Parents sue hospital for morphine overdose of 4-year-old

ATLANTA - The parents of a 4-year-old boy who died of a morphine overdose after having his tonsils taken out are suing the hospital, seeking at least $1 million in damages. <br> <br> Antonio Hambrick spent the night of Feb. 15 at Hughes Spalding Children&#39;s Hospital. The next morning a nurse found him dead, curled up beside his sleeping mother. <br> <br> ``When I woke up, he was already dead in my arms,&#39;&#39; Nekiel Hambrick said. ``A nurse was standing over me and she was like, &#39;He&#39;s not breathing&#39; ... and the doctors came running.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Hambrick, 20, said the hospital staff told her a month later that an autopsy done the day after the death showed her child had died of a morphine overdose and that doctors suspected a nurse&#39;s error had killed him. <br> <br> Hambrick and the child&#39;s father, 24-year-old Lewis Freeman, went to Johnnie Cochran&#39;s law firm, which demanded a seven-figure settlement, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Thursday. The charity hospital offered significantly less, and Hambrick and Freeman sued in Fulton County State Court Wednesday. <br> <br> ``We believe that their assessment of what a child&#39;s life is worth is based on the fact that the child was from a poor family,&#39;&#39; Audrey Tolson, one of the lawyers representing the parents, told the newspaper. <br> <br> Representatives of the Grady Health System, which includes Hughes Spalding, would not address that claim. <br> <br> Bernard Taylor, a lawyer representing Grady, said he had not seen the lawsuit and referred all questions to Karen Mess Frashier, vice president of public affairs at Grady Memorial Hospital. Frashier called the death unintentional and a tragedy and declined further comment. <br> <br> Jane Sams, another lawyer representing Hambrick, said the hospital violated its own policies in allowing a licensed practical nurse to give morphine to Antonio. She said the hospital fired the nurse. <br> <br> ``It&#39;s one thing to make a mistake and it&#39;s another to allow somebody who may not even be qualified to give a narcotic medication,&#39;&#39; Sams said. <br> <br> Registered nurses have more education and training than licensed practical nurses. <br> <br> In Georgia, it&#39;s up to the hospital to decide whether a licensed practical nurse is qualified to administer narcotics, said Debbie Hatmaker, chief programs officer for the Georgia Nurses Association. <br> <br> ``The system is supposed to have checks in place to prevent those kinds of errors,&#39;&#39; Hatmaker said. ``The difficult thing with children is the dose can vary a great deal based on the age and weight of the child.&#39;&#39;