Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Unique Nicole
Topics: Adult Industry, California, Crime, Drugs, Health, Los Angeles, Mental Health, US News, Emily Willis
Liv Bridge
Topics: Adult Industry, California, Crime, Drugs, Health, Los Angeles, Mental Health, US News, Emily Willis
Former adult star Emily Willis is apparently 'permanently disabled', according to a devastating health update provided in a bombshell lawsuit.
The film star joined the adult industry in 2018 after dating GirlsDoPorn director, Andre Garcia, and went on to star in more than 700 pornographic films.
Finding her home in Los Angeles, Willis went on to bag several AVN Awards, including ‘Female Performer of the Year’ in 2021.
Advert
However, the then 25-year-old porn star suffered an unexpected cardiac arrest during her stay at a Malibu rehab center in February last year.
The young woman, whose real name is Litzy Lara Benuelos, was later moved to a hospital in Thousand Oaks, California, but her road to recovery has been far from easy, as her family said they were preparing for the worst.
Willis was put on a ventilator and was placed in a coma and only emerged from the 'vegetative' state in May, though she has been left paralyzed with only the use of her eyes.
Now, however, a lawsuit has landed in Los Angeles Superior Court against Summit Malibu and its parent company Malibu Lighthouse Treatment Centers, LLC, for alleged 'abuse of a dependent adult, professional negligence, negligence and fraudulent business practices'.
The legal action reveals Willis had checked in for 'ketamine addiction', having ingested some 'five to six grams' of the drug every day for a year.
And while she is now semi-conscious, she is considered 'permanently disabled' and remains in a care home in Utah.
The allegation is that the rehab center 'failed' to take appropriate action as Willis' health plummeted over the course of several days in its care.
Her attorneys note how Willis sought Summit Malibu's help on January 27, 2024, for her substance addiction and had been struggling with bladder inflammation and night terrors.
She also had a history of bladder incontinence, depression, anxiety, PTSD, and anorexia nervosa.
Yet in the days that followed, her health reportedly plummeted, from hot/cold chills, tremors, increased heart rate, headaches, feeling 'disorientated', difficulty walking, and vaginal pain.
It further details she was barely eating, showering, or getting dressed, and in one instance, a nurse was unable to take her blood pressure due to 'dehydration'.
On February 3, emergency services were called, but Willis was reportedly not taken to hospital.
Then, 26 hours later, she was 'found unconscious', though it wasn't clear how long she was left unattended.
Nurses and paramedics performed CPR for 30 to 40 minutes until they restored her heartbeat, yet the lawsuit states the lengthly time she was left without oxygen caused 'irreversible brain damage'.
The complaint states the rehab 'failed' to provide her with adequate care up until the incident, amounting to 'neglect, abandonment, recklessness and negligence' and that staff should have known her health was at risk based on her medical history and assessments.
It states Willis was subjected to an 'unsafe environment' and was 'left unattended and unassisted for excessively long periods of time'.
Attorney James A. Morris from Morris Law Firm, representing Willis and her guardian, said: "Had the staff followed standard medical protocols, Emily would have had the opportunity to regain control of her life.
"No patient should ever be subjected to such a horrendous breakdown in clinical care. Her health was ignored until it was too late, and now her life is forever changed," reports The Mirror.
"We hope this lawsuit will spur real change in how treatment centers handle critical cases. Too many patients who should be receiving life-saving interventions are being lost to negligence," he added.
UNILAD has contacted Summit Malibu for comment.
If you want friendly, confidential advice about drugs, you can call American Addiction Centers on (313) 209-9137 24/7, or contact them through their website.