Suffocated by a Deadly Dose
The individual succumbed to suffocation from an overdose of tranquilizers administered by the 118, leading the family to seek a million dollars in compensation.
He met his end in the back of an ambulance on the chilly night of October 25, 2019. Giovanni Luigi Fresia, a 59-year-old Collegno municipal worker, had a rough day at the office, leading to a turbulent night at home. Plagued by a personality disorder, Fresia was visibly agitated, sending his wife into a panic. In desperation, she dialed 118, summoning not just medical aid but also the presence of the carabinieri.
Amidst the chaos, Fresia was laid on a stretcher, his wife a worried spectator. A doctor and nurse administered an injection of tranquilizers, good intentions clouding their judgment. The tranquilizers, however, proved lethal, leading to Fresia's demise some twelve hours later at Rivoli hospital. Upon arrival, Fresia was already in cardiac arrest, smothered by his own vomit, a grim prelude to his autopsy results, which revealed aspiration pneumonia as the official cause of death.
The Blunders
Postmortem analyses conducted during the subsequent civil lawsuit concluded that Fresia's death was the result of three medical blunders: an excessive dose of sedatives, the wrong choice of these-ketamine and midazolam, and poor positioning on the stretcher. Fresia was laid flat, not on his side, and was not intubated, making the fatal outcome inevitable. The civil court confirmed that the Fresia family—his widow and daughters—deserves over one million euros in compensation. The criminal case, however, was laid to rest with a closure request from the prosecutor's office.
The Widow Speaks
"I never craved revenge, but my husband's death deserved justice," shares the widow, supported by attorneys Ludovica and Renato Ambrosio and Riccardo Catalano. "The family fought for justice, never seeking vengeance against the doctors. Our only hope is that similar tragedies can be prevented in the future," remarks lawyer Renato Ambrosio.
- The autopsy results revealed that Giovanni Luigi Fresia died from aspiration pneumonia, a condition caused by smothering in his own vomit.
- The civil postmortem analyses found that Fresia's death was due to three medical blunders: an excessive dose of sedatives, the wrong choice of tranquilizers (ketamine and midazolam), and poor positioning on the stretcher.
- Fresia was not placed on his side or intubated, which contributed to the fatal outcome.
- The civil court determined that the Fresia family is entitled to over one million euros in compensation due to these medical errors.
- Despite the tragic outcome, the family's attorneys, Ludovica and Renato Ambrosio, and Riccardo Catalano, emphasize that they never sought revenge against the doctors but aim for future preventions of similar tragedies related to health-and-wellness, mental-health, therapies-and-treatments, and science.
