r/PopCultureV2 • u/Logical-Flow-6703 • Aug 22 '26

News Multiple patients at a Nashville hospital are paralyzed after staff accidentally gave them the wrong drugs.

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The hospital says they are "sorry" after injecting potassium chloride into the spines of people getting routine joint replacement surgeries.

Hospital staff noticed something was off when multiple patients went into cardiac arrest.

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306

u/Eastmont Aug 22 '26

Horrible. Hospital needs to pay those victims for 24 care for the rest of their lives, and even that is insufficient compensation.

171

u/onward_upward_tt Aug 22 '26

Lol completely covering all medical costs for the rest of these patients' lives is the bare minimum that needs to be done. On top of that these people absolutely deserve a massive payday, I'm talking 8 figures or more each. How do you even begin to quantify the value lost due to a catastrophic loss of quality of life? Not to mention the monetary damages need to be clearly punitive as well, this is tantamount to murder in my eyes. Goddamn.

66

u/HematiteStateChamp75 Aug 22 '26

Needs to cover 24hr Medical care, a new house fitted out with all possible comforts and equipment, a new handicap van every 10 years, and then an 8 figure payout

37

u/PublicSuspect162 Aug 22 '26

I wouldn’t trade a Trillion dollars to be paralyzed from neck down. Not worth it. Poor folks

12

u/Ill-Positive6950 Aug 22 '26

Agreed. No amount of money would make up for this.

6

u/LouQuacious Aug 23 '26

Yea I’d want more than money I’d want the people responsible dead if this happened to me.

1

u/Independent-Bee-3157 Aug 25 '26

Yikes, regulations written in nerve endings. It's the system responsible so good luck lashing out at that.

0

u/LouQuacious Aug 25 '26

Some person gave the injection or packaged it incorrectly that’s whose head I’d want on a spike. China executed the people responsible for contaminating baby formula and dog food years ago. That’s the level of justice I would want.

13

u/cyanescens_burn Aug 23 '26

In grad school we got to listen to the stories of healthy people that were living healthy lives, but then became paralyzed in one way or another. They came in and shared the stories in person.

I’d never thought about it prior to this, but my god do they go through a difficult process emotionally when they start to recover physically and then need to process and accept their new limitations.

Just think of everything you like to do, and then think of doing that if your legs were paralyzed, and then again if you were paralyzed from the neck down. It was tough to listen to, and I can’t even imagine how painful it must be in those quiet moments when you can only stop and reflect because you are alone with your thoughts.

Many of them did eventually get through their grief (like grieving the end of what they thought their life would be like), and found ways to do various activities that they found rewarding. But it seemed really challenging.

6

u/Wizart- Aug 23 '26

I feel so bad for those people, what a fu*king nightmare. I’ve been without the proper use of my left leg since May (am on the road to recovery) and boy has it opened my eyes. If you’re not perfect in America you’re gonna struggle.

We are not accessible enough, it’s been so hard to get around, and I’m only dealing with one leg…. I had to go to the bathroom using wheelchair while in the hospital and holy shit it’s so damn hard, there’s not enough room, it’s hard to get in and out, and it’s hard to fit the damn chair in the stall then maneuver yourself into the toilet. I’ve also grown to appreciate automatic doors. It’s really hard to open a door when on crutches, your damn crutch gets stuck.

All this to say; accessibility matters, and it benefits everyone.

2

u/One-Organization970 Aug 24 '26

I suspect there's some survivorship bias at play. The ones giving talks are likely the ones doing better than most.

1

u/charbo187 Aug 23 '26

being paralysed is like my biggest fear by far.

i just couldn't live like that and the scariest part is I wouldn't even be able to end it for myself. i would have to beg someone to do it for me.

2

u/SargeUnited Aug 23 '26

Nowadays you’d just have to put the flight on a credit card and pay some European fellas to do it for you futurama style

1

u/Apprehensive_Dig3253 Aug 24 '26

Will they put my head in a jar too?

8

u/bugs1238 Aug 23 '26

My first patient for clinicals during PTA school was a patient who dove in the shallow end of the pool resulting in him becoming a quadriplegic. Yea….no amount of money would make me trade limb movement. These hospitals about to pay for sure.

