Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in Arizona

Insulin overdose to diabetic stroke patient.

An 83 year old stroke patient who was also diabetic (and was a canditate for hospice care) received 40 units of insulin instead of 4 units due to a misread of a sliding scale at a nursing care facility. No glucose was administered, but blood sugar was monitored. Two hours later the patient was transported to a hospital emergency room, at this time glucose was administered even though the only change in blood sugar levels noted was an increase (the reading was by paramedics during transport). Prior to this incident the patient had been able to make some intelligible communication, but was unable to after this incident. The patient was in the hospital ICU for two days and then returned to the care facility where she died about 7 days later. This took place in March of '99, Arizona allows two years to file malpractice suits. The overdose was administerd by a nurse. After considerable thought given to this matter the question is whether a suit for punitive damages is viable?

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