People have speculated over and over about why she would ask for pain medication (which as noted before has never been established as fact). There was the tooth abscess theory as well as the simple possibility that she was hung over.
In any case, none of that really provides mitigating circumstances. If she was in such bad pain that she felt she couldn't cope, she should have called someone to help her out. Her husband would have been a good start. Presumably she was sober when this unbearable pain started. What sober person who is not normally a big drinker even thinks of drinking alcohol to relieve pain while driving a van full of kids somewhere? That wouldn't occur to most non-drinkers as an option to reject. It would never even enter their mind.
Whether or not she was in pain really is a non issue in the big picture, because she had other more reasonable options at her disposal to address this , particularly as she was noted to be such a responsible, competent, intelligent, resourceful and incredible mom and loving aunt.
