The family of Brandon Harris was awarded $20.5 million in a case against the Emory Healthcare Sleep Center, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution (AJC) reported on Tuesday, Sept. 29.

Harris died while participating in a study at Emory’s Sleep Center in January 2010. The DeKalb County jury issued the family with about $10 million for suffering and $10.5 million for the value of the 25-year-old’s life.

Harris’s doctor considered him healthy enough to participate in the study, according to an ABC News report. Harris vied for medical attention when he began to feel discomfort during the study, but was not provided immediate treatment.

The DeKalb Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Harris’s medical history, which included Type 2 diabetes, caused him to go into unanticipated cardiac arrest, the AJC reported.

However, Harris’s mother, Renee “Sunshine” Lewis, pursued a wrongful death lawsuit following the incident. The family believed that Harris had died due to negligence on the medical staff’s behalf, and insisted that the Emory Sleep Center temporarily close, according to ABC News.

The post Family Awarded $20.5 Million in Lawsuit Against Emory Sleep Center appeared first on The Emory Wheel.