A Gadsden state court jury awarded $20 million to the daughter of a woman who died from a drug overdose administer while in the care of a rehabilitation hospital. In the early morning hours of July 5, 2011, 79-year-old Doris Green was discovered unresponsive with decreased respiration and an oxygen saturation of 70, telltale signs of opiate overdose. Mrs. Green was rushed to Gadsden Regional Medical Center. During travel, she was found to have pinpoint-nonreactive pupils, another key sign. Upon arrival at GRMC, she responded repeatedly to Narcan, the opiate antidote. Two drug screens then revealed she had received opiates, even though she had no prescription for opiates and was not supposed to get them. Mrs. Green spent nearly all of her next 100 days of life in the hospital; she never recovered and ultimately died. MRB attorneys David Marsh and Rip Andrews tried the case for the plaintiff. They were assisted by co-counsel Bruce Downey, of Anniston, during the 10-day trial.
HealthSouth defended the case by claiming that Mrs. Green could not have received opiates because there were no opiates in her chart.
