Family Mourns Loss Of Retired Nurse After Allegedly Receiving High Dosage From Doctor, Pharmacist

The attorney general’s office is charging a metro doctor and pharmacist with second-degree manslaughter and neglect by caretaker. They're accused of giving a woman such a high dose of medicine, causing her to die.

They're also facing a civil lawsuit.

Carole Sullivan was a retired registered nurse. Her family's attorney, Joe White, said her whole life was dedicated to helping others.

“A truly wonderful woman. She had three grandchildren, a brother, and a sister along with her two sons. One of those typical all-American families,” White said.

White said he got a call from the family when Sullivan's health took a turn for the worse. She died last May.

“The family when they got the certificate of death and saw that she died as a result of methotrexate toxicity well that's not a normal occurrence,” White said.

White and co-consul Kirk Olson investigated this. Court documents said she fell at her home and was admitted to Mercy Hospital for hip pain. 

A few days later, she was discharged and admitted to Bellevue Health and Rehab Center for in-patient treatment.

“Why does a healthy woman who is sent for physical therapy, no broken bones, die within two weeks, why does that happen,” White said.

Her attorney said the answer is negligent medical treatment and nursing care. 

Court documents said Dr. Alexander Frank and pharmacist Justin Lee mis-prescribed Sullivan Methotrexate.

“Methotrexate will eat the bone marrow from the inside out. An analogy, I guess for methotrexate toxicity would be radiation,” White said.

Sullivan was given 20 milligrams daily instead of weekly. Court records showed that Frank and Lee approved the incorrect dosage despite warnings from his computer.

“They had their own internal safeguards and policies and procedures in place that were violated and ignored in this case,” Olson said.

Sullivan took Methotrexate for five days before being transported to a hospital.

“She never made it home. She made it to the hospice house, unfortunately,” White said.

The family is suing agencies like Bellevue as well as Frank.

News 9 reached out to several agencies and people involved in the lawsuits. We have not heard back from some and others chose not to comment.