The plaintiff, age forty-six at the time, was undergoing treatment in the summer of 2001 for chronic pain due to a previous accident. The treatment included surgical implantation of an internal Medtronic pump for the administration of anesthetic medications.

After the implantation of the pump the plaintiff would require home visits by nurses to empty the pump reservoir and refill it with a new supply of pain medication.

Company B for the servicing of the plaintiff’s pump.

In early September 2003 two nurses arrived at the plaintiff’s home to service the pump.

The first step was to insert a needle into the plaintiff’s abdomen to withdraw from the pump reservoir whatever medication remained. When this was done at this visit, nothing was withdrawn and the nurse felt that the reservoir was empty.

The plaintiff felt that this was incorrect, as the pump alarm had not gone off and she was also not experiencing withdrawal symptoms which would be expected if the pump was empty.

The nurse, however, just simply began refilling the pump. As the nurse began this, the plaintiff began to feel an intense burning sensation and asked the nurse to stop.

The nurse complied with this request, but then inserted a fresh needle and resumed the injection. There was no burning at this time and the nurse injected the entire supply, which was intended to last the plaintiff a couple of months. Upon completion of the injection, however, the plaintiff began to feel extremely hot.

The plaintiff then determined that the initial insertion of the needle had missed the pump reservoir and had allowed the first dose of the drugs to be injected directly into her body, which had numbed the injection site and prevented her from feeling the first effects of the much larger second injection.

The plaintiff then began to experience a severe itching sensation and she began to panic at the realization that she had received a massive injection of drugs outside the pump.

The plaintiff frantically asked that an ambulance be called, but the nurse refused to do so until she conferred with her supervisor.

After the call to the supervisor the nurse wanted to try inserting a needle again to see if she could withdraw some of the drug from the pump reservoir, but the attempt came up empty.

The plaintiff told the nurse she had missed the pump. When the needle was pulled out, it was bent in an “L” shape.

The nurse then admitted that she might have overdosed the plaintiff and an ambulance was called.

The plaintiff became hysterical in her struggle to remain conscious during the transport to a hospital, as she feared that she would die and never wake up. The plaintiff, however, did lose consciousness during the trip, but regained consciousness later that evening after receiving treatment. She was discharged home the next day.

The plaintiff initially made claims against several defendants, but Home Care Facility A settled for an undisclosed amount, and others were dismissed, leaving only Home Care Company B as defendant.

The plaintiff claimed that Home Care Company B was responsible for the negligent acts of the nurse in failing to service the pump properly.

According to Jury Verdict Reporter a $6,000 verdict was returned.

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