November 12, 2012
A 39-year-old Norfolk, Virginia, woman filed a Norfolk wrongful death lawsuit against the Department of Veteran Affairs on behalf of her sister who died while under the care of the agency’s medical staff. The Virginian-Pilot reports the medical staff was negligent in prescribing medications to the victim that were ultimately used in her suicide.
The article told the story about how on the last night of the victim’s tour of duty in Naples, Italy, in 1995, she was the victim of a burglary that left her severely traumatized. A year later, the woman was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and was found to have an 80 percent service-related disability. Over the next 13 years, the woman was seen by at least one dozen doctors and received prescriptions for as many as 25 different medications.
In the eight months prior to the woman’s death, she had attempted to commit suicide by taking the antipsychotic medication, Seroquel, but had failed. When a doctor purposefully supplied her more of the drug, she took it all in one night and was found dead the next day by her sister.
The sister is seeking $5 million in damages from a trial scheduled to begin next April.
The Norfolk Personal Injury Lawyers with Lowell “The Hammer” Stanley are hopeful that the Norfolk wrongful death lawsuit will help bring closure to the tragedy for the family and friends of the victim.
