NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Nashville hospital is under investigation after a medication error left a 72-year-old patient paralyzed and harmed at least three other people, according to the patient’s family and hospital officials.
Glenda Dorton, 72, went to Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital Midtown last Friday for a knee replacement, her family said. Before the procedure, she was scheduled to receive an epidural injection of bupivacaine, a common numbing medication used to manage surgical pain.
Instead, her family says the epidural was mistakenly filled with potassium chloride, a substance that can be lethal if administered improperly into the spine or bloodstream.
Dorton’s family says she is now paralyzed from the chest down and remains in the hospital’s intensive care unit. Doctors are still trying to determine whether any of the damage to her spinal cord can be reversed.
Her daughter-in-law, Kristina Buell, said Dorton realized something was seriously wrong as soon as she woke from the procedure, describing a burning sensation throughout her body and a sudden loss of feeling in her legs. Buell said Dorton had led an active lifestyle and had delayed the knee surgery for some time because she didn’t want to deal with the recovery period.
Buell said the family is now focused on getting Dorton the long-term care she will need going forward.
At Least Four Patients Affected
Hospital officials confirmed that Dorton is one of at least four patients harmed by the same medication mix-up. In a statement Tuesday, Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital Midtown president and CEO Dr. Shubhada Jagasia apologized on behalf of hospital leadership and said the affected families have been contacted directly and connected with spiritual care and other support resources. Citing patient privacy laws, the hospital has not released details about the other three patients or the extent of their injuries.
Multiple Investigations Underway
According to the hospital, the incident was reported to state regulators the same day it occurred, and an internal investigation was launched immediately. Jagasia said hospital staff identified the source of the error quickly and have since put additional safety measures in place.
The Tennessee Health Facilities Commission confirmed it has received complaints and opened its own investigation into the hospital. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is also looking into the matter.
The hospital has not publicly detailed exactly how the wrong medication ended up being administered to patients.
Why Potassium Chloride Is So Dangerous
Potassium chloride is sometimes used in medical settings to help regulate heart rhythm, but only when given as a slow, carefully controlled drip. Dr. Matthew Byrnes, a surgeon at Catalina Island Health in California who is not involved in the Tennessee case, explained that administering the drug too quickly can cause serious heart complications, and that if it leaks outside a vein it can damage surrounding tissue.
Byrnes noted that injecting potassium chloride directly into the spinal area, rather than a slow-drip IV, could be catastrophic for the spinal cord. He emphasized that hospitals rely on strict labeling and verification protocols before any medication is administered, since many drugs are visually indistinguishable from one another before infusion.
Potassium chloride has also been used historically as part of Tennessee’s lethal-injection protocol, though the state has since switched to a different drug for executions.