West Virginia Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Over Methadone Overdose

A medical malpractice lawsuit has been filed against against a West Virginia hospital and three doctors, alleging that negligent care caused the plaintiff’s husband to die due to a methadone drug overdose. 

The West Virginia wrongful death lawsuit was filed by Leslie Connolly last month in Monogalia Circuit Court. The complaint names Drs. James Abel, Joy E. Cousins and Tamer Gaber as defendants, as well as West Virginia University Medical Corporation and Potomac Valley Hospital as defendants.

According to the lawsuit, Joseph Connolly died on June 13, 2009, after accidentally being given methadone. Connolly was admitted to the Potomac Valley Hospital emergency room on June 8. He had a history of attempted overdose from alcohol, Ambien and Xanax. The lawsuit claims that Cousins mistakenly assumed Connolly was on twice daily 50 mg methadone prescription and prescribed 40 mg of methadone that day. The next day, Connolly was transferred to Chestnut Ridge Hospital, where Gaber gave him another 50 mg of methadone.

The medication mistake lawsuit claims that lab work when Connolly first admitted indicated he was not on methadone and died following respiratory and cardiac arrest. An autopsy determined he died of anoxic encephalopathy due to a methadone overdose.

Methadone is a powerful synthetic opioid used as a painkiller and as an opioid dependence treatment. The U.S. National Center for Health Statistics has reported that the number of methadone overdose deaths increased fourfold from 1999 to 2004, from 790 deaths to 3,849. Most of those deaths were attributed to accidental overdoses, often in combination with other drugs.