‘Heartbreaking’: Jury Sides With Hospital in 2021 Death of 19-Year-Old Admitted for COVID
The family of Grace Schara alleged that medical battery, negligence and a lack of informed consent caused her death. “We know there’s unconsented medical treatment going on all over this country and it’s killing some people,” said an attorney for the Scharas.
JUNE 23, 2025
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Jurors sided with a Wisconsin hospital Thursday in the “high-profile” wrongful death trial of a 19-year-old with Down syndrome who died in 2021, a week after being admitted for a COVID-19 infection.
The family of Grace Schara alleged that medical battery, negligence and a lack of informed consent caused her death.
Closing arguments in the trial at the State of Wisconsin Circuit Court for Outagamie County ended Thursday afternoon. The jury deliberated for approximately two hours before delivering its verdict in favor of the defendants — Ascension St. Elizabeth Hospital, Dr. Gavin Shokar and nurse Hollee McInnis.
At Friday’s press conference, Grace’s mother, Cindy Schara, called the verdict “heartbreaking.”
“We really did expect the jury to see what they did to Grace,” she said. “This jury deliberating as quickly as they did in coming up with their verdict did not give Grace the respect that she deserved … I think the judge took longer to go through the instructions than they did to actually deliberate in the back.”
Grace’s father, Scott Schara, told The Defender he was “surprised” by the ruling “from the perspective that we had a better case, better facts, better preparedness, and a better team.” But, he was “not surprised from the perspective of the legal system being in bed with the medical industrial complex.”
Grace’s family sued Ascension in April 2023 and filed an amended complaint in July 2023, challenging the hospital’s COVID-19 treatment protocols, including the administration of a lethal combination of sedatives and the placement of a “Do Not Resuscitate” (DNR) order in Grace’s chart without her family’s permission.
Out of the 13 claims the jury deliberated, two had a dissenting vote, with only one dissenting juror for each of those claims, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Civil cases do not require a unanimous verdict or proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Instead, 10 of the 12 jurors needed to agree to each claim based on a preponderance of evidence.
‘No respect for patients or their advocates’
Scott suggested the jury was not impartial. “How can they be [impartial] in a society that programs them to rely on the state for their rights from the moment they are born?”
“Losing in a courtroom only empowers our message of saving lives. That’s why Grace died — so others would have a chance to wake up and live,” he said.
Warner Mendenhall, one of the attorneys representing the Schara family, told The Defender that the trial “lifted the veil and revealed that Ascension’s protocol-driven medical system has no respect for patients or their advocates.”
“Doctors and nurses followed orders that were wrong,” Mendenhall said. “The DNR was not agreed to by the family, but once a doctor entered it into the record, Grace had no chance.”
“Win or lose, the purpose of the lawsuit was repentance and to show the world what is going on behind the curtain,” Scott said. “We did that thanks to The New American and Children’s Health Defense [CHD] livestreaming the entire trial and the press conference.”
Judge excludes battery charges in 18-page verdict form to jurors
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, before closing arguments, “[Judge Mark] McGinnis read the 18-page verdict form to jurors — but it didn’t include the battery charge.”
Successfully arguing the civil battery claim would have required the plaintiffs to prove intent and physical contact between Grace and the defendants, and would have allowed jurors to award damages unrestricted by the $750,000 monetary cap that applies to medical malpractice cases in Wisconsin.
Scott criticized the $750,000 cap on medical malpractice settlements in Wisconsin, suggesting it acts as a barrier. He said:
“The $750,000 cap makes it virtually impossible to file a lawsuit in Wisconsin. Why? Because a case like this takes just over a million dollars to bring to trial. Wrap your head around that. And, if you can find an attorney that would take the case on without you paying for it, the state statute says the maximum they can get is $250,000.
“We had to pay for our case. The insurance companies paid for [the defendants’] case.”
Scott said that one of the lawsuit’s goals was to attain an “excessive verdict” related to the medical battery claim, wherein the case would reach the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which could then remove the $750,000 cap.
Mendenhall also addressed the judge’s removal of the medical battery claim.
