Teen Killed by Overdose of Fentanyl in Seattle
Michael Blankenship was 15 years old when he went to Seattle Children’s Hospital in March for routine dental surgery. Michael was autistic and could not speak. The next morning, Michael’s family found him dead in his bed at home. What happened?
After the dental procedure, Michael had been given a fentanyl patch for pain. Two problems with that: It shouldn’t have been prescribed in the first place and, even if it had been a proper medication, it was given at a poisonous dosage — the highest dose possible. Fentanyl is a strong narcotic, most often used for intractable pain associated with severe conditions such as cancer.
This is a tragic story, one that no parent ever wants to experience. But, as someone who sues health care providers in Virginia, the next part of the story is surprising to me. Seattle Children’s Hospital admitted its mistake! It issued a statement and admitted that “a thorough investigation revealed that this was not the fault of any one individual. Our detailed root cause analysis identified that this occurred because our processes failed at multiple points. We have since changed the way we prescribe and administer fentanyl patches.”
Nevertheless, my friend Chris Davis, a great trial lawyer in Seattle, sued the hospital and the dentist. Why? Because they still need to be held accountable for what they did to Michael and his family. Just becaue the hospital apologizes and changes it policy doesn’t mean that it and the dentist can skirt their responsibility to Michael’s family for taking him away from them.
Children should not die from drug overdoses because of the carelessness of the health care providers who are supposed to do no harm. Anyone whose child has died because of the negligence of a doctor or hospital should get accurate information and advice from a lawyer who handles such cases.
If you have questions about whether carelessness killed a child, or need other information about medical malpractice, give me a call at 703-273-9500, or send me an email at srohrstaff@WRSattorneys.com. You can also contact me through my firm’s website, www.WRSattorneys.com. Medical malpractice lawsuits are difficult and costly, and I never advise a family to sue a health care provider needlessly. I’ll answer your questions for f ree.
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