A recent lawsuit reveals the tragic death of a man in Arizona due to a fatal medication error at a mental health facility. James “Kyle” Slade, 39, was a patient at Copper Springs East, a mental health institution located in Gilbert, within the Phoenix metropolitan area. The lawsuit alleges that Slade was mistakenly administered a lethal dose of methadone instead of his prescribed antidepressant, Lexapro, on September 28.
According to the lawsuit filed in Maricopa County Court, Slade was given a cup of pills that morning, which he consumed. The medication was not his prescribed antidepressant but 90 milligrams of methadone. The effects of methadone toxicity take several hours to peak, so initially, Slade appeared unaffected by the fatal dose.
The nurse who allegedly administered the incorrect medication contacted the on-call physician 37 minutes later to report the error. Slade was then instructed to go to breakfast and subsequently returned to his room. The lawsuit indicates a disagreement about the dosage, with the nurse and the on-call physician providing different accounts of the incident.
Despite the medication error, the lawsuit alleges that the facility and its staff failed to respond promptly. Slade was given the incorrect medication around 6:40 a.m., and a new nurse was informed of the incident during a shift change at 8 a.m. However, the lawsuit claims that the new nurse did not take any action to ensure Slade’s safety.
At 9:30 a.m., Slade was found unresponsive in his room with dangerously high blood pressure. Despite these alarming signs, it took nine minutes for the facility staff to call a Code Blue, according to the lawsuit. Despite having a standing order for Narcan, a nasal spray that can reverse the effects of a methadone overdose, no one administered it to Slade.
The lawsuit argues that if the two nurses or the on-call physician had sent Slade to the emergency department upon learning of the overdose, he would have been admitted to the intensive care unit, placed on a Narcan drip, and likely would have suffered no adverse effects from the overdose. Firefighters arrived at 9:47 a.m. and administered Narcan, but it was too late.
Slade was rushed to Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, where doctors determined he had no brain activity. He passed away on October 3, after donating several of his organs. The lawsuit alleges that the two nurses involved in Slade’s care were temporary agency hires, not regular employees or psychiatric nurses.
The primary defendant is Lifepoint Health, a healthcare provider. The company expressed sympathy for the patient’s family but declined to comment on the ongoing litigation. The lawsuit seeks various damages against all named and unnamed defendants, including punitive damages against the two nurses.