An upstate New York medical malpractice jury returned its verdict in favor of a now 65-year-old man who suffered a spinal cord infarction after a routine epidural steroid injection, leaving him paralyzed with permanent paraplegia, neurogenic bowel and bladder, chronic neuropathic pain, and impotence. The jury awarded the man $60,033,041.23 after a three-week trial.
The man was 60-years-old when he underwent a routine lumbar epidural steroid injection procedure on November 18, 2019. He suffered a massive spinal cord infarction within minutes of awakening from sedation. His New York medical malpractice lawsuit, supported by evidence introduced during trial, alleged that a medication known to cause spinal infarcts if inadvertently injected into an artery leading to the spinal cord, and which is not recommended, was administered instead of the medication documented in the medical records. The plaintiff’s experts in the medical fields of interventional pain medicine and interventional neuroradiology testified that based upon their review of the images from a spinal angiogram performed shortly after the injury occurred, the physician’s records identifying the medication administered was incorrect.
The plaintiff’s damages experts were specialists in neurology, psychiatry, life care planning, and forensic economics, who described the profound injuries suffered by the plaintiff and the economic and noneconomic harm caused by the medication error.
At the time of the medical malpractice incident, the plaintiff was the primary provider for his wife and two sons. He was an electrical mechanic at a local airport.
Lumbar interlaminar and transforaminal epidural injections are used in the treatment of lumbar radicular pain and other lumbar spinal pain syndromes. Complications from these procedures arise from needle placement and the administration of medication. Potential risks include infection, hematoma, intravascular injection of medication, direct nerve trauma, subdural injection of medication, air embolism, disc entry, urinary retention, radiation exposure, and hypersensitivity reactions.
Complications from lumbar epidural injections are extremely rare. Most if not all complications can be avoided by careful technique with accurate needle placement, sterile precautions, and a thorough understanding of the relevant anatomy and contrast patterns on fluoroscopic imaging.
The incidence of epidural hematoma is approximated to be less than 1 in 150,000 epidurals. The actual incidence of neurologic dysfunction resulting from hemorrhagic complications is unknown. Epidural hematomas can lead to compression of the spinal nerve or nerves causing irreversible damage.
Medication complications are rare with the drugs used in lumbar spinal injections. The most common local anesthetics used are lidocaine and bupivacaine. Their primary route of action is reversibly blocking the sodium channels in nerve and muscle membranes. Although very uncommon, physicians must be aware of possible allergy to local anesthetic or its preservative, which occurs within 2 hours after epidural injection but has been known to happen up to 6 hours later. Inadvertent intrathecal injection of local anesthetic can result in spinal anesthesia.
If you, a family member, or someone you know may have been injured due to a botched lumbar epidural injection in the United States, you should promptly contact a medical malpractice attorney in your state who may investigate your medical malpractice claim for you and represent you, your family member, or your friend in a medical negligence case, if appropriate.
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