Questionable care?

[Newlydivmomto4]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Kentucky

Let me start with saying my son is 6'1 and 160 pounds.

Last July my son had his wisdom teeth removed by an oral/maxofaciallary surgeon in an out patient situation at the dr's office. Long story short, the dr sedated him with Ketamine, when the surgery was finished and he was waking up; they sent me back. When he was coming to he started to get agitated (swinging arms, fighting the nurse and I) to the point of the nurse saying "DOCTOR" in that tone that had 4 nurses and doctor running into the room. They gave him another medication to calm him down, once calm they pronounced him ready to go home. They assisted me in getting him in my vehicle, the little birdy in the back of my head said to put the child safety lock on before I shut the door. In the 8 minutes it took to get home my son was trying to open the door (child safety lock engaged), when that wouldn't work he proceeded to try to climb out the window. He didn't succeed because I hit the brakes making him fall back into the car. We get home, my dh and I spend the next 15 minutes trying to restrain him, which resulted in me getting choked and almost breaking my wrist, finally dh and I had to pin him to the floor. We finally gave up and called 911, they transported him (restrained) to the hospital; where they kept him for restrained for about 2 hours until the initial medication wore off. Sorry, that wasn't too short.

I filed a complaint with the Board of Dentistry. In my humble "mom" opinion, the doctor should have never sent him home. He was combative at the office, never clear eyes (that glazed over I'm not here look), the second sedative they gave him when he was combative was short acting (according to the ER doc). We were sent home from the office at 3:45, they closed at 4.

Do I have any legal recourse if the Board finds him negligent?

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Kentucky

Let me start with saying my son is 6'1 and 160 pounds.

Last July my son had his wisdom teeth removed by an oral/maxofaciallary surgeon in an out patient situation at the dr's office. Long story short, the dr sedated him with Ketamine, when the surgery was finished and he was waking up; they sent me back. When he was coming to he started to get agitated (swinging arms, fighting the nurse and I) to the point of the nurse saying "DOCTOR" in that tone that had 4 nurses and doctor running into the room. They gave him another medication to calm him down, once calm they pronounced him ready to go home. They assisted me in getting him in my vehicle, the little birdy in the back of my head said to put the child safety lock on before I shut the door. In the 8 minutes it took to get home my son was trying to open the door (child safety lock engaged), when that wouldn't work he proceeded to try to climb out the window. He didn't succeed because I hit the brakes making him fall back into the car. We get home, my dh and I spend the next 15 minutes trying to restrain him, which resulted in me getting choked and almost breaking my wrist, finally dh and I had to pin him to the floor. We finally gave up and called 911, they transported him (restrained) to the hospital; where they kept him for restrained for about 2 hours until the initial medication wore off. Sorry, that wasn't too short.

I filed a complaint with the Board of Dentistry. In my humble "mom" opinion, the doctor should have never sent him home. He was combative at the office, never clear eyes (that glazed over I'm not here look), the second sedative they gave him when he was combative was short acting (according to the ER doc). We were sent home from the office at 3:45, they closed at 4.

Do I have any legal recourse if the Board finds him negligent?

What are the damages? (Keep in mind that the trip to the ER may have been required even from the dentist's office...)

 

[Newlydivmomto4]

What are the damages? (Keep in mind that the trip to the ER may have been required even from the dentist's office...)

To him, he missed 5 days of college in a 4 week program so he had to drop the class and retake it. He was 17 at the time of the surgery so I was still the responsible adult.

I injured my shoulder restraining him.

My whole thought process is that he should have never been sent home, he should have gone to the ER. I would have probably take him there directly after if my house was not closer and he was not trying to escape my vehicle. When he tried to climb out the window we were crossing over the interstate. Financial damages are minimal, it obviously could have been a lot worse if he had been able to get out of my vehicle.

 

[quincy]

To him, he missed 5 days of college in a 4 week program so he had to drop the class and retake it. He was 17 at the time of the surgery so I was still the responsible adult.

I injured my shoulder restraining him.

My whole thought process is that he should have never been sent home, he should have gone to the ER. I would have probably take him there directly after if my house was not closer and he was not trying to escape my vehicle. When he tried to climb out the window we were crossing over the interstate. Financial damages are minimal, it obviously could have been a lot worse if he had been able to get out of my vehicle.

Your son apparently experienced one of the rarer side-effects of Ketamine. It appears to me that, once the side-effects presented, the doctor should have recommended an immediate trip to the ER and/or called for an ambulance instead of sending your son home with you.

For that reason alone, I think it was smart for you to file a complaint with the Board of Dentistry. The Board will investigate and you will learn the results of the investigation once it is complete.

You have an option of suing for any costs incurred as a result of the surgeon's actions - but here is where it gets difficult. Even if the Board of Dentistry finds the surgeon negligent, the trip to the ER (as Zigner noted) would have been a cost you would have incurred either way - whether the surgeon recommended a trip to the ER and called for an ambulance, or whether (as you did) you decided on your own that a trip to the ER was necessary. Those medical expenses would have been on you regardless.

