Case Results
DISCLAIMER: Please note that every case is different and these verdicts and settlements, while accurate, do not represent what we may obtain for you in your case.
Fatal Medication Error at an Assisted Living Facility
Decedent was a 77 year old woman who recently moved into a Virginia assisted living facility. For several years she had been taking Methotrexate once per week to treat her rheumatoid arthritis. Approximately six weeks after she arrived at the assisted living facility, the facility agreed to administer her medications for an additional fee.
For reasons that remained disputed, her physician's office wrote a prescription for her to take Methotrexate daily. It is well known that Methotrexate is therapeutic when administered weekly, but toxic when administered daily. Approximately one week later, she was admitted to the hospital with severe Methotrexate toxicity. Her blood count had fallen to critical levels leaving her vulnerable to infection. Sadly, she died of a c.difficile infection one month later.
We filed a lawsuit against the assisted living facility and her physician's office. Our experts were prepared to testify that it was a breach of the standard of care to have prescribed Methotrexate to be taken daily and the assisted living facility should have taken steps to correct the error. The parties agreed to mediate the case and it settled approximately one week later.
Awarded: $511,000 Confidential Settlement
