Euless woman pushes for stronger opioid warnings in Texas
Debbie Allen visits her husband's grave each month to replace the flowers she keeps there. She also updates the man she calls "the love of her life" on what's happening with their family, and with her mission of more than four years.
Robert Allen died just hours after celebrating his 71st birthday. He had gone to the hospital for back pain and was discharged, sent home with a prescription for morphine to manage back pain.
By 2 a.m. on Oct. 21, 2020, he was struggling to breathe. Debbie called 911. He was still responsive as paramedics loaded him into the ambulance, but by the time they arrived at the hospital, he was gone.
Robert Allen had taken just two morphine pills.
Debbie Allen would later learn what she said no one had told her: Opioids like morphine, when combined with her husband's sleep apnea, can lead to fatal respiratory depression, a breathing disorder characterized by slow, or depressed, breathing.
"The bell went off just like that," she said, recalling the moment the prescribing doctor called her the morning after Robert's death. "He said, 'That's why you don't mix this opioid with sleep apnea.'"
Now, more than 4 1/2 years later, she is channeling her grief into a public campaign that could change how opioids are labeled in Texas.
A simple warning, too late
In the days following his death, Debbie Allen began investigating. She found two medical journal studies - one from 2020 and another from 2017. They warned of the dangers of mixing opioids with sleep apnea, especially during sleep.
One study described how patients with the condition are "at greater risk of harm from morphine."
The other noted that many people on opioids are "found dead in bed."
Despite these published warnings, Debbie Allen said no one gave her family any indication that morphine could be dangerous for someone with sleep apnea, a condition that forced Robert Allen to sleep with a CPAP machine every night.
"There was not one warning. Not one," Debbie Allen said.
She filed formal complaints with the Texas Medical Board, the Texas State Board of Pharmacy and the Joint Commission, a non-profit that accredits medical organizations and programs.
Ultimately, the medical board required the doctor who wrote Robert Allen's prescription to complete 12 hours of education on risk management and controlled substances.
Debbie Allen also filed a lawsuit, which she cannot publicly discuss due to a settlement agreement.
She can, however, discuss what she wants moving forward.
A bill inspired by loss
Robert Allen's death is now at the center of proposed legislation in the Texas Senate.
In March, Sen. Bob Hall, a Republican from Rockwall, introduced Senate Bill 1986, which would require that all opioid prescriptions include a clear warning about "addiction, respiratory depression, and overdose."
Hall said Debbie Allen's story "got attention because it was so preventable … with a simple solution of just informing people."
Her mission has taken her from her home office, where she continues to research opioid regulations across the country, to the Texas Capitol, where she recently testified before the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services.
She has learned that states like Arizona require a red cap on opioid bottles, and others mandate varying forms of warnings.
In Texas, similar bills have been proposed in the past but failed to become law.
"The pharmaceutical companies' first concern is making money. Their concern is how many pills are selling," Hall said.
Federal moves, state gaps
In 2023, following a growing number of opioid-related deaths, the Food and Drug Administration began mandating a "boxed warning" about the risk of respiratory depression when opioids are used.
The warnings are printed in bold and outlined in black at the top of the medication guide inserts.
Debbie Allen is advocating for standardized, state-mandated labels on all opioid prescription bottles – simple, visible, unavoidable.
On April 30, 2025, the day Debbie Allen testified at the Senate hearing, no one testified against the bill. The committee approved it unanimously. The bill now has a sponsor in the House, Hall's office told the I-Team.
"So no one else gets hurt"
Debbie and Robert Allen met when she was 13. They were married by the time she was 16. They built a life together. They have two children and four grandchildren.
"Robert loved life more than anyone I've ever met," she said. "He didn't deserve this. Everybody let him down."
At the cemetery, Debbie Allen sits on a bench she painted herself. It bears the family name. It's a place where her children and grandchildren — and now great-grandchildren — can visit.
Robert Allen has missed three graduations and two weddings since his death.
"I would know that he wanted me to pursue this," she said. "So nobody else would get hurt like he did."
