IV Phenergan for nausea. Seems pretty routine, but not in this case:

Jill Whitney, a Grays Harbor College freshman, says she went to the emergency room at the Aberdeen hospital on June 10 with flu-like symptoms. According to the suit, an anti-nausea medication called Phenergan was administered improperly and Whitney ended up losing a thumb, an index finger and the top of a middle finger.

Comments

Anonymous
I thought you should not use phenergan IV. I know it is done in ER but it is not an approved use.
Suing the manufacturer is BS, there is plenty of warning and they recommend IM use, not IV. But we know that lawyers are full of BS so it’s not surprising.
Anonymous
I have used IV phenergan many times every day for 15 years. Droperidol has been taken away. Compazine can’t be found. Take phenergan away and I guess you will just have to suffer and puke your guts out.
Anonymous
When I was working in the ER, I was giving IV Phenergan on a daily basis. When I opened an Urgent Care Clinic, I began seeing a lot of patients who were given IV Phenergan a few days earlier and were presenting with supeficial thrombophlebitis of the extremity where the Phenergan was given. So I decided to just give it IM and on peds to try Phenergan gel first.
Anonymous
“Take phenergan away and I guess you will just have to suffer and puke your guts out.”
There’s Metoclopramide. And since cost is never a concern in the ER, there’s Zofran or Kytril. And if all else fail, have them smoke pot.
Anonymous
How the hell is the pharma company at fault here?
the only mistake here was that the NURSE inserted the IV wrong.
So if anybody’s getting sued, it should be the nurse.
But of course thats not what happens. They went after the hospital, 3 doctors, and the pharma company all of which had ZERO direct involvement in this case.
Anonymous
I smoked weed for my nausea. I had a REALLY BAD TRIP. Now I’m suing my Dealer. I’m also suing Roger Waters, David Gilmour and Nick Mason.
Greg P
One of my patients was given IV Phenergan in the hospital for nausea and proceeded to have a generalized seizure so violent she fractured both humerus bones. She had no prior history of seizures.
Anonymous
“They went after the hospital, 3 doctors, and the pharma company all of which had ZERO direct involvement in this case.”
So who employed the people who administered it, who ordered it be given, and who made it?
Anonymous
The nurse was clearly at fault ,just as in the VT case. But,how is Wyeth at fault? If my oil delivery man puts gas in my oil tank and my house burns down,do I get to sue Exonn?
The end of the article talks about getting phenergan off the market.Obviously any drug mistakenly given intrarterially would cause the same problem.
Again the problem was a nurse who couldn’t tell the difference between placing an iv and an intraarterial line,and then ignored the patients complaints.It was the same in the Vt case but the lawyers convinced a jury that Wyeth should give the defendant millions after the nurse and hospital had already settled. I hesitate to even mention the judge,who should have had the wisdom and guts to throw the out of court.
Anonymous
The nurse can’t be at fault. She makes only 50k a year, not enough for a lawyer to go after. Everyone knows every doctor is rich. CJD says so. Wyeth is of course rich and evil. But of course it is “never about the money”
Anonymous
Why do you have to lie? I’ve never said all doctors were rich. At most, I’ve cited you to US Dept. of Labor statistics which put the average physician salary at $150,000.
And again, the hospital would be liable under the theory of respondeat superior. But you knew that, because you know so much about law and insurance.
Seriously, you should stop lying. It only demeans you.
Anonymous
My niece is the one who lost her digits. It’s real and someone is responsible.
Anonymous
Sure but is it the manufactorer?
j hatfield, ed rn
i give phenergan iv every night, most shifts i give it several times. i’ve never had a problem. from what i saw in the article, the nurse is probably responsible, all good nurses know to listen to what your patient is telling you. the doctor probably saw the pt once and wouldn’t have checked the iv for placement. if the nurse is smart, she is carrying her own liability insurance to pay up when blame is shifted her way. and if that lawyer knew how bad phenergan im burns, he wouldn’t be trying to get iv restrictions on it.
Anonymous
hospitals have guidelines for adninistering drugs to patients that require double-checking of pharmaceutical preparations and administration routes etc. The hospital is responsible for writing these guidelines, informing their staff about them and updating them on a regular basis. Its always easy to blame the last person in a long chain of events, but that’s not really how mistakes happen. Medical care is teamwork, and do you really think that hospital will operate perfectly if that one nurse gets sued and fired? I don’t think so. Try reading anything written about error and medicine-particularyl by the Harvard medical practice group.
Anonymous
iwoifducI received IV phenergan in June 2005, as a Crohns pt….the nurses ignored my complaints and I wanted to go home before 48 hours rolled around. I have been left with tissue damage, nerve damage not just in one arm and hand…but both. I have not been able to work because of this incident since that time. I work as a surgical technologist… and have had clots in veins,that developed new collaterals. The veins are so large and superficial on the inside of my wrist that my right hand swells if any of the veins are restricted….like gown and gloves…plus I have lost tactile senses and I can’t handle small instuments anymore…..like in micro-neuro surgery. So the I am for some type of restriction….but who can tell me…do you give IV doses, when a IV pump is in use???? Any answers?
Anonymous
A nurse didn’t give the injection. It was a Physician Assistant.
They used a 50mg/ml concentration dose with is not supposed to be given IV.(Says so on the label)
Also, the gave it direct IV push.(from reading it sounded like they injected it directly, without an IV)
As a nurse I have administered Phenergan IV HUNDREDS of times.
But I read the label and did it correctly.

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