An oral surgeon has been ordered to pay $2.75 million in a medical malpractice case that nearly killed a 32 year old man. The trial had been delayed numerous times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, the oral surgeon refused to negiotiate any type of settlement with the patient.
In 2018, the man was refered to the oral surgeon for removal of his lower left wisdom tooth. During the his first appointment, the man had a panoramic x-ray of his mouth. When the oral surgeon reviewed the x-ray he noticied a radiolucency near the man’s lower left wisdom tooth. The oral surgeon then had the man undergo a cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scan and suggested a biopsy to determine whether the lesion was cancerous. When a radiologist reviewed the CBCT san he said it was suboptical because IV contrast had not been used. It was recommended that the man under magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with IV contrast. However, the oral sugeon disagreed with the MRI recommendation and scheduled the man a surgery to remove his lower wisdom tooth and also have an incisional biopsy.
The lower wisdom teeth surgery occured without incident and the incisional biopsy was scheduled 5 days later. During the scheduled incisional biopsy the man was sedated and then allegedly the surgeon decided to not perform a biopsy but instead remove the mass with the belief it was a cystic mass. This change to the procedure was supposedly made without the patients consent.
When attemping to remove the mass the surgeon encountered an arteriovenous malformation also known as a a vascular lesion. As the surgeon drilled he injured the man’s carotid and lingual arteries and caused a massive amount of bleeding to occur. The man was taken by parademics to a local hospital where attempts were made but failed to stop the bleeding. The man was then taken by helicopter to a level-one trauma center where he had an emergency embolization surgery to stop the bleeding. The man’s life was saved but he was left with mouth numbness and trouble chewing in addition to additional heath care expenses.
During the trial it was argued that the oral surgeon breached the standard of care by attempting to remove the lesion without first trying to needle aspirate it and by entering the arteriovenous malformation with a drill. Further it was aruged the oral surgeon breached the standard of care by failing to obtain permission for the surgery and failing to have the man undertake the additional medical imaging exams. The oral surgeon’s defense team aruged that an arteriovenous malformation of the ramus was so incredibly rare and should not be considered a part of a differential diagnosis.
Sources:
- Macomb Daily, Jameson Cook, “Macomb County jury awards patient $2.75 million for bungled dental surgery,” April 21, 2022, https://www.macombdaily.com/2022/04/21/macomb-county-jury-awards-patient-2-75-million-for-bungled-dental-surgery/
- Moss & Colella, “Moss & Colella announces $2.75 million win in dental malpractice case – the largest verdict to date in Macomb County for 2022,” April 19, 2022, https://www.mosscolella.com/win-in-dental-malpractice-case-the-largest-verdict-to-date-in-macomb-county-for-2022/