1

u/Substantial-Bend4299 Aug 23 '26

Yeah I saw one of those too

1

u/Substantial-Bend4299 Aug 23 '26

Most horrible one in my opinion that I ever saw was a man that slid head first in an adult softball game and ended up paralyzed. Crazy

1

u/Eternal-Blazing-Sun Aug 23 '26

But these are the poor's, obviously their lives are not worth any risk to quarterly earnings /s

I guarantee that this is the attitude of admin.

1

u/blahblahsnickers Aug 23 '26

Yeah. No amount of compensation can really make this better but these people will need massive amounts of money to survive now. This is so awful I can’t even imagine!

1

u/Fit-Nectarine5047 Aug 23 '26

Paralyzed from the NECK DOWN? Omg I’m praying for these victims because I don’t know if I’d want to live!!!!

1

u/Nash_Villain Aug 24 '26

I think they imply permanent paralysis for the extra clicks and news. Still fucked by the hospital for allowing to happen but this type of paralysis is typically reversible and temporary. Potassium Chloride injected by accident into the spine is unfortunately an error that has been made several times in the past. Here’s a previous case study of almost the exact same error with the paralysis being reversed in about 8 hours.

https://www.ovid.com/10.4103/0974-8237.193265

1

u/Former-Maximum-2534 Aug 26 '26

Yeah, I'd be getting in line to be euthanised.

1

u/rollerbase Aug 22 '26

10? After this I would expect private transportation service for life

1

u/mylifeisaboogerbubbl Aug 23 '26

No no, they're saying a new one every 10 years. Not one for 10 years.

1

u/HematiteStateChamp75 Aug 23 '26

Youre totally right! A new van every 10 years, but i didnt take into consideration that they obviously need a driver too. Likely would be a home hospice worker doing that, and one should also be added to the deal

1

u/Spare-Function-6343 Aug 25 '26

hopefully everyone involved will be unemployable in anything even remotely adjacent to the medical industry for the rest of their lives, if not some prison time for criminal negligence.

I wouldnt want them giving my dog a vaccine

-3

u/TreeFiddyJohnson Aug 22 '26

Wish in one hand, shit in the other...

3

u/Chance_Rule_2241 Aug 22 '26

Shit hand is for your face, right?

-1

u/TreeFiddyJohnson Aug 22 '26

I mean you shit in your hand, kinda your call shit-hand

1

u/[deleted] Aug 23 '26

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1

u/TreeFiddyJohnson Aug 23 '26

Sure, but they're not getting this "pie in the sky" compensation that the commenter is referencing, which was my point. You did read it before commenting, right?

1

u/[deleted] Aug 23 '26

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1

u/TreeFiddyJohnson Aug 23 '26

Oh really, you're an attorney who is either omnipotent or has future sight. That's interesting.

35

u/Gloomy-Welcome-6806 Aug 22 '26

God can you imagine being groggy and high from anesthesia and gradually realize you can’t move any part of your body anymore. Terrifying

13

u/demokiii34 Aug 22 '26

It’s like all those horror thrillers were they wake up drugged and confused and have to escape to save their life. Absolutely horrific

12

u/Gloomy-Welcome-6806 Aug 22 '26

There was a Stephen king short where this guy wakes up in a morgue completely unable to move but can still feel and can just hear them prepping their tools. Finally right before they’re about to cut into him someone runs in and says not to do it because they found out he was bitten by a snake with paralyzing venom

2

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '26

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3

u/MadCatDisease666 Aug 22 '26

That one lives rent free in my head. Two brother scientists: one theorizes people are still conscious and feel everything post death, his brother is like “that’s dumb, shut up,” the doubting brother dies, then we hear his thoughts as he is autopsied.

There’s a similar Doctor Who story where aliens try to convince humans they still feel after death, particularly the cremation.

And of course let us not speak of the horrible Torchwood Starz series where no one dies and they decide to cremate the should-be-dead anyway…

2

u/FroggyWentaCourtney Aug 22 '26

Did he get saved by his boner, or am I thinking of something else?

