(N.D. Fla. 1983)
Trading wrongful death damages against the State on behalf of one person to obtain policy reform that protected hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities in the future is a classic example of SLC’s innovative legal advocacy. A woman with severe disabilities died from a lithium overdose during an experimental drug treatment program at a Gainesville institution for persons with developmental disabilities. To prevent more unnecessary deaths, SLC filed a lawsuit that changed policy, resulting in a rule regarding the proper administration of psychotropic drugs that applied to all state institutions.
