Dr Mark McLelland, Spokane, Washington dentist sued by parents of teen, Erik Edge, who died in what was supposed to be a routine wisdom tooth removal and his death a preventable one allegedly caused by negligence and malpractice.
A preventable death… ? The parents of a 17 year old teen boy have filed a lawsuit against a Spokane, Washington area dentist after complications during a ‘routine’ wisdom tooth removal led to their son’s death.
Erik Edge, a ‘healthy’ 17 year old student at Gonzaga Preparatory School, a private school in Spokane went in on June 24 for what was supposed to be a routine wisdom tooth removal at Liberty Oral and Facial Surgery.
Mark and Sara Edge, the teen’s parents expected the dental visit at Dr Mark McLelland’s office would be a relatively pain free and quick visit. Except Erik never made it out alive.
At what cost maximum profits?
On the day of the wisdom tooth removal, general anesthesia administered resulted in teen’s airway being blocked. McLelland was allegedly acting as both surgeon and anesthesiologist and ‘failed to notice and properly respond,’ according to filed suit, six months after the boy’s death. The Edge family is claiming medical malpractice and negligence according to The Seattle Times.
According to the parents suit filed on Monday, Erik died from a common reaction to anesthesia, which was ‘entirely preventable.’
The Luvera Law Firm, which is representing the Edge family, said in a press release that on June 24, the day of Erik’s procedure, the teenager’s ‘airway’ closed after anesthesia started, which is a common side effect of the type of anesthesia used. In most cases, an anesthesiologist is closely monitoring the patient’s vitals and can detect immediately that the airway has closed, then respond appropriately to keep the patient’s airway open and clear.”
But according to the lawsuit, McLelland was allegedly acting as both the surgeon and anesthesiologist as a way to ‘maximize profitability,’ the attorneys claimed. The lawsuit alleged that the intent was ‘to bill and collect greater fees for performing both services.’
Shouldn’t a parent be able to trust a medical professional?
As a result, attorneys said that McLelland did not notice that Erik’s airway was closed ‘for several minutes.’ The attorneys claimed that McLelland’s choice to ‘wear two hats’ resulted in the surgeon and the clinic’s staff being ‘[un]prepared to provide lifesaving care and did not respond properly.’
McLelland was licensed to practice dentistry and carried a general anesthesia permit that had been updated in the past year according to The Spokesman-Review.
The boy’s mom, a nurse practitioner, says she never would have allowed her son to go in for the procedure had she known that the dentist and anesthesiologist was the same person. And she’s now warning others on how to prevent the same tragic mistake.
Sara Edge said in a statement on her attorney’s site, ‘As a parent, you trust that a medical professional can safely perform a routine procedure like wisdom tooth removal, and to find out that Dr. McLelland was instead multi-tasking for profit just adds to our heartbreak. Our son lost his life in a completely preventable tragedy, and our family will never be the same.’
McLelland is being represented by attorney Steve Lamberson who told The Spokesman-Review in a statement that his client ‘and his staff have been deeply impacted but he followed safety protocols and met the standard of care.’ He added that he and his client are prepared to respond to the lawsuit.
‘This is something that was foreseeable, preventable and treatable,’ the family’s attorney reiterated. ‘Erik should have walked out that day.’
According to the American Association for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons the removal of a wisdom tooth results in death 1 in 365,534 times. Perhaps a bit higher when the anesthesiologist and dentist are one and the same person …
