-Source-USAToday-
During her nearly three days at an Arizona drug detox center, law enforcement reports show, an Ohio mother repeated the same request to multiple staff members: Take me to the hospital.
Madison Cross, 22, traveled from her home outside Columbus, Ohio, last Oct. 7 to check into Serenity Care Center, a state-licensed drug detoxification center in suburban Phoenix. Her family said she wanted to kick her addiction to opioids and other drugs for her 2-year-old daughter.
Once at the center, she showed escalating signs of distress.
She had trouble breathing. Her pulse raced. She was wheezing, and her lungs sounded “crackly," staff members told investigators.
She appeared lethargic and ill. One technician told investigators her complexion was jaundiced, and her lips were purple. Another said she went from pale to yellow to blue.
Technicians reported her vital signs to nurses, who consulted with medical staff about her care, according to medical records from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office obtained by USA TODAY under a public records request. She was ordered several medications.
But she was not sent to the full-service hospital less than a mile away. She collapsed in her room at Serenity and was soon pronounced dead.
The Maricopa County medical examiner concluded Cross’ death was an accident caused by “septic complications of acute bronchopneumonia in the setting of heroin toxicity.”
An attorney representing the young woman's family called the center's treatment of Cross "outrageous."
"This woman was basically begging for them to save her life by sending her to the hospital, and they refused," attorney John Wrona told USA TODAY.
He plans to file a lawsuit on behalf of the family.
A spokesman for Serenity said the center provided appropriate care and monitoring for Cross. The center performs regular room checks, vital signs readings and intervenes when required, spokesman George Haj said. Read more
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