Charleston to Pay Man $650K After Medication Mix-Up

Charleston city officials will pay a man $650,000 after paramedics mistakenly gave him a numbing medication that is a controlled substance.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports city council members approved the settlement Monday night.

City attorney Paul Ellis says the settlement is probably the largest paid by the city in nearly a decade.

Ellis says 69-year-old Denzil Hager fell at his home in January and fractured his hip. While in a city ambulance, paramedics intended to give him saline intravenously, but mistakenly gave him lidocaine and he became unresponsive.

Hager’s attorney Brett Preston says Hager spent months in a rehabilitation facility, surviving with the use of a feeding tube.

Ellis says the city will pay $300,000 of the settlement and its insurance carrier will pay the remaining $350,000.