Jasper County Couple Loses Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Regarding Morphine Allergy

A man who claims he was given morphine despite his allergy to the drug has los his Texas medical malpractice case against Christus Hospital St. Elizabeth.

The Jasper County man, Burl Cockran, said that he went into the hospital in 2007 for an undisclosed treatment and was given morphine despite the fact that he had told nurses he was allergic. He suffered from itching skin and hallucinations. He and his wife Erin were was seeking damages for mental anguish in the med mal case.

A nurse practitioner testified during the trial that she had seen Cockran regularly for five years prior to the incident and that he had never given an indication that he was allergic to the drug. At the same time, a medical expert testified that an allergic morphine reaction would be more serious that what Cockran described. A Jefferson County jury agreed, stating that the nurses that treated the man were not negligent in their care.