Inset: Linda Gilbert (WZTV). Background: Linda Gilbert says a medication error at Ascension Saint Thomas Midtown in Nashville, Tenn., led to a severe spinal cord injury that's left her without the ability to use her legs (WSMV/YouTube).
A Tennessee woman went to the hospital for a routine knee replacement and left with a severe spinal cord injury, unable to "feel or move her legs" due to a medication mix-up involving a local anesthetic, a lawsuit says.
"Why can't I move my legs?" Linda Gilbert, 78, allegedly asked hospital staff at Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital West in Nashville after being transferred there.
Gilbert had a concentrated dose of potassium phosphate injected into her spine by medical staff at Ascension Saint Thomas Midtown instead of the local anesthetic she had consented to receive, according to a civil complaint filed by Gilbert in Davidson County Circuit Court.
She now has "paraplegia of her lower extremities" and has been "unable to feel or move her legs since the surgery," the complaint says.
"As a direct, proximate, and legal result of the battery committed upon her, Ms. Gilbert suffered a severe injury to her spinal cord, nerve roots, and central nervous system, resulting in incomplete paraplegia, loss of trunk control, urinary retention requiring catheterization, the loss of her ability to walk, drive, and live independently, severe physical pain, and severe emotional distress, together with the other injuries and damages," the complaint alleges.
Gilbert is seeking $50 million in compensatory damages and another $100 million in punitive damages from Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital West and entities operating as Ascension Saint Thomas Midtown, where the alleged medication mix-up happened on Aug. 14, 2026.
Gilbert arrived at Saint Thomas Midtown in Nashville for a scheduled knee replacement that day and agreed to spinal anesthesia using mepivacaine, a local anesthetic, the complaint says. She did not consent, according to the complaint, to having concentrated potassium phosphate injected into her spinal canal.
"A hospital pharmacy technician ("Pharmacy Technician #1″) scanned and photographed a vial of Mepivacaine 2%, determined that an additional vial was needed, returned to the medication storage area, and retrieved a vial of potassium phosphate from a different bin," the complaint says.
"When the potassium phosphate vial would not scan, Pharmacy Technician #1 did not stop and investigate. Instead, Pharmacy Technician #1 placed the Mepivacaine 2% vial into the bin containing the potassium phosphate vials, retrieved a second vial of potassium phosphate, and manually entered the vial information into the pharmacy software, omitting the NDC and manufacturer name," according to the complaint. "Pharmacy Technician #1 then sent two vials of potassium phosphate, five syringes, and six labels reading "Mepivacaine 2%" to the IV room for compounding."
The error allegedly went unnoticed as the syringes moved through the pharmacy. One technician drew potassium phosphate into syringes and attached labels identifying the contents as mepivacaine. A second technician, who had reportedly never prepared mepivacaine and was still in an extended probationary period because of performance concerns, allegedly failed to recognize the mistake.
A pharmacist then approved the syringes without physically comparing them to the source vials, according to the complaint.
When Gilbert was injected by the anesthesiologist, she immediately reported pain shooting down her right leg, the complaint says — and she was allegedly not the first patient to do so: Two others who received medication from the same batch had complained of unexpected burning pain, according to the complaint. Hospital personnel allegedly continued using the syringes without quarantining them or investigating what they contained.
Rather than stopping to determine what had caused the reaction, hospital staff allegedly proceeded with general anesthesia and the knee replacement. Gilbert's surgery concluded, and then her condition allegedly deteriorated.
Gilbert was transferred to another facility in critical condition. She required inpatient rehabilitation and was transferred again to a medical center in Atlanta, where she currently remains, according to the complaint.
Ascension Saint Thomas was cited in an August report from the Tennessee Health Facilities Commission, which found that at least four patients suffered injuries after being given the wrong medication during surgical procedures. Hospital officials publicly confirmed the medication error occurred in the pharmacy.
"All four patients required transfer to a higher level of care," the HFC report said. "At the time of survey exit on Aug. 21, one patient remained on extra corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) (life support for heart and lungs), and three patients continued to experience significant lower-extremity neurologic impairment, including paralysis and loss of sensation extending from approximately the mid-abdominal region downward."
The report added, "The medication-preparation error had not been identified during the medication preparation, verification, and dispensing process despite the direct involvement of three pharmacy technicians and one pharmacist."
Ascension Saint Thomas responded to Gilbert's lawsuit in a statement to local media outlets: "Ascension Saint Thomas is aware of the complaint that was filed and is cooperating with the legal process. Our sympathy and concern remain with the affected patients and their families. As this is an ongoing legal matter, we are unable to share additional details at this time."
Gilbert is seeking a jury trial.
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