Politics and Medicine - Girl dies after coma from dental visit

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Girl dies after coma from dental visit

Ilena Rose

2006-09-27, 9:30 pm

Girl dies after coma from dental visit

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...ll=chi-news-hed

Tribune staff report
Published September 27, 2006, 6:27 PM CDT

A 5-year-old girl who was left in a coma after a dental procedure died
this afternoon at Children's Memorial Hospital, a hospital spokeswoman
said.

Diamond Brownridge, a kindergartner at Wrightwood Campus on the
Southwest Side, died at 4:30 p.m., spokeswoman Julie Pesch. Further
details were not immediately available.

Diamond apparently stopped breathing Saturday morning during a
procedure to fill two cavities and put caps on some lower front teeth
at Little Angel Dental office in the Little Village neighborhood.

The girl, who weighed 30 pounds, suffered organ damage and was
comatose since being taken to the hospital. Her mother, Ommettress
Travis, was at the hospital this afternoon when the girl died, Pesch
said.

On Tuesday, Cook County Circuit Judge William Maddux granted an order
which requires Dr. Hicham K. Riba and the Little Angel Dental office
to preserve records and the anesthesia equipment used on the girl. The
family's petition also asked for the names of the dental employees who
worked Saturday.

No lawsuit has been filed, but the family's attorney, Tom Prindable,
said that Diamond did not get proper care during the operation.

"Something terrible went wrong," Prindable told reporters Tuesday. "If
not over-sedation, then certainly bad monitoring" of the girl's
condition while she was unconscious.

Riba and the clinic have 14 days to answer the petition, Prindable
said.

In a statement Tuesday, Riba called the incident tragic.

"We have three young children of our own and sincerely feel for
Diamond's parents," the statement said. "We are cooperating fully with
investigators and at this time my office has voluntarily canceled all
intravenous sedation procedures."

Travis said she took her daughter Thursday for a first-time
consultation with Riba, who determined that a six-tooth operation, a
combination of cavity fillings and caps, was needed. They returned
Saturday morning for the procedure.

Travis said the dental staff gave Diamond a liquid sedative, followed
by nitrous oxide and intravenous sedation. She said she was not told
how much or what types of sedatives were given, nor was she warned of
risks to her child.

Travis said she entered the office after the procedure and saw her
daughter lying motionless on her side in a dentist chair. The girl's
head was rolled back and her eyes were in the back of her head, and
she wasn't breathing, Travis said. Paramedics arrived at 3915 W. 26th
St. shortly after, police said, and the girl was transported to Mt.
Sinai Hospital and later to Children's Memorial Hospital.

Tribune staff reporter Jason Meisner contributed.

AdvanceAgent

2006-09-27, 9:30 pm

This is tragic. Nitrous Oxide + Oral Sedative + IV on a 5 year old.

[AdvanceAgent #367924]
Game I am currently playing:
http://uc.gamestotal.com/?in=367924

Ilena Rose wrote:
> Girl dies after coma from dental visit
>
> http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...ll=chi-news-hed
>
> Tribune staff report
> Published September 27, 2006, 6:27 PM CDT
>
>
> A 5-year-old girl who was left in a coma after a dental procedure died
> this afternoon at Children's Memorial Hospital, a hospital spokeswoman
> said.
>
> Diamond Brownridge, a kindergartner at Wrightwood Campus on the
> Southwest Side, died at 4:30 p.m., spokeswoman Julie Pesch. Further
> details were not immediately available.
>
> Diamond apparently stopped breathing Saturday morning during a
> procedure to fill two cavities and put caps on some lower front teeth
> at Little Angel Dental office in the Little Village neighborhood.
>
> The girl, who weighed 30 pounds, suffered organ damage and was
> comatose since being taken to the hospital. Her mother, Ommettress
> Travis, was at the hospital this afternoon when the girl died, Pesch
> said.
>
> On Tuesday, Cook County Circuit Judge William Maddux granted an order
> which requires Dr. Hicham K. Riba and the Little Angel Dental office
> to preserve records and the anesthesia equipment used on the girl. The
> family's petition also asked for the names of the dental employees who
> worked Saturday.
>
> No lawsuit has been filed, but the family's attorney, Tom Prindable,
> said that Diamond did not get proper care during the operation.
>
> "Something terrible went wrong," Prindable told reporters Tuesday. "If
> not over-sedation, then certainly bad monitoring" of the girl's
> condition while she was unconscious.
>
> Riba and the clinic have 14 days to answer the petition, Prindable
> said.
>
> In a statement Tuesday, Riba called the incident tragic.
>
> "We have three young children of our own and sincerely feel for
> Diamond's parents," the statement said. "We are cooperating fully with
> investigators and at this time my office has voluntarily canceled all
> intravenous sedation procedures."
>
> Travis said she took her daughter Thursday for a first-time
> consultation with Riba, who determined that a six-tooth operation, a
> combination of cavity fillings and caps, was needed. They returned
> Saturday morning for the procedure.
>
> Travis said the dental staff gave Diamond a liquid sedative, followed
> by nitrous oxide and intravenous sedation. She said she was not told
> how much or what types of sedatives were given, nor was she warned of
> risks to her child.
>
> Travis said she entered the office after the procedure and saw her
> daughter lying motionless on her side in a dentist chair. The girl's
> head was rolled back and her eyes were in the back of her head, and
> she wasn't breathing, Travis said. Paramedics arrived at 3915 W. 26th
> St. shortly after, police said, and the girl was transported to Mt.
> Sinai Hospital and later to Children's Memorial Hospital.
>
> Tribune staff reporter Jason Meisner contributed.