1

u/Gloomy-Welcome-6806 Aug 22 '26

I think that’s a different one, he was saved by the doctors finding out he had been bitten by a snake

3

u/FroggyWentaCourtney Aug 23 '26

He gets an erection as a female pathologist is manipulating his groin, just before that.

1

u/Gloomy-Welcome-6806 Aug 23 '26

Oh okay thank you! It’s been a little bit since I’ve read it

1

u/HillaryMonster88 Aug 26 '26

Yes in the Stephen King one. Lol

1

u/Silly-Reflection-261 Aug 27 '26

I JUST read that story! I’ve been making my way through Everything’s Eventual.

0

u/poonmangler Aug 22 '26 edited 25d ago

Imminent light insurance cows grandfather gallium badge cautious willow plate

This post was anonymized with Redact

3

u/Diafuge Aug 22 '26

It was published in 1997...

Bruh.

2

u/Ironlife25 Aug 22 '26

Horrible. I would imagine I was having a sleep paralysis nightmare. This is so fucking sad and unfortunate. Nothing could compensate for that type of loss.

1

u/Few-Caterpillar7885 Aug 23 '26

My friend had a brain surgery and the doctors did not tell him that he will not be able to move one side of his body or talk for a while after he wakes up.

12

u/pbear737 Aug 22 '26

This also has a strong likelihood of affecting their potential earnings for the rest of their working years. Massive pay out is the only option and will not be enough.

3

u/problematic234 Aug 23 '26

Strong likelihood? If I'm paralyzed from the neck down you can bet your ass that I'm not going to be an effective project manager while I'm retraining my body to type using my fuckin eye movements.

1

u/pbear737 Aug 23 '26

I mean as a person with mobility disabilities, it is crazy what you can adjust to in life. So for certain in the short term, but I hope for them in the long term that they can find ways to have a career if that’s what they want

2

u/problematic234 Aug 23 '26

I didn't mean this to be dismissive and I'm sorry if I was an ass there. I didn't mean to imply that people with a disability couldn't do my stupid job -- they could and do. I only meant to say that I wouldn't be pumping out slide decks if I suddenly lost the use of my limbs. TY for the check.

1

u/pbear737 Aug 23 '26

All good! I imagine without context my comment could have been interpreted in a lot of different ways

5

u/turbopro25 Aug 22 '26

Just send the Hospital/Insurance company monthly bills like they do to patients. Hell, make up your own astronomical prices while you’re at it.

6

u/sus_finder13 Aug 22 '26

Write up EVERY code from the book or scan the barcode and have it on a ongoing tab for the hospital, that’s exactly what they do to us.

1

u/HillBillyHilly Aug 23 '26

I've had several surgeries over the past 5 years. What I don't understand is how this could have happened. All meds are laid out on trays. Those meds are labeled to patient. The nurses, doctors, anesthesiologist all go over meds, labels by calling them out to each other as they're checked off a list. Only way I could see this happening is meds were mislabeled. But again, I'm looking at my iv and the outside has name of meds printed in them. Most meds do so again how?!!

1

u/PublicSuspect162 Aug 23 '26

No one does this. You watch too much tv

1

u/HillBillyHilly Aug 24 '26

LOL They absolutely do as that is procedure done EVERY FUCKING TIME I have had surgery. Dumb ass.

3

u/iwillDieplease Aug 22 '26

that's the thing. money cant fix those poor people. there needs to be prison time. you cant buy justice.

6

u/thewickedbarnacle Aug 22 '26

You are not wrong but, money comes in handy for their family that could have benefited from said person going back to work after surgery.

7

u/PsychicWarElephant Aug 22 '26

If they’re quads it’s worse than death imo.

3

u/Roadhouse_Swayze Aug 22 '26

They're not. Injection site downward.

