Tests showed Ava had low platelet counts, low blood cell counts, high liver enzymes and low blood pressure, according to the release. Attorneys also said Ava’s blood pressure was not rechecked before being discharged.
A nurse practitioner prescribed Ava 100 mg of gabapentin to be taken three times a day and 15 mg of morphine to be taken every four hours as needed, according to a civil complaint.
Ava’s oncologist did not examine Ava, but endorsed the nurse practitioner’s “at-home pain management,” the complaint said.
“Prior to this appointment, all of Ava’s prior morphine prescriptions to be taken at home were for just 5 mg. (The nurse practitioner) also increased Ava’s gabapentin prescription and sent her home. When taken together, the medications can make each other stronger,” according to the release.
On Oct. 31, 2020, about 36 hours after being released from the clinic, Ava died in her sleep “due to acute combined drug toxicity of morphine, hydroxyzine, and gabapentin,” the release said. She had lethal levels of morphine in her system when she died, her attorneys said.
“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 an excessive pain medications,” lead trial attorney Matthew L. Williams said in the release. “Ava’s body was yelling out to these clinicians, ‘help me!’, and they just ignored it.”
Ava was on the honor roll and played soccer, her obituary said. She liked taking cooking classes and art classes.
This story was originally published June 17, 2025 at 1:46 PM with the headline "Girl beat cancer, then nurse gave her too much morphine, killing her, suit says."
