The prestigious Malibu California rehabilitation facility offers sanctuary for people who face addiction in its magnificent hilltop location.
A beautiful exterior of the facility hides the heartbreaking consequences which transformed an early adult life forever.
Emily Willis the popular entertainment professional set out to regain her life after suffering an intense addiction to ketamine.
Summit Malibu accepted Willis, whose birth name is Litzy Lara Banuelos, on January 27, 2024 while she ingested five to six grams of ketamine every day.
The strong dissociative anesthetic had severely damaged both her physical well-being and mental state to cause her to find professional assistance.
Willis entered the facility with multiple medical problems that involved both bladder inflammation and anxious night terrors along with anxiety and PTSD symptoms.
The family of the patient claims the treatment facility did not give sufficient medical help to their member though she faced urgent health problems.
Her health deterioration accelerated throughout those consecutive days.
Serious dehydration made blood pressure measurement impossible for nurses while she obtained a urinary tract infection and developed extensive pain.
Drug tests administered during her stay revealed absolute absence of ketamine and any other related substances.
Various doubts emerged regarding how accurately she had been diagnosed as well as whether the treatment techniques were proper.
Emergency services attended Willis on February 3rd 2024 yet she failed to receive hospital medical care.
Willis lost consciousness inside her room during the following day.
Hospital personnel executed CPR on the patient for thirty to forty minutes until medical professionals regained her heartbeat.
The extended period without oxygen exposure generated severe negative effects.
The medical staff established her condition to be ‘locked-in syndrome’ after her diagnosis resulting in total paralysis throughout her body.
Brain damage resulting from a specific medical condition causes paralysis in every voluntary muscle apart from muscles responsible for eye motions.
Patients under this diagnosis remain completely aware but show no movements since their muscles are paralyzed except for basic eye movements.
The awareness Willis maintains about the world around her does not prevent her from suffering paralysis and renders any recovery highly improbable.
Presently she stays in a Utah care facility because her health situation shows no improvement.
Lawyers representing Willis have filed legal action against the two treatment facilities which includes Summit Malibu and its parent organization Malibu Lighthouse Treatment Centers, LLC after this devastating event.
A complaint filed at the Los Angeles County Superior Court on December 27, 2024 accused the facility of abusive mistreatment against dependent adults in addition to professional negligence and fraudulent business methods.
“Had the staff followed standard medical protocols, Emily would have had the opportunity to regain control of her life,” said the family’s attorney, James A. Morris Jr.
The unacceptable deterioration of medical service should not exist as an acceptable form of patient treatment.
The medical team paid no attention to her health until it became too late to save her life because of permanent transformations.
The filed legal complaint states that the facility did not meet safety requirements while simultaneously violating its admission guidelines.
The medical staff allegedly permitted Willis to make the decision to access urgent care although they knew she was incapable of making such medical choices because of her current condition.
Her family pursues legal action because they want to make the rehab center responsible for its prospective carelessness.
The tragic events in this situation demand stronger medical supervision standards at rehabilitation centers to safeguard patients from harm.
The incident highlights the weak positions in which addiction patients find themselves due to their medical condition.
More people expect treatment facilities to make substantial changes in their approach to handling critical medical crises during this ongoing legal process.
The sad experience of Emily Willis demands both ethical reform and accountability from treatment facilities and complete legal justice in the system.
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