The lawsuit alleges excessive opioid medication and inadequate monitoring caused 21-year-old Dale Alice Martin to stop breathing at Waterbury Hospital.
WATERBURY, Conn. — The family of a 21-year-old woman who died after entering Waterbury Hospital with a fractured ankle is suing the hospital and other defendants, alleging excessive pain medication and failures in patient monitoring led to her cardiac arrest, severe brain injury and death.
Dale Alice Martin suffered a complex ankle fracture while working on a Connecticut farm during a gap year from college in April 2025, according to court documents described in published reports. Her family’s lawsuit alleges that hospital providers gave her opioid pain medications over a period of hours and failed to adequately monitor how the drugs were affecting her breathing. The allegations have not been proven in court, and no defendant has been found legally responsible for Martin’s death.
Martin injured her left ankle on the morning of April 9 while carrying a hay bale, according to the complaint. She was taken to Waterbury Hospital, where court documents say she reported severe pain. Despite the injury, the lawsuit describes her as alert enough to speak with relatives that evening. Her family said she appeared to be in pain but did not seem to be facing a life-threatening medical emergency.
The complaint alleges hospital staff administered opioid medications, including oxycodone and morphine, and that the combined effects suppressed Martin’s breathing. Her family’s lawyers contend the medications also caused significant sedation, leaving her unable to recognize the danger or call for assistance as her condition worsened. The suit alleges staff failed to adequately check her condition during the critical period.
A nurse found Martin unresponsive at about 7 a.m. April 10, according to the complaint. Her heart had stopped, and medical workers were able to restore circulation, the lawsuit says. Martin had suffered a severe brain injury and was later declared brain dead. She remained on life support as members of her family gathered at the hospital before support was withdrawn. She died April 13, according to court documents reported by Connecticut news organizations.
The lawsuit filed by Martin’s father, Lindsay Martin, accuses Waterbury Hospital of failing to provide adequate staffing and patient monitoring and of failing to safely prescribe opioid medications. It also alleges providers did not properly assess her pain or sufficiently consider other methods of controlling it. The claims are allegations in a civil case and will be subject to the court process.
The family’s attorneys are also examining whether broader conditions at Waterbury Hospital affected Martin’s care. At the time of her hospitalization, the facility was controlled by Prospect Medical Holdings, a California-based health care company that had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2025. Martin’s family has said it did not know the extent of the hospital’s financial problems when she was brought there for treatment.
Prospect’s ownership of Connecticut hospitals had already drawn scrutiny over financial and operational problems. Martin’s attorneys allege that staffing, training and other conditions related to those pressures may have contributed to what happened during her hospitalization. Those broader claims also remain unresolved. Prospect was still the hospital’s owner when Martin was treated and died.
Waterbury Hospital has since changed ownership. Connecticut’s Office of Health Strategy approved the transfer of the hospital and related Prospect assets to a UConn Health affiliate on Jan. 30, 2026. UConn Health says Waterbury Hospital is now part of its Community Network. The current organization has emphasized patient safety and quality while noting that Martin’s care occurred before the ownership change.
Martin was a college student and New York native who had been living in Connecticut during time away from school. Published accounts say she had studied English and history at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Her family’s lawsuit now seeks to establish whether medication decisions, failures in monitoring and conditions at the hospital caused or contributed to a medical emergency that began during treatment for her ankle injury. The civil case remains pending.
Author note: Last updated October 12, 2026.