After Byron family tragedy, mother sues ketamine prescriber

The mother of a Byron, Wyoming woman who killed herself and her four daughters in February has filed a federal lawsuit aimed at the psychiatric provider who, she says, supplied ketamine without proper oversight. In a complaint lodged Monday in US District Court, Rhonda Coplen names Cody-based Sage Psychiatry Services LLC and advanced practice registered nurse Krista Blough as defendants.

Toxicology reports cited in the suit say Tranyelle Harshman had large amounts of ketamine in her system when she died. The filing alleges the drug was provided “without medical supervision,” and argues that any ketamine treatment must happen in a controlled setting where patients can be closely observed.

“Anybody who’s administering ketamine to a patient needs to do that in a controlled environment so that that patient can be observed to make sure that they don’t harm themselves or harm somebody else,” said Coplen’s attorney, Sean Olson of Olson Personal Injury Lawyers. “That simply wasn’t done in this case.”

Harshman’s four daughters—two-year-olds Jordan Basil and Brooke Seline Harshman, nine-year-old Braylee Shae Blackmer and seven-year-old Olivia Harshman—were shot in the head, according to investigators. Jordan, Brooke and Braylee died at the scene; Olivia died days later at a Salt Lake City hospital.

Coplen is represented by Olson and attorney Allison Pritchard. They say the case is in its early stages, with no trial date set yet. Olson expects the court to schedule one within roughly 18 to 24 months.

The Bureau of Land Management, Game and Fish, etc. irrelevant—focus: This lawsuit zeroes in on how a potent anesthetic now used off-label for depression was allegedly managed in a rural mental-health setting. The defendants have not publicly responded in court filings; the case will test where clinical discretion ends and legal responsibility begins in ketamine’s expanding use.

The original story by Vanessa Willardson for Q2 Montana’s News Leader.