Four Patients Affected, One Paralyzed, After Drug Mix-up at Nashville Hospital

Four patients were affected and one of them was paralyzed after a pre-surgery drug mix-up at a Nashville hospital, local news outlets reported.

A 72-year-old woman, Glenda Dorton, reportedly received a spinal injection of potassium instead of anesthesia before her knee-replacement surgery on Aug. 14 at Ascension Saint Thomas Midtown, The Tennessean and other news sites reported.

The surgery seemed to have gone well until Dorton awoke later and discovered she could not feel or move anything from her chest down, her daughter told the newspaper and a TV news station.

The woman was rushed to surgery at another Ascension hospital, where her spinal fluid was drained and she was placed on a ventilator.

Three other patients also received the potassium injections before knee surgery that day, but the hospital has not revealed their conditions, news sites noted.

Hospital officials self-reported the incidents to state regulators and launched an investigation, Becker’s Hospital Review reported. The investigation found that the mix-up came from the hospital’s pharmacy, and was not the fault of the doctor or surgery team, Dorton’s daughter told news outlets. The hospital has not confirmed the medication error or whether the same error affected the other three patients.

The CEO of the Midtown hospital, Dr. Shubhada Jagasia, released a statement.

“Our hearts are with the four patients and their families impacted by this event,” Jagasia wrote, The Tennessean reported. “We self-reported to state regulators and launched a thorough investigation. We identified the cause and have implemented corrective safeguards.”

Dorton’s daughter, Kristina Dorton, of Chattanooga, said the family is not looking “to ruin somebody’s life” over the incident. “They need to figure it out so it never happens,” she told the newspaper.

Potassium, in small doses, is considered an essential mineral and electrolyte, necessary for heart and muscle function, according to the National Institutes of Health. But if injected into the spinal fluid, potassium chloride can cause a toxic reaction, paralysis and respiratory failure, studies have shown.