What to Do When Wrongly Applied Dental Anesthesia Leads to Death

Blog submitted by Dane Levy, Attorney of Dentalmal.com, a provider of legal services for those injured by dental malpractice in California

In many cases, anesthesia is a necessary and beneficial tool for dental procedures. Anesthesia makes many modern dental procedures quick and painless compared to the deeply uncomfortable dental visits of yesteryears. Qualified dentists apply the right amount of dental anesthesia almost without difficulty. However, this seemingly routine practice can lead to severe injury and even death at the hands of a careless dentist.

Dental attorneys such as Southern California-based attorney Dane Levy have seen their fair share of wrongful death lawsuits directed at negligent dentists. Dane Levy’s website details cases in which dental anesthetics such as oral sedatives and local anesthesia have been wrongly applied, resulting in respiratory and cardiac failure. In many cases, this happens because dentists fail to check patients for existing health conditions that might change patients’ reactions to anesthesia. Conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and hypertension may put patients at risk for heart failure if dentists administer general or local anesthesia.

It is a dentist’s responsibility to check patients’ medical history and ensure all procedures are safe for a patient. Dentists who cause deadly accidents through their negligence should be held accountable for their actions. If you have a loved one who has died because of a botched dental procedure, find a dental malpractice attorney as soon as you can. You may be entitled to substantial compensation for your troubles. A good attorney can help you prove that your dentist violated the dental community’s accepted standard of care and directly caused harm through their negligence.