A 42-year-old man presented to the ED with a cut to his left forearm from a piece of metal. The patient only complained of pain at the site of injury; he had no numbness or weakness of the left hand. The patient was otherwise in good health, was taking no medications, and was current with his tetanus immunization.
On physical examination, the patient’s vital signs were normal. The emergency physician (EP) documented a vertical laceration of the mid-left forearm on the dorsal aspect, measuring 6 x 2 cm. The wound edges could be easily approximated. The distal motor and sensory exams were normal.
The EP anesthetized the area with local infiltration using 1% plain xylocaine. The EP then picked up a bottle of CaviCide that had been sitting on the counter and sprayed it on the patient’s wound. The patient immediately complained of burning pain, but the EP continued to spray the wound before suturing it closed with 4.0 nylon.
The patient, however, stated the pain was unbearable. He showed the ED manager the bottle of CaviCide and asked if it was an appropriate sterilizing solution for wounds. When informed it was not, the patient demanded the sutures be removed and the wound re-opened and irrigated with an appropriate solution. The EP re-opened the wound, irrigated it with sterile normal saline, and closed it once again using 4.0 nylon. The EP apologized to the patient, admitted that he made a mistake, and discharged the patient home with instructions to have the sutures removed in 10 days.
The patient developed severe pain at the site a few hours later, prompting him to go to a different ED. They applied lidocaine gel to the area and recommended ibuprofen by mouth for pain. The patient was discharged home.
The patient sued the EP, the nurse, and the hospital for negligence. The plaintiff alleged that under no circumstances should CaviCide be used on humans. The plaintiff’s EM expert testified that the error represented gross negligence. The hospital admitted the nurse violated the standard of care for not properly storing the CaviCide. The EP expert for the defense argued the patient did not suffer any new injury or pain, and that his symptoms were due to the laceration. A second defense expert (toxicology) explained that CaviCide is not toxic and that it would only cause short-term irritation. The plaintiff’s counsel asked for $172,800 in damages, explaining that he was requesting $1 per second for the time the patient experienced intense pain. After deliberating for five hours, the jury found in favor of the defense.