On December 13, 1987 Laura Susana Albán Cornejo was admitted to the Metropolitan Hospital, a private health institution located in Quito, Ecuador, due to a set of symptoms of bacterial meningitis, and was prescribed a dose of morphine for pain. On December 18, 2007, while she was under medical treatment, Miss Albán Cornejo died, allegedly due to the medication she was administered. After her death, Miss Albán Cornejo's parents appeared before the Eighth Civil Court from Pichincha, the Honor Tribunal of the Pichincha Medical Association, and filed a criminal complaint to investigate the causes of their daughter’s death. Two physicians were accused of negligent medical practice. The case against one of them was dismissed and the second was still pending at the time this case was brought. The Court found that the State violated the American Convention on Human Rights.
Case Summary: Albán Cornejo et al. v. Ecuador