The plaintiff’s decedent, was about sixteen years old and pregnant. When she went into labor she went to the defendant’s hospital and was diagnosed with a strep infection. This required her to receive a dose of an antibiotic to prevent it from being transmitted to the baby. The antibiotic was supposed to be administered through an intravenous line in the arm, but a hospital nurse mistakenly fed an epidural pain medication into the intravenous line. The decedent started convulsing and died.

An emergency cesarean section successfully delivered her baby boy. The plaintiff claimed that the pain medication had a hot pink label on it noting that it was not to be administered intravenously and also claimed that the nurse failed to use a computerized system which scans drug labels and gives a readout intended to prevent mistaken drug administration.

According to a report, a structured settlement with a present value of about $1.9 million was reached.

With permission from Medical Malpractice Verdicts, Settlements & Experts; Lewis Laska, Editor, 901 Church St., Nashville, TN 37203-3411, 1-800-298-6288.