On Jan. 11, 2011, claimant Makeba Rice, 35, a bus driver, presented to Kaiser South Bay Medical Center, where she had a standing order for 2 milligrams of Dilaudid IV and 25 milligrams of Phenergan IM for recurring migraine headaches. After being administered Dilaudid, she was placed in a room in a hospital gown to await the injection of Phenergan. Rice claimed that registered nurse Emily Pinho came into the room to give the Phenergan IM injection, and that she and her husband requested that it be given through the IV, but that Pinho told them that she was the professional and knew what to do. Rice’s husband then left the room and Pinho injected Phenergan in Rice’s thigh. Rice then remained in the room for some time longer before eventually being discharged. However, Rice claimed she suffered nerve damage to the right thigh as a result of the injection. Rice sued Pinho and Kaiser Permanente. She alleged that Pinho failed to properly inject the medicine and that this failure constituted medical malpractice. She also alleged that Kaiser Permanente was negligent in the hiring and supervision of Pinho. Kaiser Permanente was ultimately dismissed from the action, and the matter proceeded to binding arbitration against Pinho only. Rice claimed that after her husband left the room, Pinho suddenly “stabbed” her with the needle in a nerve bundle in her upper thigh, just below the panty line, without sterilizing the site. She alleged that she subsequently felt an immediate electrical shock running down her leg and screamed out in pain, including screaming at Pinho, “Why did you do that? Why did you do that? I told you not to do that!” However, she claimed that Pinho just turned and walked out of the room. Rice also claimed that her shouts of pain were significant enough to require three or four security guards to come to her room and stand out in the hallway until she left the hospital a couple of hours later. In addition, Rice claimed that she complained to her physician about what had occurred and alleged that although the medical records document that Pinho was the nurse who discharged her home in the early morning hours, it was actually someone else who discharged her. Pinho’s counsel contended that that before the alleged incident, Rice requested a doubling of the Dilaudid dosage, making it 4 milligrams, but that the request was refused by her physician. Counsel noted that the request was denied because Phenergan is a highly caustic medication that not only relieves nausea, but stimulates the Dilaudid effect. In addition, Pinho claimed that the injection was in the proper location and that no nerves were struck by the needle. Pinho’s counsel contended that none of Rice’s claims were documented in medical records, and that neither the physician nor Pinho had any record or recollection of the alleged events occurring. Counsel also contended that there was no record or recollection of Rice ever having been examined for an injury to her thigh on the night in question. Pinho’s counsel further contended that the security department had no documentation of the alleged events ever occurring. Thus, counsel argued that if any of the alleged events had occurred, they would have been such an extraordinary set of events that they would have been remembered and documented. Counsel argued that, instead, the medical records simply reflected that the injection was given in the proper location — the vastus lateralis muscle on the lower outside portion of the thigh, approximately half a foot from where Rice claimed the injection was given — and that Rice was in her room for approximately one to two hours, before being discharged home when she claimed she was “feeling better.”, Rice claimed an injury to the lateral femoral nerve in her right upper thigh with continuous pain, numbness, burning and electric shock. She alleged that she was only able to work one or two more days after the injection, but that the pain, numbness and burning in her thigh prevented her from returning to her job as an MTA bus driver. She ultimately was terminated from her job. Rice’s husband, Christopher Jackson, presented a derivative claim, seeking recovery of damages for his loss of consortium. Pinho’s counsel argued that if the injury was legitimate, it would have been caused by the Phenergan being a caustic chemical and not due to any nerve being struck by the needle. Counsel contended that the first time Rice stated she felt tingling/electric shock was several days after the injection, which would be consistent with a chemical injury, as opposed to a needle striking a nerve, which would have caused immediate tingling/electrical shock.