A 78-year-old Nashville woman is suing Ascension Saint Thomas Midtown for $150 million, claiming hospital staff injected the wrong drug into her spinal canal during knee replacement surgery, leaving her unable to walk.
Linda Gilbert’s lawsuit says she was one of four surgery patients who received potassium phosphate instead of the intended anesthetic, mepivacaine, on Aug. 14. The hospital system confirmed the mix-up in an Aug. 21 statement posted on its own website.
The Nov. 6 complaint, provided to Fox News Digital by Gilbert’s attorney, alleges the wrong injection caused severe damage to her spinal cord and nerves. She now has incomplete paraplegia, severe weakness in both legs, and cannot walk, drive or live independently, according to the filing. The suit also says she went into shock and suffered respiratory failure that required a ventilator.
Gilbert’s injuries are permanent, the lawsuit states. At the time it was filed, she was still in inpatient rehabilitation at a spinal cord injury center in Atlanta.
The complaint alleges that hospital staff kept using syringes from the same contaminated batch even after two earlier patients had already reported burning pain. It also accuses the hospital of failures in preparing and verifying medication and of delaying treatment once the error became apparent.
Gilbert is seeking $50 million in compensatory damages and $100 million in punitive damages.
What the drug is supposed to do
Potassium phosphate is normally used to treat low phosphorus levels and to supply phosphorus through intravenous nutrition. Its prescribing information, available on NIH’s DailyMed, specifies it must be diluted and given through a vein — not injected into the spinal canal, as Gilbert’s lawsuit alleges happened to her.
The label warns that excessive doses or administering it too quickly through an IV can cause dangerous heart rhythms, cardiac arrest, seizures and death. Those warnings apply to intravenous use; the lawsuit does not allege Gilbert received the drug that way.
Hospital’s response
Ascension Saint Thomas told local NBC affiliate WSMV on Nov. 9 that it was aware of the complaint and cooperating with the legal process, but said it could not share further details while the case is ongoing.
