Routine Knee Surgery Ends in Paralysis After Potassium Mix-Up at Nashville Hospital

2026-08-20

What Was Supposed to Be a Straightforward Procedure

Glenda Dorton, a 72-year-old woman from Centerville, Tennessee, went into Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital Midtown in Nashville on Friday, August 14, for what her family describes as a routine knee replacement surgery. Before the procedure began, she was scheduled to receive a standard epidural using the anesthetic bupivacaine to manage pain during the operation. Instead, according to her family, she was given potassium chloride.

Her daughter-in-law, Kristina Dorton, described the substitution plainly: "Instead of the anesthetic that was going into her spine for that epidural procedure, before the surgery even started, it was potassium." Potassium chloride is normally used in medical settings only in carefully controlled, slow-drip doses to help regulate heart rhythm, and it has also historically been used as part of Tennessee's lethal injection protocol when administered in different circumstances, underscoring just how dangerous the substance can be if given incorrectly.

The Knee Surgery Went Fine. Everything Else Didn't.

Despite the medication error, Dorton's knee replacement surgery proceeded and initially appeared successful. It was only when she woke up in recovery that the extent of the problem became clear: she could not move or feel anything from her sternum down. As Kristina Dorton put it, "The joint replacement went wonderful. Her knee is great. The rest of her is not."

Dorton was rushed to Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital West, where doctors placed her on a ventilator and drained spinal fluid in an effort to clear excess potassium from her system, alongside administering high-dose steroids in hopes of reversing the damage. The ventilator was removed the following day, August 15, but she remained unable to move or feel anything from her rib cage down. On August 18, the family says they were told Dorton has T6 paralysis, meaning damage at the sixth thoracic vertebra level of her spine, and she currently has zero feeling, movement, or response to pain from her breastbone down.

Not an Isolated Incident

Dorton is one of at least four patients affected by what the hospital has described only as an "event" during joint replacement surgeries that Friday. Ascension Saint Thomas has not publicly detailed the specific circumstances involving the other three patients, citing patient privacy, and it remains unclear whether all four received the same medication error or suffered comparable harm.

The Hospital's Response

Dr. Shubhada Jagasia, President and CEO of Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital Midtown, issued a statement expressing regret over the incident. "On behalf of our leadership and care teams, I am deeply sorry for the harm caused to our patients," Jagasia said, adding that hospital leadership had met directly with each affected family, connected them with spiritual care teams, and worked to ensure access to appropriate resources and ongoing care. The hospital says it has since implemented enhanced safety protocols in the wake of the incident, though it has not publicly confirmed how or why the medication mix-up occurred. State regulators in Tennessee have launched an investigation into the incident.

What Medical Experts Say Should Have Prevented This

Dr. Matthew Byrnes, a surgeon at Catalina Island Health in California who was asked to weigh in on the case, noted that hospitals rely on standard protocols specifically designed to prevent this kind of error, including labeling every medication clearly before surgery begins. He explained that without proper labeling, most medications are visually indistinguishable, many simply look like water, some have a milky appearance, and a few carry a slight yellow tint, meaning visual inspection alone isn't a reliable safeguard. "You have to look at the details closely and look at what you're infusing before you put it in," Byrnes said. "The last person standing has the ultimate responsibility."

A Family Focused on What Comes Next

Dorton's family describes her as someone who had been active and fit, and who had actually put off the knee surgery for some time specifically because she didn't want the downtime recovery would require. Her husband of more than 50 years, Marvin Dorton, has remained at her bedside throughout her hospitalization. Despite what happened, the family says they are not looking to place blame publicly for its own sake, their immediate focus remains on her medical recovery and determining whether any of the paralysis can be reversed, though treatments attempted so far have not restored function. The family has also begun consulting with legal counsel as they navigate next steps.

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