Promoting patient safety and improving the quality of patient care
Tag: Amber Athwal
Articles we have been reading this past week of February 12, 2018 provide 5 suggestions for improving the health of babies.
PPAHS has been following the case of Amber Athwal, who suffered brain damage after undergoing dental surgery to extract some of her teeth.
Continue reading “5 Suggestions for Improving the Health of Babies”
Five-year old Amber Athwal suffered brain damage after having dental surgery and receiving dental anesthesia to extract some of her teeth. For our earlier post, which provides a summary of the lawsuit , “Capnography Monitoring of Five-Year Old Amber Athwal May Have Prevented Her Brain Damage,” please click here.
Dr. William Mather Tribunal Hearing
CBC News reports that Dr. William Mather, the dentist who performed the dental procedure which resulted in “permanent brain damage because of oxygen deprivation”, faces five counts of unprofessional conduct, and has pleaded guilty to three of the charges. Dr. Mather recently retired from dental practice.
Dr. Mather’s colleague, Dr. Darren Fee recently testified at the tribunal hearing investigating the Amber case:
Continue reading “Standards for Dental Anesthesia Should Require Patient Monitoring”
By Michael Wong, JD (Founder and Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety)
According to the Bozeman Daily Chroncle’s article, “Wrongful death lawsuit filed against Bozeman surgeon,” Erik Nelson underwent surgery to correct his chronic nasal obstruction and severe obstructive sleep apnea. Discharged the day after surgery, Mr, Nelson was sent home with a prescription of Oxycodone to manage his pain. Oxycodone is a semisynthetic opioid, which is prescribed for moderate to severe pain.
Continue reading “Was the Death of Erik Nelson Preventable?”
The recent case of five-year old Amber Athwal is a reminder yet again of the dangers of dental sedation without the availability of adequate personnel and patient monitoring. Unfortunately, what happened to Amber is not an isolated event, as other pediatric deaths have recently occurred, tragically with 6 year-old Caleb Sears, as well as 9-year old Solomon Womack, 17-Year Old Mariah Edwards, and 17-year-old girl, Sydney Gallegher. Continue reading “Capnography Monitoring of Five-Year Old Amber Athwal May Have Prevented Her Brain Damage”