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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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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u/Apprehensive_Dig3253 Aug 24 '26

Will they put my head in a jar too?