Nashville Hospital Pharmacy Injected Potassium Instead of Anesthetic, Paralyzing At Least Two Patients

Four patients went in for routine, outpatient knee replacements at Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital Midtown in Nashville on Friday, August 14. Instead of the local anesthetic bupivacaine, they got spinal injections of potassium phosphate, according to the hospital and multiple local outlets including WKRN and WSMV.

At least two patients are now paralyzed. One remains on a ventilator. All four suffered what the hospital calls "adverse health reactions," including cardiac complications, according to CBS News and RedState.

Potassium is an essential mineral. Your heart and nerves need it. But injected directly into spinal fluid in the wrong amount, it's a different story. High-dose potassium chloride is what's used in lethal injection executions. Medical malpractice attorney Clint Kelly, who isn't representing any of the patients, told CBS Mornings it's one of the worst cases he's ever heard of. "Just think of like, battery acid, going into the most tender nerves in your body," Kelly said.

The Victim's Family Speaks

One of the four is Glenda Dorton, 72, of Centerville, Tennessee. She went in for a knee replacement. The surgery itself worked fine.

"The joint replacement went wonderful," her daughter-in-law, Kristina Dorton, told WKRN-TV. "Her knee is great. The rest of her is not."

Dorton has no feeling from her breastbone down. She was rushed to a second Ascension facility, Ascension Saint Thomas West, where doctors drained her spinal fluid and put her on a ventilator, according to Insurance Journal and the New Zealand Yahoo News report citing News Channel 5 Investigates.

"We don't know what recovery looks like or if there is recovery," Kristina Dorton said. "This is life-changing. You don't come out of this without some type of life-altering, catastrophic deficit."

The family's attorney, Mark Walwyn, told CBS News that Dorton's prognosis is "unclear but dire" and that she's facing "a long and uncertain recovery." Kristina Dorton told The Tennessean the family isn't trying to "ruin somebody's life" over this. They just want it to never happen again.

What the Hospital Says

Ascension Saint Thomas self-reported the error to state regulators the day it happened, according to hospital CEO Dr. Shubhada Jagasia. The hospital's own review traced the mistake to its pharmacy, not the surgical or anesthesia teams, according to Dorton's family and Insurance Journal's reporting on the hospital's internal investigation.

"On behalf of our leadership and care teams, I am deeply sorry for the harm caused to our patients," Jagasia said in a statement provided to WSMV. "We identified the cause and have implemented corrective safeguards."

Jagasia has not said publicly what actually caused syringes meant to hold bupivacaine to instead contain potassium phosphate, nor detailed what the "corrective safeguards" are. The hospital also has not confirmed the specific conditions of the other three patients beyond saying they received immediate medical care, and it says its review has found no evidence any additional patients were affected.

Investigation Now Underway

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation confirmed to Fox News Digital it opened an investigation after the Tennessee Healthcare Facilities Commission flagged the incident. As of this reporting, no charges have been filed and no individual has been named as responsible. This is a state investigation into how the error occurred, not a criminal case, unless and until Tennessee authorities say otherwise.

Hospitals are required by law to notify state regulators quickly after events like this, which is what triggered the state's involvement here.

What's Actually in Dispute

The basic facts are not seriously contested: four patients, one pharmacy error, potassium instead of an anesthetic, at least two people paralyzed. Where the record gets thin is on mechanism. Nobody, including the hospital, has explained how a spinal-injection syringe ended up filled with a heart-stopping electrolyte instead of a numbing agent. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is presumably trying to answer that question. The answer determines whether this was a labeling failure, a compounding error, a storage mix-up, or something else in the pharmacy's chain of custody.

Coverage across outlets was largely consistent. Fox News, RedState, CBS News, and the Yahoo News piece citing News Channel 5 Investigates all track the same core facts. RedState's framing leaned harder into outrage with phrases like calling the hospital's apology a "whoops," while CBS News stuck closer to a straight incident report and got the additional detail from malpractice attorney Clint Kelly comparing the injury to battery acid.

No lawsuit has been filed as of this reporting, though Dorton's family has retained an attorney and is "consulting with legal counsel," according to the Yahoo News report. The open question is whether Tennessee investigators find a systemic pharmacy failure at Ascension Saint Thomas Midtown, or an isolated mistake by an individual staffer, and whether either finding leads to license action against the hospital or its pharmacy.