On January 3, 2011, Marissa Kingery, the only child of Amber McEwen and Jason Kingery was pronounced dead after two weeks in an unresponsive state at a hospital in Cleveland, Ohio.
Marissa started December 21, 2010 anxious and nervous about the dental procedure according to her mother.
No doubt Marissa was on her Christmas break from school and excited because every child’s favorite holiday was just a few days away. With presents already purchased and some under the Christmas tree Marissa Kingery was headed to the dentist. In the end, there would be no Christmas for Marissa and no happy holiday for her parents.
That fateful morning, as any mother would, Marissa’s mother reassured her daughter and told her not to worry, “it will be OK.” It wasn’t ok.
Marissa’s father drove her to the appointment with 80 year old,Dr. Henry B. Mazorow. Her appointment that day was to remove two baby teeth and one impacted permanent tooth. It is not yet clear if sedation was really necessary.
Something went terribly wrong under 80 year old, Dr. Henry B. Mazorow’s care. An ambulance was called and she was rushed to the local hospital and later transferred to Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, where she was unresponsive and placed on life support...
...According to Dr. Mazorow’s record at the Ohio Dental Board, he was born in 1930, graduated from OSU College of Dentistry in 1956 at the age of 26. He has an of General Anesthesia but the record does not state when that was issued, nor when it was last updated.
What went wrong Dr. Mazorow? Do you or your staff have any emergency care training, what about mock drills? Did you have the proper medications readily available? Anyone available to perform CPR? At 80 would Dr. Mazorow be proficient to handle an emergency, perform CPR etc.
Marisa’s mother was contacted immediately. By the time she got to the hospital Marisa was unresponsive and placed on life support. Her father does not want to relive the events of that
morning, as his emotions are too raw, as reported by Cindy Leise, reporter for the Chronicle-Telegram in Elyria, Ohio.An autopsy was performed Monday but results were not available according to Powell Caesar, spokesman at the Cuyahoga County Coroner's office, Frank P. Miller III, Coroner.
A vibrant and talented child who wanted to be a veterinarian and have her own family one day, Marissa took all honors classes and participated in band and choir.
Marissa’s organs were donated.
The pain and suffering this family must be experiencing has to be devastating and beyond repair. For one of Marissa’s grandmother’s this was her only grandchild and her heart, along with many more extended family members, has been broken.
The family has retained attorney Michael Czack.
If not for the local reporter publishing this story, it is doubtful anyone would be the wiser. It’s Wednesday January 5, 2011 and not appears on any other news outlet. Why?
I hope this reporter bites into this story and doesn’t let go. All the other deaths this year have been swept under the rug and no follow-up done.
Dental Deaths On The Rise At An Alarming Rate
Marissa is the latest death in a series children deaths over the past 3 years. Five in 2010 alone. Yet, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) has failed to admit there is a problem. In fact when contacted the AAPD has a “media holding statement” which will include “Hundreds of thousands of sedatives are used in pediatric dentistry on an annual basis…” Here is a disturging memo the AAPD sent out to members after the death of Jacobi Hill, in May 2010.
The AAPD has so ignored these deaths it issued a memo to pediatric dentists across the nation.
If five children had died in 2010 from an toy, crib or car seat those items would be off the market and an outcry from parents and officials across the country.
The list below contains only the names of children who have died and and a reporter knew it was news. There are many more deaths that including adults and those that go unreported.
Yet when it comes to these tragic and senseless deaths, it's hard to get a Public Service Announcement presented on this deadly subject.
There are several prominent websites and publications for dentists and the dental community. Dental Town magazine and Townie Central website and forum being an example.
After the death of his daughter, Raven Marie, Mario Blanco started the Raven Marie Blanco Foundation advocating change and safety procedures to reduce and help end these needless deaths.
Two of the changes and procedures suggestions are the “Six Links of Survival” issued by the Institute of Medical Emergency Preparedness (IMEP) and the IMEP’s Emergency Preparedness System (EPS) designed for dental offices.
IMEP created the EPS to “efficiently & effectively assist dentists prepare your office for a medical emergency.” The ERS uses a comprehensive, systematic team approach for medical emergency preparedness. It allows dentists to train current staff and easily integrate new members into the team. It was created by doctors for rapid response and victim-side assistance during medical emergencies prior to the arrival of the ambulance and paramedics.
The ERS is a step-by-step checklist to get staff through a crisis and includes the Emergency Action Guide with 4 workbooks, monthly mock drills, Emergency Treatment record and up to 53 hours of CE for EACH staff member in the office (up to 20 people). “While we can not prevent an emergency or predict the outcome, we can help you prepare your office. Dentists and their office have two options toward medical emergencies: Be Prepared or Not, there is no in-between.”
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Professionals who support the Raven Marie Blanco Foundation and Mario’s Public Service Announcement as well as the “Six Links of Survival” have approached prominent dental websites such as Dental Town and various other dental publications in hopes to get interviews/articles and spread the word on the ignored dangers, what can be done to lessen risks and the express the pain parents face. Have they been successful, in short, no. Dental Town was not interested. Shame on them.
It’s reported that up to 44% of dental offices experience a medical emergency during any one year. Syncope represented approximately 50% of all emergencies reported in one particular study. Bronchospasm and Larynogospasm are also common and can be deadly.
