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Topics: Drugs, Health, US News, Emily Willis
Joe Yates
Emily Willis' family have taken the rehab center she attended to court, claiming things could have gone differently for the adult film star if medical staff hadn't made a major mistake.
In February last year, Willis - real name Litzy Lara Banuelos - fell into a 'vegetative coma' following an unexpected cardiac arrest while at a rehab facility, for which she had checked in with a 'ketamine addiction'. She didn't wake from it until three months later in May.
Since then, it has been reported that the now-26-year-old has been unable to move and is only able to track things with her eyes, with it being previously suggested by medical professionals that she is suffering with 'locked-in syndrome'.
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The Cleveland Clinic states that the condition is a 'rare and serious neurological disorder that happens when a part of your brainstem is damaged, and people with it 'have total paralysis but still have consciousness and their normal cognitive abilities'.
Legal action is now being taken against Malibu Lighthouse Treatment Centers, which owns the rehab facility she visited, with the family of Willis claiming its staff 'failed' to take appropriate action as her health plummeted over the course of several days in its care.
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'.
"Had the staff followed standard medical protocols, Emily would have had the opportunity to regain control of her life," claimed Attorney James A. Morris, of Morris Law Firm - the team representing Willis and her guardian.
"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.
"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."
It was on January 27 when Willis - who joined the adult industry in 2018 and went on to star in more than 700 pornographic films - sought help for her 'ketamine addiction' from drug rehabilitation center Summit Malibu in Los Angeles.
The lawsuit explains how the former 'Female Performer of the Year' ingested some 'five to six grams' of the drug every day for a year.
After checking into the facility her health is alleged to have rapidly deteriorated, and that she was barely eating, showering or even getting dressed - adding that 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; 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'.
Willis is now semi-conscious, considered 'permanently disabled' and remains in a care home in Utah.
UNILAD previously 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.