Doctors sued for medical negligence in overdose death of woman

A husband is suing two doctors after his wife died of drug overdose from prescription medication.

Raphael Circelli, special administrator of the Estate of Larissa Circelli, filed a lawsuit Oct. 10 in Cook County Circuit Court against Dr. Mihail Beckerman and Dr. Alexander Golbin, M.D., citing medical negligence and wrongful death.

According to the complaint, Larissa Circelli was treated by Beckerman, an anesthesiologist, and Golbin, a psychiatrist.

The complaint alleges that Beckerman prescribed multiple medications to treat Larissa Circelli's pain and other medical conditions including, fentanyl patches, morphine, topiramate and tizanidine. It also states that Golbin prescribed numerous medications including imipramine, ropinirole, carisoprodol and diazepam.

Circelli alleges that the defendants were aware of the numerous medications Larissa Circelli was prescribed and the effects on the central nervous system that each had and failed to take any action to reduce the number of medications she was taking.

According to the complaint, Larissa Circelli died on Oct. 16, 2011 of a drug overdose allegedly caused by the combination of fentanyl and numerous other medications she was prescribed.

Circelli is seeking damages in excess of $50,000. He is being represented in the case by attorney F. John Cushing III of Cushing Law Firm.

Circuit Court of Cook County No. 2013L011253

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed at the Circuit Court of Cook County. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it only represents one side of the story.