It’s easier to prepare and prevent, than to repair and repent.
| Children Deaths | ||
| Akasmse “Faith” Rose Tecumseh | Tulsa, OK | 8-14-10 |
| David Liddell | Atlanta, GA | 7-12-10 |
| Jacobi Hill | Richmond, VA | 5-11-10 |
| Dylan S. Stewart | Gainsville, FL | 4-22-10 |
| Maddoux Cordova | San Antonio, TX | 12-27-09 |
| Cory Moore, Jr | Tampa, FL | 2-19-09 |
| Jacqueline Martinez | Riverside, CA | 3-4-08 |
| Raven Blanco | Virginia Beach, VA | 3-7-07 |
| Jenna Bautista | Anaheim, CA | 3-25-07 |
| Jonathan Barrera | Phoenix, AZ | 2006 |
| Diamond Brownridge | Chicago, IL | 10-06 |
| Jessenia Balles | Houston, TX | 10-6-06 |
| Dasia Washington | Boca Raton, FL | 3-21-06 |
| Rogelio Crespo | Brentwood, CA | 6-21-05 |
| Javier Villia | Orange Co, CA | 8-4-97 |
| Ben Shimshock | Sacramento, CA | 6-96 |
| Jonathan Walski | Wilkes-Barre, PA | 1996 |
| Mark Bistany | Long Island, NY | 5-1993 |
| Read about these deaths here |
Sedation Permits
Ohio requires dentist have a permit to use general anesthesia or conscious intravenous sedation issued by the state dental board. The cost is $200 if the permit is issued in odd-numbered years and $337 if issued in even-numbered years. Plus another $127 for each. 4715.13 (A)(1)(3)(4) Twenty dollars of the fees goes toward the dentist loan repayment fund. 4715.13(B). Sounds stupid to me.
Dentists will receive a permit upon review of the dentists credentials and they must renew the permit ever two years. The dentists must provide (1) evidence they have completed an approved training program; and/or (2) completed an approved Accreditation council for graduate medical education (ACGME) training program; and/or (3) Completed one year advanced clinical training in anesthesiology and meets objectives set forth in the ADA Guidelines for Teaching Comprehensive Control of Anxiety and Pain in Dentistry, and (4) has a properly equipped facility whether fixed, mobile or portable equipment and drugs as set forward in the ADA “Guidelines for the Use of Conscious Sedation, Deep Sedation and General Anesthesia for Dentists” and/or the American Association of Oral and Maxilliofacial Surgeon’s “Office Anesthesia Evaluation Manual”; and (5) successful completion of an advanced cardiac life support course or its age appropriate equivalent; and (6) maintain a residence in Ohio. You can read it all here.
You can check your state regulations here.
4715-5-07(F) concerns me. It basically says the board can issue permits if they want to do so. But as you can see, the Ohio dental board leaves it up to dental associations to set the standards, and that is dangerous. On too many occasions professional associations are influenced by corporate greed. Not that the boards themselves are not immune to outside influence.
Ready Set Go; Sedate
Dental Oral Conscious Sedation (DOCS) Education markets sedation as a new and untapped source of revenue. Michael Silverman, president of DOCS co-wrote an article published in Dental Economics touting how sedation can provide a financial boost to dental offices and how the best part of offering sedation to patients was the high profitability.
He wrote the medications used have a high profit margin and sedation fees were normally collected in advance as cash sales. No waiting on insurance reimbursement.
DOCS was founded in 1999 by two dentists in Lafayette Hill, PA. Their goal; to establish an organization that would become the largest oral sedation training provider in America.
Now located in Seattle, Washington DOCS teaches sedation through seminars throughout the US and Canada.
A three day course with 5 hours of online instruction and 20 hours of classroom with $1975 and your set for oral sedation. IV sedation; all you need is $9500 and 60 hours of training. DOCS says it exceeds the ADA guidelines. The also offer Dental Advanced Life Support for another $1795. Shouldn’t that be included with either of the above?
For a mere $2195, three days you can get “Pediatric Sedation Dentistry”. One live patient is included.
The “Teen Sedation Dentistry” one day course and $1095 will have dentists ready to “expand their treatment options to a largely untapped patient population”. The course description doesn’t say if a live patient is included or not.
See all of DOCS programs here.
Contact Information:
Dr. Henry B. Mazorow
209 W 21st Street
Lorain, OH, 44052-4709
440 324-3846
Cuyahoga County Coroner's Office
11001 Cedar Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44106
(216) 721-5610
The Chronicle-Telegram
225 East Avenue
Elyria, Ohio 44035
(440) 329-7000
Reporter Cindy Leise:
(440) 329-7245
cleise@chroniclet.com
Michael William Czack, Atty
50 Public Square
19th Floor, Suite 1900
Cleveland, OH 44113-2202
Phone: 866-256-5726
216-592-8738
fax 216-696-1411
email Michael
Raven Marie Blanco Foundation
Protecting Pediatric Dental Patients
PO Box 65581
Virginia Beach, VA 23467
757-222-2876
nicole@rmbfinc.org
Watch Moving Public Service Announcement From The Raven Marie Blanco Foundation
