On December 18, 2024, a Georgia medical malpractice lawsuit was filed against a hospital and a nurse employed by the hospital arising out of the post-operative care that a patient received following his heart surgery on August 9, 2023. The lawsuit alleges that the nurse mishandled the vasopressor Norepinephrine administered through an IV that led to an overdose of the medication and the patient suffering a hemorrhagic stroke.
The Georgia medical malpractice lawsuit states, in part:
10. Levophed, which is a brand name for the generic drug Norepinephrine, is a vaso-active intravenous (“IV”) blood pressure medication that Don Huizer received during and after heart surgery.
11. Levophed is classified as a “High Alert Medication” because of the heightened risk of causing significant harm to patients when used in error.
12. Levophed was administered to Don Huizer post-operatively through an IV infusion pump.
13. IV infusion pumps are important patient safety devices that, when used properly, substantially reduce medication errors.
14. Martin was one of the nurses who PHI assigned to care for Don Huizer after surgery.
15. According to the medical chart, the Levophed IV was “Stopped” as of 12:06 a.m. on August 10, 2023 and then “Discontinued” at 11:05 a.m. the same day.
16. Instead of completely disconnecting the Levophed IV from Don Huizer, a nurse or nurses at Piedmont Atlanta Hospital just clamped the IV line, removed it from the safety precautions that are built into the IV infusion pump, and left the bag of Levophed hanging on the IV stand with Mr. Huizer’s active medications.
17. For reasons that are presently unknown, Nurse Martin unclamped the Levophed IV between 10:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. on August 10, 2023, which allowed that medication to “free flow” into Don Huizer.
18. There was no justification for Nurse Martin to unclamp the Levophed IV.
19. There was no justification for Nurse Martin to administer Levophed to Don Huizer.
20. Moments after Nurse Martin opened up the valve allowing the vaso-active medication to flow freely into Don Huizer’s blood stream, his systolic blood pressure spiked to approximately 300, and he immediately developed a severe headache.
21. CT scans of Don Huizer’s brain reveal a hemorrhagic stroke most likely caused by the high-dose infusion of Levophed.
22. As a result of the stroke caused by Defendants’ negligence, Don Huizer has suffered permanent brain damage that has dramatically altered his personality, his cognitive function, and his speech patterns.
. . . .
37. The standard of care in August 2023 for nurses when administering medications to patients was to confirm that the right patient receives the right medication, at the right dose, through the right route, at the right time, with the right documentation, and the right response.
38. Nurse Martin and the other nurses at Piedmont Atlanta Hospital who were responsible for Don Huizer’s care (collectively “the Nurses”) were negligent and breached their duty to Don Huizer by administering Levophed to him through a “free flowing” IV and otherwise mismanaging the IV medication.
. . . .
45. Overdosing Don Huizer with a “High Alert Medication” that was supposed to have been discontinued more than 11 hours earlier shows wantonness or that entire want of care by Defendants, which raises the presumption of conscious indifference to consequences.
46. Punitive damages are justified under the circumstances of this case to deter Defendants from repeating similar acts and omissions in the future
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