An Independence woman is suing an Overland Park hospital, alleging her newborn baby died while she was in labor at the hospital after an anesthesiologist administered the wrong drug.
Crystal Cole, 38, of Independence, was 34 weeks pregnant when she came to the emergency room at Menorah Medical Center in Overland Park, according to court documents. Staff decided to prepare her to deliver her child by cesarean section.
In the lawsuit filed earlier this week in Johnson County court, Cole alleges that when she was being prepared for surgery, her anesthesiologist, Dr. Cameron Tusken, mistakenly injected the drug Pitocin into her intravenous drip.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, Pitocin is commonly administered to pregnant people to induce contractions if they are not already having contractions by the third stage of labor. It works by stimulating the oxytocin receptors in the uterus, a method also used in some second-term medical abortions.
Because it stimulates contractions and pushing, Pitocin is generally used for vaginal births, not C-section births, according to court documents. It is also generally given to pregnant people through the spine, where epidurals are also delivered.
“I’ve handled a number of uterine rupture cases, but never one due to administering Pitocin directly into the IV,” Stephen Gorny, an attorney representing Cole, told The Star. “...It puts the baby in distress, and obviously puts the uterus at risk.”
Court documents indicate that Cole was only in the first stage of labor when she was allegedly given Pitocin, since she was experiencing contractions but not pushing. When Cole arrived at the emergency room, she was having contractions and experiencing spotting, according to court documents.
Cole alleges that after she was dosed with Pitocin, she experienced one long, powerful contraction, which caused both her uterus and placenta to rupture, according to court documents.
Fetal monitor strips from Cole’s labor, obtained by Cole’s attorneys, also note that Pitocin was administered in error, according to Gorny.
Dr. Cameron Tusken was unavailable for comment. Representatives for Menorah Medical Center were also unavailable for comment.
Cole’s baby, who she had named Lucky, died about an hour after the surgery, according to court documents. In the lawsuit, Cole alleges that Lucky was born in “significant distress,” and that her newborn’s death was caused by the Pitocin in her IV fluid drip.
“Lucky Cole endured tremendous suffering before his ultimate death,” Cole’s lawsuit reads.
Though she is on the mend and has started counseling, Cole will not have any more children after Lucky’s death, Gorny said. Scarring on her uterus after the rupture could put future pregnancies at risk.
“They fortunately do have a large family,” Gorny told The Star. “But certainly having other [children] doesn’t make up for the loss of one.”
Tusken, who specializes in anesthesiology, graduated from the University of Kansas School of Medicine in 2014, where he also completed a four-year residency in anesthesiology. He is licensed in both Kansas and Missouri.
Cole’s lawsuit includes one count of medical negligence against Menorah Medical Center, and one against Anesthesia Associates of Kansas City, a group with which Tusken was also employed when he treated Cole. Anesthesia Associates of Kansas City was also unavailable for comment.
She also filed a separate charge of medical negligence against Tusken himself, court documents show.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 32.1% of all babies born in the U.S. were delivered by C-section in 2022, the most recent full year of data available.
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