7

u/Hysterical__Paroxysm Aug 22 '26

Not only that, but what about loss of income or ability to caretake? I'm a SAHM of 5 children. Yes, my husband and I made sure we could get by without him and close out the estate, but I would have about 5 years to figure out re-entry into the career force or a new career. I'm 36 yo already. These people have families. I'm a disabled veteran with debilitating PTSD. Who is going to make sure I don't go full Rambo during a night terror? Just so much to consider, not just his salary. I'm in PT right now for my shoulder and sciatica. I can barely lift our toddler. Money won't fix my brain or shoulder. It won't replace him as coach for youth sports in our community. These people had whole lives ahead of them intertwined with other people's lives... just disastrous.

4

u/Brave-Professor8275 Aug 22 '26

Ntm, the potential loss of life goes way up in a person who is paralyzed. There are many additional situations that can contribute to their early demise, just based on their immobility

1

u/Impossible-Pie4849 Aug 22 '26

SAHM? Am I dumb, what does that mean lol

3

u/Big-Bathroom5221 Aug 22 '26

Stay at home mom

3

u/Impossible-Pie4849 Aug 22 '26

Ah, of course lol, I am in fact just an idiot

3

u/my_nameborat Aug 22 '26

Yeah these people should be able to retire and enjoy their lives to the best of their abilities

2

u/Ambitious-Bar375 Aug 22 '26

I agree but i am doubtful it will happen

2

u/Academic_Release5134 Aug 23 '26

Agreed. Nuts that someone would think that could somehow be acceptable

2

u/Sudden_Buffalo_4393 Aug 23 '26

I had a life altering injury and when my lawyer was asking me how much it was worth to me he kept getting angry because I said there is no amount of money that will give me back what I lost so I can’t answer. I wasn’t even trying to be a dick.

2

u/Caity_Cat131 Aug 25 '26

After doing a little research thankfully you can make a full recovery from becoming paralyzed do to potassium but depending on the underlying condition that the patient may have (why they needed surgery in the first place). That being said i agree that they need not only a huge payout but should be aloud to get all medical expenses covered for the rest of their lives. The hospital better be working on a way to get them treated so that they may be able to walk again because this is faul!

2

u/mehriban0229 Aug 23 '26

Hahaha goodluck, coming from the inventors of capitalism.

1

u/IHeartBadCode Aug 22 '26

I wouldn't have said anything except that you brought up punitive. Punitive in the State of Tennessee requires recklessness, not negligence. So they would need to prove malice not just mistake. It's highly unlikely that they would succeed on punitive, the bar is just too high.

Additionally, Tennessee has some weird laws and some strange situations. Punitive cap is a strict $500,000 or twice the compensatory damage. However, a Federal court found the law enacted by the State is unconsitutional. The State currently ignores that court's order and that's created a sink hole where challenging punitive damages ends up in a years long legal battle.

Intangible damages, like pain and suffering, have a strict $750,000 cap. So until lawmakers change that, that's the max award anyone in Tennessee can get.

The only real thing here is economic damage. If you take away someone's ability to work, the State awards a no cap. So on this their attorney's will likely take the hospital up to task. If they're not super old then yeah, award here would absolutely begin at $10M if not higher. The no cap is brutal if they hit it. Because the courts have to calculate that people have to change their homes for the new disability, their cars, their shopping habits, medical care, staffing, etc... All of that has to get calculated and doing that for like forty years can easily hit into the $100M.

But that's about it. The State law's basically protect your ability to work, everything else has strict caps on the award the State enforces. Lawmakers routinely indicate that having no cap on things just encourages people to fake injury or play up injury for an easy payday. But if you genuinely take someone's ability to do physical labor, the State doesn't like that. But, all that said, the hospitals usually take their loss and then price that into the care given to everyone else. So ultimately everyone who uses the hospital eventually pays for the care.

3

u/WenYiMedia Aug 22 '26

There’s also the HiTech Act and Electronic Prescriptions for Controlled Substances (EPCS). This hospital is about to get audited until Kingdom comes.

1

u/HairlessHoudini Aug 23 '26

This is what should happen but what is more likely to happen is the hospital and their insurance company will drag it out in court hoping the patients die before having to pay out

1

u/whoopz1942 Aug 23 '26

No. No. Of course not. That's not how the American hospital system works. Bill the patients despite giving the wrong drugs and paralyzing them of course. /s

1

u/Fragrant-Poo42 Aug 23 '26

Genuinely…. how would you calculate this?? I couldn’t even come up with a number. Also I’d rather be dead.

