A Nashville woman has filed a $150 million lawsuit against Ascension Saint Thomas Midtown, claiming hospital staff injected the wrong drug into her spinal canal during knee replacement surgery, leaving her unable to walk.
Linda Gilbert, who was 78 at the time, alleges in the Nov. 6 complaint that the error caused a permanent spinal cord injury. She is seeking $50 million in compensatory damages and $100 million in punitive damages.
According to the filing, provided to Fox News Digital by Gilbert’s attorney, she suffered severe damage to her spinal cord and nerves, resulting in incomplete paraplegia, significant weakness in both legs, and the loss of her ability to walk, drive or live on her own. The lawsuit also states Gilbert went into shock and suffered respiratory failure that required a ventilator.
Gilbert was still undergoing inpatient treatment at a spinal cord injury rehabilitation center in Atlanta when the lawsuit was filed, the complaint says.
The hospital system disclosed in an Aug. 21 statement that four surgery patients, including Gilbert, received potassium phosphate instead of the anesthetic mepivacaine during procedures on Aug. 14. Gilbert’s lawsuit alleges staff kept using syringes from the same batch of the drug even after two earlier patients complained of burning pain, and it points to broader failures in how the medication was prepared and verified, as well as delays in treating the mistake.
Potassium phosphate is typically used to treat low phosphorus levels or as part of intravenous nutrition, and its prescribing information requires that it be diluted and given through a vein, according to the National Institutes of Health’s DailyMed database. The label warns that excessive doses or rapid intravenous administration can cause dangerous heart rhythms, cardiac arrest, seizures or death — warnings that apply to intravenous use, not the spinal injection described in Gilbert’s lawsuit.
Ascension Saint Thomas told local NBC affiliate WSMV on Nov. 9 that it was aware of the lawsuit and cooperating with the legal process, but could not discuss further details while the case is ongoing.
“Our hearts remain with the four patients and families impacted by the recent medication error that occurred at Ascension Saint Thomas Midtown,” the hospital said in a Sept. 11 statement.
In a follow-up update on Sept. 16, the hospital said it was working with an independent quality consultant to “guide and verify the full scope of our corrective actions and process enhancements,” and said it remained “committed to learning from this and upholding the standards of patient safety, quality, and compassionate care.”
Roughly 790,000 total knee replacements are performed in the United States each year, according to the American College of Rheumatology, and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons says only about 2% of patients experience serious complications. Medication safety guidelines stress the need for clear drug labeling and careful verification before any medication is administered.
