Family files lawsuit against Ascension St. Elizabeth for daughter's death
APPLETON - The family of a 19-year-old Freedom woman with Down syndrome who died at Ascension St. Elizabeth Hospital in 2021 filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Outagamie County Circuit Court, charging a "lethal cocktail of drugs" and a "fraudulent" do-not-resuscitate order led to her death.
Grace Schara died Oct. 13, 2021, after contracting COVID-19 and going to Ascension St. Elizabeth Hospital because of low oxygen levels. The Schara family alleges that, on a day Grace's doctors said she was improving, hospital staff gave Grace a lethal dose of three medications — Precedex, lorazepam and morphine — then refused to resuscitate her after she went into acute respiratory failure.
The family said Grace's doctor had designated her as "do not resuscitate," but said it never approved the order.
The lawsuit complaint alleges Grace "was killed by the negligence and nonconsensual treatment of health care professionals working with or for" Ascension. It says Grace "did not die from COVID-19 and did not have COVID-19 when she died."
The lawsuit names as defendants Ascension Health, the Wisconsin Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund, four unnamed medical providers and seven doctors and nurses: doctors Gavin Shokar, David Beck, Daniel Leonard, Karl Baum and Ramana Ramada, and nurses Hollee McInnis and Alison Barkholtz.
Ascension didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the lawsuit complaint, Grace's father, Scott Schara, claims wrongful death, medical negligence, medical battery, negligent infliction of emotional distress. It asks for declaratory judgement about the validity and enforceability of the DNR order and requests a trial by jury.
“We are hopeful this lawsuit will pave the way for thousands of other hospital victims’ families to file similar claims,” Schara said in a statement Wednesday. “This is not a case about financial repercussions. It is a case about shining light on a subject hidden from the American people. It is about stopping the behaviors of medical staff that result in needless, premature deaths.”
Schara's family has been vocal about her death, with billboards along Interstate 41 and a website to raise awareness. They hosted a rally March 30 across the street from Ascension St. Elizabeth Hospital, the day it took the first step in the lawsuit by delivering a request for mediation to the Director of State Courts in Madison.
At the March 30 rally, Grace’s family stood in front of dozens of supporters on a stage in a lot across from Ascension St. Elizabeth Hospital. Some held signs. Grace’s father, mother, sister, attorney Joseph Voiland and Kelly Moore, a Michigan woman who said her husband died after he was denied the right to informed consent, took turns on the microphone during the event, which lasted over an hour.
“Grace’s case will hopefully lay the groundwork for thousands of other hospital victims and families who were denied informed consent,” Moore said.
An investigative report issued in January 2022 conducted by the state Department of Safety and Professional Services didn't find a violation of minimal competency standards in the care given to Grace. Contrary to the family's allegations, the incident report says Dr. Gavin Shokar "understood he received clear consent from the family to place the patient as a DNR."
The lawsuit comes as Ascension Wisconsin hospitals have come under increased scrutiny.
In recent months, Ascension Wisconsin has cut services at some Milwaukee hospitals and struggled to keep staffing at proper levels, prompting protests from hospital workers, scrutiny from Milwaukee Common Council members and demands for answers from U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin.
Patients' relatives, nurses and current and former doctors have questioned staffing shortages at Columbia St. Mary’s in Milwaukee that have resulted in disruptions to patient care, long wait times in the emergency department, delayed surgeries and staff concerns about patient safety.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Milwaukee Magazine separately have reported on these concerns.
On March 21, following the reporting, Ascension announced top executives were leaving their positions at Ascension Wisconsin, including Bernie Sherry, a senior vice president of Ascension Health who has overseen the Wisconsin market since 2016.
Jessica Van Egeren is the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's enterprise health reporter. She can be reached at jvanegeren@gannett.com.
Contact Kelli Arseneau at (920) 213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ArseneauKelli.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Ascension St. Elizabeth faces lawsuit over woman's death
