SPRINGFIELD — The family of an elderly man is seeking damages after he died from an alleged overdose of an opioid in a Springfield hospital.
The family has filed a lawsuit against Cox Medical Center South following the death of Nelson Tyler, 83, who was admitted to the medical center in February 2016 with complaints of abdominal pain.
The family alleges medical malpractice after Tyler was given multiple doses of fentanyl, an opioid. Their complaint claims that Tyler was given two 25-microgram doses followed by 100 micrograms of the substance, and that he soon suffered from cardiac arrest and died three days later.
According to a report by Springfield News-Leader, fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine. The family of Tyler are claiming that he should never had been given such a large does given his advanced age.
Medical malpractice and personal injury attorney Todd N. Hendrickson said medical malpractice lawsuits were common in Missouri.
"It is a medical malpractice/wrongful death case. Plenty are filed in Missouri," Hendrickson told the St. Louis Record, adding that he was not comfortable commenting on whether or not the lawsuit was likely to be successful.
Nationwide, there are as many as 1 million medical injury lawsuits filed every year.
In Nelson Tyler's case, the nurse who administered the medication and his physician are listed as defendants, alongside CoxHealth, the company that owns the hospital.