It seems unlikely, in other words, that the surgeon could have predicted your son's relatively rare reaction to the Ketamine or its duration. It is possible that the surgeon believed the effect of the Ketamine would wear off before the shot to counteract the Ketamine wore off.

It might be difficult to tie any damages to the actions of the surgeon. If there are no damages, or minimal damages, there is probably no reason to go to the expense of pursuing a legal action that might not be a successful one for you.

 

[Newlydivmomto4]

Your son apparently experienced one of the rarer side-effects of Ketamine. It appears to me that, once the side-effects presented, the doctor should have recommended an immediate trip to the ER and/or called for an ambulance instead of sending your son home with you.

For that reason alone, I think it was smart for you to file a complaint with the Board of Dentistry. The Board will investigate and you will learn the results of the investigation once it is complete.

You have an option of suing for any costs incurred as a result of the surgeon's actions - but here is where it gets difficult. Even if the Board of Dentistry finds the surgeon negligent, the trip to the ER (as Zigner noted) would have been a cost you would have incurred either way - whether the surgeon recommended a trip to the ER and called for an ambulance, or whether (as you did) you decided on your own that a trip to the ER was necessary. Those medical expenses would have been on you regardless.

It seems unlikely, in other words, that the surgeon could have predicted your son's relatively rare reaction to the Ketamine or its duration. It is possible that the surgeon believed the effect of the Ketamine would wear off before the shot to counteract the Ketamine wore off.

It might be difficult to tie any damages to the actions of the surgeon. If there are no damages, or minimal damages, there is probably no reason to go to the expense of pursuing a legal action that might not be a successful one for you.

There are really no out of pocket medical costs because my son has two insurances, alone they are great, together...you get the point. I can see why there wouldn't be much success pursuing it in court. Is it bad to just want the guy to pay a fine or something? I was lucky that I had the foresight to put the child safety lock on and my husband and I were able to restrain him until help got there. I don't want to imagine what would have happened if he got out.

ETA: I do wonder if the surgeon was a little more worried than he let on. He called to check on him while the emergency services were waiting on the ambulance. I didn't say much to him other than the paramedic wanted to talk to him.

 

[quincy]

There are really no out of pocket medical costs because my son has two insurances, alone they are great, together...you get the point. I can see why there wouldn't be much success pursuing it in court. Is it bad to just want the guy to pay a fine or something? I was lucky that I had the foresight to put the child safety lock on and my husband and I were able to restrain him until help got there. I don't want to imagine what would have happened if he got out.

ETA: I do wonder if the surgeon was a little more worried than he let on. He called to check on him while the emergency services were waiting on the ambulance. I didn't say much to him other than the paramedic wanted to talk to him.

I agree that you/your son were lucky.

I am curious: Did the surgeon detail for you the side-effects possible with Ketamine, either before or after your son's reaction? I assume you signed a consent form prior to the surgery that outlined the possible side effects and risks.

 

[Newlydivmomto4]

I agree that you/your son were lucky.

I am curious: Did the surgeon detail for you the side-effects possible with Ketamine, either before or after your son's reaction? I assume you signed a consent form prior to the surgery that outlined the possible side effects and risks.

I signed the standard consent. He did not detail anything after the surgery where he was combative and then sedated. From my understanding (this is what ER doc said), the second medication that they gave him after he started getting combative was a short acting medication that wore off before the ketamine did. Which in hindsight, made him cooperative to get into the wheelchair and out to my vehicle, but then as it wore off the Ketamine was still causing the hallucinations.

I've dealt with other out-patient surgeries and all have required the patient to be lucid before they were allowed to go home. It seems like my son was drugged to go home. Hindsight being 20/20, his eyes were glazed over when he was waking up, when they gave him the second sedative I didn't get to see his eyes because he was half-asleep. Holding him down on the couch his eyes were glazed over. His eyes were not clear until I saw him in the ER two hours later.

 

[quincy]

I signed the standard consent. He did not detail anything after the surgery where he was combative and then sedated. From my understanding (this is what ER doc said), the second medication that they gave him after he started getting combative was a short acting medication that wore off before the ketamine did. Which in hindsight, made him cooperative to get into the wheelchair and out to my vehicle, but then as it wore off the Ketamine was still causing the hallucinations.

I've dealt with other out-patient surgeries and all have required the patient to be lucid before they were allowed to go home. It seems like my son was drugged to go home. Hindsight being 20/20, his eyes were glazed over when he was waking up, when they gave him the second sedative I didn't get to see his eyes because he was half-asleep. Holding him down on the couch his eyes were glazed over. His eyes were not clear until I saw him in the ER two hours later.

Hmmm. I would say "yes" to your title question, certainly. The care your son received seems questionable at best.

You could wait for the Board of Dentistry to complete its investigation of the surgeon before moving ahead, or you could run the facts of what happened by an attorney in your area now to get an opinion.