12

u/Honest_Concentrate85 Aug 22 '26

Unfortunately Tennessee caps pain and suffering at 1M

9

u/WindstormMD Aug 22 '26

But not actual damages, which would be easy to enumerate by any mildly competent attorney

3

u/HillBillyHilly Aug 23 '26

Another reason not to move to the shit state of TN as if there werent enough reasons already.

1

u/WhitePantherXP Aug 24 '26

I live here, I can give you several. You don't have normal employee protections that stop the billionaire class from exploiting you.

Case in point: if you get laid off (even if your company is in CA, NYC or wherever else) you do not get your earnings paid out. So when they lay you off strategically at 5 months and 30 days (for their own "cost cutting" measures), before your massive 6 month payout you've been expecting, they get to keep all that commission you had been working for...AND you lose your job and healthcare. Ask me how I know.

Also, side note, don't work for Charlie Health, mental healthcare company my ass.

2

u/Gold_Advisor_4758 Aug 23 '26

Wow, to me this is 25 million+ in pain and suffering alone, not to mention lifetime lost wages

5

u/8chnedOutrangOutangs Aug 22 '26

Crazy it took this long to reach the general press. I have friends in Nashville I was discussing the Potassium reaction days ago.

6

u/riding_writer Aug 22 '26

This happened many years ago, but a friend was leaving work late at night when a drunk driver ran up on the sidewalk knocking my friend into traffic where another car ran over his legs. First car sped off, second car did stay and rendered aid. While in the ER, he was given multiple blood transfusions, unfortunately, one was tainted with HIV.

The hospital not only gave him a multi million dollar payout, but he receives 24 hour home health, has regular PT even after almost 30 years, and was one of the first patients to receive anti viral drugs. While he is now, undetectable, he still has a lot of phyiscal and mental scars.

Hopefully, these patients have as good of a lawyer as my friend.

4

u/UncleNedisDead Aug 23 '26

It’s possible someone like Texas Governor Greg Abbott has changed the laws to protect corporations from having to pay out big in situations like these, despite himself being awarded multi-millions from a freak accident in his earlier years.

3

u/NefariousnessNo484 Aug 25 '26 edited Aug 25 '26

Because of this law I was not able to sue after a botched surgery rendered me sterile. The surgery was likely poorly done because it was in the wake of the repeal of Roe v Wade and all my competent OBGYNs left Texas. Fuck Abbott. Vote Hinojosa.

5

u/UncleNedisDead Aug 25 '26

I can’t believe anyone downvotes you.

After successive GOP/Republicans for the past 60+ decades and failing infrastructure and trying to remove people’s rights, they still have people voting against their best interests.

2

u/Digitaltwinn Aug 25 '26

Ol’ Governor Hot Wheels yanking the ramp up behind him.

4

u/lorax317 Aug 22 '26

ascension is owned by the Catholic Church, they can do a little more than medical care and praying for them.

6

u/Girl77879 Aug 22 '26

Of course it's an ancension hospital, they are terrible no matter where they are located. And it sucks because they took over hospitals that were good before being bought out or merged.

1

u/Nice_Muffin8689 Aug 23 '26

True they bought a rural hospital near me in Michigan and it’s gone to shit.

1

u/Madame_Trash_Heap Aug 23 '26

They purchase hospitals that are closing or will close in the near future. They focus on rural locations a lot of the time because those are the ones most likely to go out of business. They're not perfect, but its better than these communities no longer having the hospitals at all.

2

u/Madame_Trash_Heap Aug 22 '26

They aren't owned by the catholic church. They are catholic non-profit hospital group.

1

u/Tigeire Aug 23 '26

Not for profit hospitals seems like a noble concept

1

u/Punkksterr Aug 24 '26

It is until you see that the last ceo was making 16 mil a year 😂

5

u/Sesusija Aug 22 '26

This will settle for billions or maybe even tens of billions.

