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The children of a woman who recently died after having spinal fusion surgery at a Chicago hospital are now questioning the level of care she was receiving at the medical facility.

According to reports, the patient was allergic to morphine, which her family informed the doctors of; however, they ignored their warnings which led to her untimely death.

Woman Gets Spinal Surgery

Donna Dunham was admitted to Pinnacle Hospital for spinal surgery and her children say it was something she wasn’t looking forward to.

Prior to the surgery, her children reportedly told the doctors and nurses that their mother was allergic to morphine and codeine, something they found out from a previous hip surgery.

“After her hip surgery she bottomed out after receiving morphine,” explains her daughter Cheryl Harrell. “Her blood pressure dropped and she became violently ill. So for this surgery we made it a point to tell everyone, no morphine.”

Error at Pinnacle Hospital

Despite the warnings, Dr. Nageswar Yelavarthi still administered a narcotic that Dunham was allergic to.

A nurse’s notes show that Yelavarthi told her that he and the staff could deal with the expected allergic reactions, such as vomiting and nausea.

However, Dunham went into respiratory arrest and the hospital wasn’t equipped with the necessary equipment needed to enable her to be able to breathe better.

“If we had known this, we would have never had her surgery there,” says Tom Harrell, Cheryl’s husband.

(Source: Post Tribune)

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