Nurse Charged in Fatal Drug-Swap Error Pleads Not Guilty

Nurse Charged in Fatal Drug-Swap Error Pleads Not Guilty
RaDonda Vaught, left, wipes away tears as her attorney, Peter Strianse, right, talks with reporters after a court hearing in Nashville, Tenn. on Feb. 20, 2019 Mark Humphrey/AP Photo
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NASHVILLE, Tenn.—A Tennessee nurse charged with reckless homicide after a medication error killed a patient pleaded not guilty in a Nashville courtroom on Feb. 20, packed with other nurses who came in scrubs to show their support.

The error happened at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in December 2017 when RaDonda Vaught injected 75-year-old Charlene Murphey with the paralytic vecuronium instead of the sedative Versed.