According to news reports, a 72-year-old woman undergoing knee replacement surgery on August 14, 2026 at Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital Midtown in Nashville, Tennessee was injected with potassium instead of an anesthetic epidural injection just before surgery that resulted in her suffering paralysis at the T6 level upon awakening from anesthesia. The family does not blame the anesthesiologist but rather the hospital pharmacy that provided the medication vial for surgery. According to reports, the family was told that three other surgery patients at Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital Midtown were provided “contaminated vials” on August 14, 2026, and two suffered similar consequences.
When the woman woke up after her surgery, she had no feeling below her sternum. She was transported to Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital West, where she was placed her on a ventilator, given high dose steroids, and her spinal fluid was drained in order to remove the excess potassium. On August 15, 2026, she was removed from the ventilator but she still had no feeling below her ribcage and she was unable to move her lower body.
The President and CEO of Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital Midtown issued a statement that did not address the condition of the other three patients who allegedly were given the wrong medication prior to surgery but did state, “Our hearts are with the four patients and their families impacted by this event. We self-reported to state regulators and launched a thorough investigation. We identified the cause and have implemented corrective safeguards.”
Hospital Pharmacy Malpractice
Medication errors are the most common and preventable cause of patient injury and typically involve administering the wrong drug or dose, using the wrong route, administering it incorrectly, or giving medication to the wrong patient. The reported incidence of medication errors in acute hospitals is approximately 6.5 per 100 admissions.
Nearly 50% of all medication errors occur when a medication is prescribed or ordered. Studies reveal that nurses and pharmacists identify 30% to 70% of medication-ordering errors.
Globally, medication-related errors are responsible for 5% to 41.3% of all hospital admissions and 22% of readmissions after discharge. The incidence of medication errors is 30% higher in patients who are prescribed five or more drugs and 38% higher in those 75 years or older. Patients 65 years or above experience nearly double the medication-related admissions compared to younger people.
Errors by pharmacists are usually judgmental or mechanical. Judgmental errors include failure to detect drug interactions, inadequate drug utilization review, inappropriate screening, failure to counsel the patient appropriately, and inappropriate monitoring. A mechanical error is a mistake in dispensing or preparing a prescription, such as administering an incorrect drug or dose, giving improper directions, or dispensing the incorrect dose, quantity, or strength.
The most common causes of pharmacy-driven medication errors include workload, similar drug names, interruptions, lack of support staff, insufficient time to counsel patients, and illegible handwriting.
If you or a loved one may have been injured as a result of hospital pharmacy malpractice in Tennessee or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find a Tennessee medical malpractice lawyer, or a medical malpractice lawyer in your state, who may investigate your hospital pharmacy malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a hospital pharmacy malpractice case, if appropriate.
Click here to visit our website or call us toll-free in the United States at 800-295-3959 to find medical malpractice attorneys in your state who may assist you.
Turn to us when you don’t know where to turn.
