Many parents take their children for dental work such as fillings, braces, cavity checks, teeth cleaning and much more. Parents have a reasonable expectation that the dentist will monitor their children. But one child was overmedicated and suffered brain damage before her dentist finally realized happened.
USA Today reports on the toddler's terrible death.
The little girl's dentist diagnosed her as needing multiple fillings and root canals.
“The child's family has filed a malpractice suit against the dentist who performed the procedures, and that suit will be amended to include wrongful death. The suit seeks unspecified damages. The toddler went into a coma after the procedure Dec. 3 and was later diagnosed as in a persistent vegetative state,'' according to USA Today. The family of the three year old is devastated.
Through further investigation the girl's parents have found out that much of the work being performed on their daughter was superfluous.
USA Today reports, “The suit alleges the dental practice made at least four critical errors in the case including misdiagnosis, overmedication and inadequate monitoring and resuscitation of the patient. And examination by another dentist later determined that most of the dental work was unnecessary. The suit charges the dentist used a combination of three drugs, all central nervous system depressants, and that the combination enhanced the strength of each without appropriate adjustments in dosage. An excessive dose of at least one of the drugs was administered. Medical records indicate that after respiratory and oxygen levels in the child were measured early in the procedure, no further measurements were taken for more than 26 minutes.”
The family’s attorney issued a statement saying that the dental practice did not monitor the child’s respiratory levels at all through out the time she was in for the procedure. The mother of the three year old issued a statement saying, “We were all hoping. Even the doctors are in tears.''
The dental office indicates on their web site that the office is now permanently closed.
What a tragedy.
