ABSTRACT
Larry Higgins was 46 years of age, African American male, and a veteran. He weighed 213 pounds and was 6 feet 1 inch tall on the day of his death on February 10, 1999. He was being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder, which he attributed to his service in Vietnam and the Gulf War. Dr. Joseph
Anabi was treating him for this ailment as an outpatient at Cactoor Community Hospital. Mr. Higgins was also suering from pancreatitis for which he was taking pain medications. His prescription medications included Percocet, Prozac, and Klonapin. His past medical history included alcohol abuse. However, he was sober since 1997 and he willingly attended Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings. e evening before his death, Mr. Higgins attended an AA meeting. To his friends, he appeared to be in a severe depression and was unsteady. He conˆded to his friends that he took an overdose of his medications to end his life, but later changed his mind and now wanted to live. is prompted one of his friends, Mr. Bill Dastoor, to rush him to the Cactoor Hospital on the night of February 9, 1999. His friend notiˆed the hospital sta that Mr. Higgins was not drunk but took an overdose of his prescription medications. e admission notes showed that he was slightly confused, restless, and unsteady, with slurred speech and suicidal ideations. ere was no mention of alcoholic breath or glassy eyes (1). No STAT blood alcohol test or urine comprehensive drug screens were requested. In spite of this, he was pronounced drunk. All labs were deferred until morning, when his sobriety was supposed to improve. He was put in a locked facility without any monitoring of his vital signs or observations by the nursing sta. At approximately 7:15 a.m. on February 10, 1999 he was discovered unresponsive. When attempts to revive him failed, he was pronounced dead at 7:45 a.m.