“We know there’s unconsented medical treatment going on all over this country, and it’s killing some people,” he said. “So, it’s going to be an ongoing fight. And I think that the work that we’ve done and the argument we’ve had here will help inform other attorneys how to successfully bring a battery claim.”
Ray Flores — senior outside counsel for CHD, who was not involved in the Schara case — said, “Every state treats medical battery differently. But where COVID is concerned, triers of fact are less likely to rule in a plaintiff’s favor.”
“Battery was a critical component that not only strengthened the case but would have removed the $750,000 medical malpractice cap to allow for a possible seven-plus figure award,” Flores said.
Trial reveals ‘crack in the system’
At Friday’s press conference, Mendenhall said the case was hampered by widespread and lingering public attitudes related to COVID-19.
“I think we see that there’s a lot of things still going on out there. We have not completely lifted the COVID veil. We haven’t completely lifted the veil of fear, and we have a long way to do that,” Mendenhall said.
Mendenhall said one of the positive outcomes of the trial is that it showed that patients “sign their rights away” when they go to a hospital:
“This trial is incredible in the sense that it paints a very accurate picture of what has happened in healthcare, and it creates a roadmap of what people face when they go into healthcare. What are you signing off on? You’re kept in the dark about your medications. You’re kept in the dark about your treatment. You’re kept in the dark about the risks versus benefits.”
Grace was given sedatives, including Precedex, lorazepam and morphine during her hospital stay. During the trial, her family alleged that Ascension doctors and nurses repeatedly overdosed Grace with those drugs.
“None of us would’ve survived that concoction … that they gave her at the end, because those are end-of-life meds,” Cindy said. “Morphine is given to people in hospice. As I looked and researched, it is a medication that softens death — and that’s exactly what they intended to do.”
Mendenhall said the trial helped reveal “a crack in the system” by exposing facts about hospital protocols implemented nationwide. “Protocols have destroyed what used to be the art of medicine. Now it’s the protocols of medicine.”
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‘This should scare anyone with ears to hear’
During Thursday’s closing arguments, attorneys for the defendants disputed the Schara family’s version of the circumstances that led to Grace’s death.
“This was standard, general ICU care in the management of these medications. … Giving these drugs would not have tripped any red flags,” said Jason Franckowiak, an attorney for Ascension and McInnis.
“Everybody in that hospital that was taking care of Grace Schara was doing what they could within the parameters of the family’s wishes,” said attorney Randall Guse, who represented Ascension Medical Group-Fox Valley Wisconsin Inc. and Shokar.
Guse and Shokar suggested that the hospital implemented the DNR order in response to the Schara family’s wish not to place Grace on a ventilator.
But Michael E. Edminister, an attorney for the Schara family, said, “There should never be confusion over whether a 19-year-old girl is a DNR or not,” adding that the hospital could have honored the family’s wishes to reverse the DNR at any time.
Attorney Joe Voiland, who also represented the Schara family, said at the press conference on Friday that they are evaluating their legal options following the verdict.
Scott told The Defender he is “thankful for the opportunity to have Grace’s death not be in vain.” He said:
“The main benefit to the public is to be prepared for a hospital stay. The jury ruled that no consent is required in a hospital and a doctor can unilaterally place a DNR on a patient, without consent, without a witness, without a signature, and without a bracelet. This should scare anyone with ears to hear.”Related articles in The Defender
- Witness Alleges Hospital’s ‘Egregious’ Breaches of Standard of Care Killed Teen
- Jury Hears Conflicting Testimony in Trial Alleging Hospital’s Actions — Not COVID — Caused Teen’s Death
- Trial Gets Underway in Death of Teen Whose Family Alleges Was Killed by Hospital COVID Protocols
- Exclusive: Dad Describes Hospital’s COVID ‘Protocols’ He Believes Killed His 19-Year-Old Daughter
- Witness to Tragedy: ‘Huge’ Financial Incentives Led Hospitals to Use COVID Treatments That Killed Patients
Watch CHD.TV’s interview with Scott Schara here:
Watch the press conference here:
Watch the closing arguments here:
Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D.
Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D., based in Athens, Greece, is a senior reporter for The Defender and host of “The Defender In-Depth” on CHD.TV.
Click this link for the original source of this article.
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