A catastrophic medication error at a major Nashville hospital has left multiple patients paralyzed after staff injected potassium chloride into their spines instead of standard anesthetic during routine joint replacement surgeries.
Ascension Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital confirmed that four patients were harmed on August 14 during what were supposed to be outpatient procedures. Hospital staff only realized something was wrong when patients began going into cardiac arrest one after another.
Instead of the local anesthetic bupivacaine intended for epidurals, the hospital pharmacy had filled the syringes with potassium chloride, a substance so dangerous when injected incorrectly that it is known for its ability to stop the heart and has been used in lethal injection protocols.
One of the victims, 72-year-old Glenda Dorton of Centerville, Tennessee, went in for a knee replacement. Her family says she is now paralyzed from the chest down with no feeling or movement below her breastbone. Doctors later diagnosed her with T6-level paralysis.“The joint replacement went wonderful. Her knee is great. The rest of her is not,” her daughter-in-law told local reporters.
Hospital President and CEO Dr. Shubhada Jagasia issued a statement acknowledging the “event,” saying the facility became aware of it the same day, self-reported to state regulators, and launched an internal investigation. The hospital expressed that it is “sorry” for the harm caused.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has opened a probe into the pharmacy mix-up. State health regulators are also on site examining how the wrong high-alert medication ended up in the syringes prepared for spinal injections.
Potassium chloride is strictly controlled in hospital settings precisely because of the extreme risks it poses. Experts note that injecting it into the spine can destroy tissue and interrupt critical signals between the brain and the rest of the body, including the heart, explaining the sudden cardiac arrests that first tipped off staff.
Families of the affected patients describe the outcome as devastating. At least two people have been left paralyzed, while others required intensive care, including ventilator support and emergency measures to try to clear the substance from their systems.
The hospital has not released the names or full medical details of the other three patients, citing privacy. Officials say corrective safeguards have been put in place, but questions remain about how such a basic and dangerous error could occur in the pharmacy of a major medical center.
As investigations continue, the case has drawn sharp attention to medication safety protocols in hospitals across the country. For the patients and their families, the damage is already done, turning routine surgeries into life-altering tragedies.
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