Brittany Buckley has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against Hennepin Healthcare because paramedics allegedly injected her with ketamine and enrolled her in a clinical trial without her permission last year.
In December 2017, Buckley was having a difficult time dealing with the two-year anniversary of her father’s death and drank too much wine. She fell asleep, and a worried friend called 911. When police and paramedics came to her apartment, they talked to her and told her she had to go to the hospital.
Buckley told them that she didn’t want to go to the hospital, but they put her on a gurney anyway. She said she cried, but didn’t try to resist in any way.
According to the lawsuit, the paramedics then decided to enroll her in the ketamine trials. Buckley told them that she didn’t want to be drugged, but they still gave her a shot. She then had a difficult time breathing and the paramedics put her on a ventilating device in the ambulance. She also showed signs of an abnormally high heart rate.
The following day, she woke up at Hennepin Healthcare with a breathing tube down her throat and a document stating that she had been enrolled in ketamine research. She said she doesn’t remember the entire encounter.
The lawsuit says that paramedics put Buckley in danger by giving her such a powerful drug. The hospital removed other sedatives out of the ambulance and told the paramedics to only give her ketamine.
Hennepin Healthcare has since put the drug trial on hold.
“We are aware of the pending litigation,” Hennepin Healthcare spokesman Thomas Hayes said in a statement Thursday. “As it moves through the legal process, we cannot comment further publicly other than to say that we always seek to provide the best care and treatment to our patients.”
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