inadvertent arterial cannulation

Diana Levine was inadvertently administered Phenergan into an artery. Within weeks, doctors amputated her forearm and hand. The drug label had warned that hitting an artery could cause irreversible damage, but it did not specifically direct physicians to avoid delivering the drug with intravenous push injection — rather than free-flowing IV infusion.

Levine sued, charging that, because the pharmaceutical company had known for decades that using IV push to inject Phenergan directly into a vein creates avoidable risk, it should have added specific instructions on its label barring the practice.

The court awarded Levine $6.8 million. However, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear an appeal on Nov. 3 2008.

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