Tennessean health reporter Beth Warren will join a panel discussing current health news, including a Nashville pharmacy error that paralyzed at least two patients, live Sept. 3 on WPLN radio show This is Nashville.
The show, hosted by Blake Farmer, will delve into current events, including measles and Cyclosporaoutbreaks and vaccine skepticismas well as the ongoing investigation into the Ascension Saint Thomas Midtown pharmacy error Aug. 14.
It will air live on 90.3 and stream live on WPLN.org at noon Sept. 3, re-airing at 7 p.m. Then, it will be available on a WPLN web post and on the This is Nashville podcast.
The Tennessean has reported on the incident in which Glenda Dorton, 72, a passionate gardener, was paralyzed during a knee replacement
surgery. Three other patients were paralyzed or had severe neurological damage. A report released by the Department of Health and Human Services found that the hospital's pharmacy mislabeled syringes of medication, with medical staff mistakenly injecting potassium phosphate into spinal fluid during anesthesia procedures. The four patients should have been given mepivacaine, a local anesthetic.
The other three patients suffered paralysis or severe neurological impacts, according to the report. State officials found that while compounding drugs in the hospital's pharmacy on Aug. 13, staff mistakenly selected the wrong drug and the pharmaceutical services department failed to ensure medications intended for the spinal canal were properly checked for potential errors.
Pharmacy technicians were allowed to override the hospital's medication management technology by manually entering their own data about the drugs, preventing discovery of the error before the drug was administered to four patients, the report found.
Hospital officials have declined to answer questions from The Tennessean but issued statements, including one after the state report that read in part: "upon identifying the medication error August 14, hospital leadership self-reported the event to regulators and implemented several changes to our pharmacy processes and safety protocols.
"We take the survey findings extremely seriously and are continuing to cooperate with state and federal surveyors to ensure a safe environment for our patients."
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Health reporter Beth Warren to appear on This Is Nashville Sept. 3
