That’s attorney Gloria Allred’s complaint on behalf of the survivors of Ashley Barnett, who appears to have ingested Vicodin, methadone or some combination of the two while onboard the ship. Carnival says the late Ms. Barnett “was deceased well before medical assistance was summoned”. (Lisa Richardson, “Death on Ship Prompts Lawsuit”, Los Angeles Times, Oct. 13). Commenters at KevinMD do not appear impressed with the suit (Oct. 13).
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Drug abusers are crippled by their belief that nothing is ever their personal responsibility. This sick view is only perpetuated by this type of lawsuit. Notice also that no action was taken against the boyfriend, who brought all his narcotics on board.
And the family of the drug abuser thinks their little one is an angle who would never have done drugs unless forced to by evildoers. Of course since none of these evildoers can be tapped for dough, they have to reach for the nearest deep pocket.
No patient has ever died from lack of naloxone (the opiate antagonist). The first and most appropriate action is to provide artificial breathing, something that the family finding the deceased apparently failed to do.
And what’s the betting that if the cruise ship HAD stocked such a thing (regardless of whether it would have helped) it would leave them open to lawsuits that they knew of drug abuse on board and looked the other way?