The wrongful death lawsuit filed by the estate of actress Nichelle Nichols is nearing its discovery phase. The suit alleges that Gila Regional Medical Center’s negligence led to the Star Trek veteran’s death in July 2022.
According to the complaint, the hospital failed to diagnose and treat Nichols’s serious heart condition and discharged her, despite clear signs of acute heart failure. The suit alleges that Nichols could have survived if she’d received the proper treatment.
Nichols was admitted to Gila Regional Medical Center after presenting symptoms that were consistent with acute heart failure. Initial test results appeared to corroborate. The lawsuit claims that although her condition warranted inpatient monitoring and a potential transfer to a higher-level facility, the hospital did not follow through on these obligations.
The estate’s legal representatives claim that the hospital lacked both the staff expertise and the working diagnostic equipment needed to provide appropriate care. The hospital allegedly failed to maintain echocardiogram equipment in working order and had no plan in place to ensure access to cardiac testing when its own machines were unavailable.
Hospital administrators are accused of failing to secure an inpatient bed for Nichols or transferring her to another hospital with adequate resources. Instead, after overnight observation, the actress was discharged the next morning to Millie’s Assisted Living Center, a facility the lawsuit alleges was incapable of monitoring or caring for a patient in her condition. The filing states that the hospital should have known about the assisted living center’s lack of resources.
Following the hospital’s discharge, emergency medical services were dispatched to the assisted living center nearly 10 hours later. Nichols died shortly afterward on the evening of July 30.
The estate’s lawsuit describes the hospital’s conduct as wanton, reckless and a violation of both state and federal medical standards.
Beyond the specific care Nichols received, the complaint also makes allegations about the hospital’s policies and practices, claiming that Gila Regional improperly credentialed unqualified providers, neglected to maintain ordinary hospital discharge protocols.
The estate is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, citing wrongful death, medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages and earning capacity and loss of enjoyment of life.
In May, the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) accused Gila Regional of violating state hazardous waste laws when inspectors found the hospital had failed to train staff on hazardous waste container maintenance. That matter was resolved.
Nichols was best known for her groundbreaking role as Lieutenant Uhura on the original Star Trek television series, which aired from 1966 to 1969. She was one of the first black women to play a prominent role on a major television series, and her performance is widely recognized as a milestone for black representation in popular culture. She also worked with NASA to recruit women and people of color into the space program, helping inspire a new generation of scientists, engineers and astronauts.
The complaint portrays Nichols’s death as the outcome of a laundry list of preventable failures by the medical center. It frames the case as both a matter of accountability for the hospital and a reckoning for systemic issues in for-profit healthcare management in general. The next hearing for the case is reportedly scheduled for April 2026.
