“It felt to me like someone was taking needles and pushing them down through your back and into your kidney,” says King.
On Tuesday, King filed a lawsuit against Allina Health Systems, Abbott Northwestern Hospital, and his former nurse, Sarah Casareto.
Earlier this year, Hennepin County prosecutors accused Casareto of stealing King’s pain medication during surgery. Through a plea deal, the charge was dismissed. As long as Casareto does not violate her three year probation, she will avoid jail time, fines, and her record will remain clean.
“I think that was one of the deciding factors with going forward with the civil case. Justice was not served,” said King’s attorney, Tony Nemo from the Meshbesher and Spence law firm. “Michael Vick was mean to some dogs. He got 23 months. This woman was mean to a patient and walked. She's not going to walk in this case."
King says everything started off normal at Abbott Northwestern Hospital on Nov. 8, 2010. But when his nurse started wheeling him toward radiology, things started to get weird.
“It was at that point she said to m, 'You are going to have to man up here and take some pain because you are going into surgery and we can't give you that much medication,'” said King. "That made me nervous because my radiologist said it would be fine and, ''You won't feel any significant pain.'”
King said he felt extraordinary pain and heard conversations going on around him during surgery, but said Casareto was noticeably absent.
“At one point, I could hear him talk to the nurse again and say, 'Get over here.' I didn't know where she was, but at one point when I was locked up tight -- I don't know if I was panicking at that point, but I lifted myself up with my forearm and turned to look where she was. I couldn't see her. I didn't know where she was. Doctor took his forearm and just rested it on my back,” recalled King. “Finally, a tech reached over and said "breathe" and put me out. At that point, I don't remember anything more.”
That was about half way through the hour-long procedure.
“He was supposed to be given Fentanyl and Versed, which gives you sort of amnesia,” said Nemo. “So, the fact that he remembers anything is shocking.”
King’s attorney and Hennepin County prosecutors have said he was given about a third of the medication Casareto had signed out from the hospital. Coworkers told investigators she was acting bizarre, dropping syringes, staggered in the operating room and was later found with at least two unlabeled syringes in her pockets.
“Falling asleep, rocking back and forth, and talking about going to a happy place. This guy was having a procedure done without anesthetic. He wasn't in a happy place and she was not going to put him there,” said Nemo. “She was in such a state, I don't think she could add and subtract -- and she could have easily killed him by overdosing him.”
Casareto’s lawyer, Brian Toder, said statements from the same surgical staff contradict what King claims. After the criminal case was dismissed, Toder says he is surprised by the civil suit.
During the criminal proceedings earlier this year, Casareto missed some court appearances because she was in drug treatment. Toder says she is no longer in treatment and said she never lost nursing license.
“She simply agreed not to practice until after there was resolution to the criminal case, followed by an appearance before the Nursing Board," Toder said.
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