The Tennessee Court of Appeals has denied former nurse RaDonda Vaught’s bid to have her licence reinstated, after her conviction in March 2022 of criminally negligent homicide and abuse of an impaired adult for a fatal medication error in December 2017.
At the time, Vaught was a nurse at in Nashville, reports Becker’s Clinical Review. Her error involved over-riding an electronic medical cabinet in which vecuronium, a powerful paralyser, was administered instead of the sedative Versed, leading to the death of patient Charlene Murphey (75).
Vaught faced up to eight years in prison but ultimately received three years of supervised probation in May 2022.
The state nursing board revoked her licence in July 2021, and while she appealed that decision, a judge upheld the revocation in November 2023.
The latest ruling from the appeals court affirms that decision.
The case drew national attention and ignited debate surrounding medical error reporting and patient safety culture. Several major healthcare groups warned that criminalising medical errors could discourage clinicians from self-reporting and undermine efforts to improve care quality.
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