Toddler who died after dental procedure was hooked up to empty oxygen tank as staff muted heart alarm: lawsuit
Jan 9, 2019
The heartbroken family of a 2-year-old boy who died after a visit to the dentist last year is suing the Arizona clinic, claiming that a staff member repeatedly muted the alarm on a heart monitor that he was hooked up to, and that the oxygen tank he was supposed to be receiving supplemental air from was either faulty or empty.
Zion Gastelum’s mother, Veronica, brought her son to the Kool Smiles dental clinic in Yuma in December 2017 after it was determined that the boy needed crowns to address severe cavities. According to a police report obtained by ABC 15, Aaron Roberts was contracted by the clinic and was supervising the procedure, and a dentist later told responding officers that the procedure had gone “well.”
According to the family’s lawsuit, while under general anesthesia Zion had nine of his baby teeth worked on, including root canals and crowns on six of them. The complaint alleges that X-rays or further investigative exams were not conducted to confirm that the nine procedures were necessary.
Read more here.
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