Zuton Lucero-Mills sues city Denver over death of son Zumante who was denied Medicaid

A Denver woman is suing the city, and three employees, after she says her son died because he was allegedly denied Medicaid drugs to which he was entitled. Zuton Lucero-Mills says she tried to fill his multiple prescriptions and was repeatedly told he was eligible for Medicaid, despite records proving that he was covered.

Zuton Lucero-Mills’s 9-year-old son Zumante was suffering from asthma and needed an anti-inflammatory drug to manage the condition. But when his mother was repeatedly unable to fill his prescriptions, Zumante’s condition deteriorated and he died in July 2009 at a hospital after being taken off a ventilator.

Saying that her son died from complications that allegedly should not have arisen, Zuton Lucero-Mills is suing, saying that even though she had paperwork proving that Zumante qualified for Medicaid, pharmacists allegedly said he wasn’t in the system. She says she is fighting the case so that others aren’t put in the same position.