Woman's estate gets $3M in overdose death

PONTIAC (AP) — A judge has awarded a $3 million settlement to the estate of a woman who died of a narcotics overdose while undergoing physical rehabilitation at a facility in suburban Detroit.

Margaret Dickerson was recovering from orthopedic surgery at Samaritan Nursing and Rehabilitation in Southfield when she died of an overdose.

McKeen & Associates, the law firm representing her estate, says Dickerson suffered an adverse reaction to the medication she was given at the facility, and she didn’t receive adequate care to prevent her death.

The Oakland Press reports the lawsuit filed more than two years ago argued Dickerson should’ve been given a long-term reversal agent, instead of a short-acting drug, after she showed signs of a narcotic overdose.

Attorney Brian McKeen says she also should have been taken to a hospital.