A Wisconsin jury will decide whether 19-year-old Grace Schara, who had Down syndrome, was the victim of battery after a judge last month cleared the way for a November 4, 2024, trial including battery charges against the hospital and providers who treated Schara. The case has national implications amid widespread reports of hospital deaths from COVID-19 protocols.

More than three years after 19-year-old Grace Schara died following treatment for COVID-19, a Wisconsin circuit court judge ruled that her father’s wrongful death lawsuit against Ascension St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton, Wisconsin can go forward.

Outagamie County Circuit Court Judge Mark J. McGinnis last month rejected all motions by hospital lawyers to dismiss charges by Scott Schara that his daughter died from intentional battery by doctors and nurses.

Schara in April sued Ascension St. Elizabeth Hospital personnel alleging that they committed medical battery against his daughter — a legal standard doctors don’t typically face — which led to Grace’s wrongful death on Oct. 13, 2021.