Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Medical Malpractice Filed against Dental Health Practitioners after a Teenager’s Death

Having an aching wisdom tooth is really bothering. It prevents you to sleep soundly during the night. It prohibits you to eat or chew properly. It can even disturb you mentally. An affected person may even consider having a tooth extraction and forget about the fear associated with it just to get rid of the severe, lingering pain.

However, would you still consider a wisdom tooth removal after hearing this piece of news about a teenager who died days after his tooth extraction?

A teenager named Jennifer Michelle Olenick from Woodstock, Maryland died ten days after having her wisdom tooth removed.

Though the anesthesiologist, oral surgeon and three other dental practitioners performed the standard operating procedure during the oral surgery, they failed to resuscitate Olenick after her heartbeat dropped and became negligent when the teenager’s body started to lose oxygen.

Olenick was rushed to Howard County General Hospital and then transferred to John Hopkins Hospital for a more specialized care. However, despite being on advanced life support, Olenick died ten days after being in a comatose stage.

Investigations found out that Olenick’s primary cause of death was hypoxia, which usually occurs when the brain lacks of oxygen and has been known to take place when complications arise from the administered general anesthesia.

According to Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation President Robert Stoeling, if the patient is administered with anesthesia, the patient’s breathing and oxygenation should be continuously monitored through the use of proper medical equipments to determine the development of hypoxia before it causes cardiac arrest.

This was what Olenick’s attending surgeons and dental practitioners probably missed during her oral surgery. Now, they are facing a medical malpractice lawsuit filed by Olenick’s parents after learning the real cause of death of their daughter.

Dr. Krista Michelle Isaacs, the anesthesiologist, Dr. Dominick Coletti, the oral surgeon, the Central Maryland Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery PA and the Baltimore Washington Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Center LLC were named in the lawsuit with alleged claim of more than $30,000.

Now, would you still consider wisdom tooth removal or just endure its nerve-racking pain?

In Olenick’s case, the medical malpractice committed is due to the mental health practitioners’ absentmindedness during the operation and failure to provide necessary medical equipments. Now, they are not only to pay for their negligence but they also ruined their long-established career.