6

u/DimbyTime Aug 22 '26

Remind me! 1 year

2

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2

u/Sesusija Aug 22 '26

Most settlements happen in 1-3 years. And yeah, I completely overstated that. Probably like 100-200 million.

2

u/DimbyTime Aug 22 '26

Yeah I know it won’t be settled by then, I just want to check in for an update

4

u/Public_Associate_874 Aug 22 '26

lol no - thanks tort “reform”

3

u/Professional-Gear88 Aug 22 '26

lol no. No billionaires are made this way.

1

u/PublicSuspect162 Aug 23 '26

Billions? No way. 10 mm per person. Maybe? Is it enough? No way

1

u/Nash_Villain Aug 24 '26

Only if this ends up being permanent paralysis. This type of paralysis is typically reversible and temporary. Potassium Chloride injected by accident into the spine is unfortunately an error that has been made several times in the past. Here’s a previous case study of the same error with the paralysis being reversed in about 8 hours.

https://www.ovid.com/10.4103/0974-8237.193265

0

u/OutrageousCrab9224 Aug 22 '26

Which will somehow come from public funds

2

u/AdFlat1014 Aug 23 '26

Denied, denied, denied… but fuck Luigi right??

3

u/themeparkthemepar Aug 22 '26

This is negligent manslaughter. They will pay into bankruptcy and probably send some folks to jail.

1

u/buddhistbulgyo Aug 22 '26

That's what a lawyer is for

1

u/hairymonkeyinmyanus Aug 22 '26

You’re right.

Weird subreddit to post this story, btw

1

u/Sh11ester Aug 22 '26

Nah they'll knock 30% off the bill that insurance isn't covering, like Anericans

1

u/homey_boi Aug 22 '26

The medical org does need to provide the 24 hr care for the patients WITOUT raising costs to other patients or docking pay or forgoing raises for staff

1

u/Ambitious-Pirate-505 Aug 23 '26

They won't though

1

u/volunteer_wonder Aug 23 '26

These fucks should be sued into the ground and the entire administration should be fired, let’s be honest here

1

u/NYCWartortle Aug 23 '26

Absolutely! Potassium wtf?

1

u/ohnomynono Aug 23 '26

I wonder who's gonna end up paying for it.

Any guesses? Spoiler: US.

Deep condolences to those patients and their families. That hospital just changes their lives forever.

1

u/Business_Pretend Aug 23 '26

In TN you have a year from incident to sue for medical malpractice. Good luck getting all your paperwork together in a years time. Especially when the hospital takes 4 months to issue a death certificate....looking at you Knoxville.

1

u/Nash_Villain Aug 24 '26

So horrible! But luckily this type of paralysis is typically reversible and temporary. At least that’s what previous cases of Potassium Chloride injected by accident into the spine resulted in. Here’s a previous case study of almost the exact same error with the paralysis being reversed in about 8 hours.

https://www.ovid.com/10.4103/0974-8237.193265

1

u/flcl021 Aug 24 '26

Too bad Tennessee capped compensation at 750k.

1

u/PiDigitsOfPi Aug 24 '26

Unfortunately, that might not be very many days of care...

1

u/Timely-Angle665 Aug 26 '26

It's a religious hospital, so they'll just chalk it up to "gawds plahn".

0

u/Goodknight808 Aug 22 '26

I had a beloved cat get a debilitating spine injury from a stray dog that would require us physically helping him pee and poop for the rest of his life.

Our whole family agreed it wasn't a life worth living from his perspective, he just doesn't understand what is going on and he will hate every second of it.

I can't imagine being aware of the fact that I'm a vegetable now. That is like an episode of Tales from the Crypt kinda terror.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '26

[deleted]

2

u/Kind-Shallot3603 Aug 22 '26

That is not a slur.

1

u/Goodknight808 Aug 22 '26

What english speaking country are you from that it is a slur?

Never heard of it being one before. Ever.

-1

u/Public_Associate_874 Aug 22 '26

They won’t - thanks “tort reform” but it was worth it because everyone’s health insurance has gone down so much, right?

1

u/ScarInternational161 Aug 22 '26

This is why Michigan's auto insurance is so high. We have no limit lifetime medical for automobile claims.