Just days after Nick Carusillo was abruptly discharged from an addiction treatment center, he tragically died when he was hit by multiple vehicles on a Georgia interstate. His parents now hope a substantial jury verdict they got in their favor will prompt change that helps others who are suffering from substance abuse and mental illness, according to 11 Alive.
Carusillo died on September 22, 2017 on that interstate collision. His parents then filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the facility that released him and several people who were responsible for his care there in 2019.
A jury just outside Atlanta awarded the family a total of about $77 million last week, the breakdown of which was $55 million for the value of his life, $10 million for the pain and suffering of their son, $1 million in punitive damages and the remainder for their attorneys' fees and expenses.
Verdict is validation for Carusillo family
Tina Carusillo told the Associated Press in a phone interview on Wednesday that this verdict, for them, is validation. She said it was not his fault and that he was caught up in a bad system. She added that she is hopeful that the size of this verdict makes a lot of people pay attention, from facilities to insurance companies to loved ones to parents and to people seeking treatment.
Heather Saum Ware, a lawyer for Metro Atlanta Recovery Residences (MARR), the facility that released the victim, said in an email that they plan to appeal the ruling. She added that they are not commenting further regarding the ongoing litigation.
Carusillo struggled with substance abuse from the time he was a teen growing up in the state of North Carolina. He started to show signs of bipolar disorder in his late teenage years, and according to his father, his diagnosis was confirmed by the time he turned 20.
Carusillo was 29 years old and had been in and out of treatment facilities when he was admitted to MARR on August 29, 2017. He was managing his bipolar disorder with a combination of Seroquel and lithium and was deemed medically stable when he arrived there, according to his family's lawyers in a court filing.
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Doctor took Carusillo off lithium despite warnings from his therapist and family
The filing said that a doctor at MARR took him off lithium a week later on September 5, 2017, despite having been warned by Carusillo's longtime therapist and family that he should remain on his medications.
His condition deteriorated and he was forced to leave MARR two weeks later, on September 19, 2017, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Staff said he had a cellphone, which was not allowed in the facility. MARR released Carusillo to a sober living residence but failed to tell the owner about his mental health issues.
He left the sober living house early the next morning in violation of its curfew and was discharged that same day. Carusillo's whereabouts were unknown until he lay down naked on Interstate 85 outside of Atlanta and was hit by several cars early on September 22, 2017.
