Out of Court Settlement in Wisdom Teeth Removal Death Case

Previously I have discussed the case where a 17 year old female died unexpectedly after having wisdom teeth removed. She was a junior in high school and died on April 6, 2011, 10 days after the surgery due to suffering a severe brain injury. The autopsy report showed that she died due to lack of oxygen to her brain during the extractions. This is discussed in the blog post 17 Year Old Female Dies After  Wisdom Teeth Removal.

Recently, it appears that this case was settled out of court on March 28, 2013. The parents of the female sued both the oral surgeon and anesthesiologist in the case claiming they had shown negligence in failing to revive her after her heart rate slowed to a dangerous level and thereby causing a lack of oxygen to her brain.

Unfortunately the conditions and monetary value of the settlement are not publicly available. An issue of contention in the suit was the medical condition of the 17 year old female prior to the surgery. The attorneys representing the medical team argued that the female had preexisting mental and physical health conditions which included anxiety and stress and contributed to or caused her death. However, the autopsy concluded that she was a healthy teenager

For more information see the article titled “Malpractice claim in teen’s wisdom teeth death settled out of court,” by Kevin Recter, the Baltimore Sun, April 3, 2013, over at http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/bs-md-ho-olenick-settlement-20130403,0,3496441.story

This case occurred in Maryland and one of the commentators of the article referenced above argues that Maryland should adopt a law which prohibits confidentiality agreements in malpractice settlements so the public is better informed.

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