NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A week after a devastating drug mix-up at Ascension Saint Thomas Midtown, late Friday afternoon, the hospital released a statement giving more details about exactly what went wrong and how the hospital is now addressing the situation.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates has been reporting on the mix-up and how it led to catastrophic complications for four patients who were supposed to undergo routine joint replacement surgeries.
In Friday's statement, the hospital confirmed that the "medication error" happened in the hospital's pharmacy and instead of receiving an injection of a common anesthetic in their spines, the four patients each received potassium phosphate and then as the hospital described it, "experienced adverse health reactions and received immediate medical care."
NewsChannel 5 Investigates learned from two of the families that one patient, 72-year old Glenda Dorton from Centerville, was left paralyzed while a 74-year old woman from Nashville was, at last word, on a ventilator.
Ascension Saint Thomas also said in its statement that it has made "several changes" to its pharmacy and safety protocols to prevent this type of mistake from happening again.
According to the release, the additional physical, technological, and clinical safeguards now in place at the Midtown location include:
- “Isolated Medication Storage: High-alert medications, including mepivacaine, are stored in separate, distinctly marked locations to eliminate selection errors.”
- “Mandatory Hard-Stop & Escalation: Implement process to stop and resolve, through independent verification, for any spinal medication scan alert.”
- “Independent Dual Verification: Spinal medicine workflows now require a second trained pharmacist to perform final visual and physical checks.”
Additionally, the hospital said it brought in outside experts to "review and validate" its correction plans.
The statement from Ascension Saint Thomas, as in its initial statement from the facility's CEO released Tuesday, reiterated the hospital's concern for the four patients and their families, expressing, "We extend our deepest apologies for the harm caused. Our clinical teams continue to provide dedicated care to these four individuals, and we are offering our full support and spiritual care resources to their loved ones."
PREVIOUS RELATED REPORTING:
