Posted on 09/30/2006 12:46:15 PM PDT by kenth
CHICAGO - State regulators have suspended the license of a dentist whose 5-year-old patient fell into a coma in his office and later died.
Dr. Hicham Riba's practices posed an "imminent danger to the public," the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation said Friday. It said Riba failed to properly monitor Diamond Brownridge's blood pressure, pulse and respiration during her treatment Sept. 23 at his storefront clinic.
The complaint said Riba recorded that Diamond was "alert and responsive" on discharge, although her mother claims to have found her comatose in the dental chair.
Diamond died Wednesday at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. She had been on life support for four days after her visit to Little Angel Dental to have some teeth filled and others capped.
Riba's attorneys confirmed the suspension late Friday pending an Oct. 13 hearing.
"Diamond's loss is tragic," Riba said in a statement. "As we have stated before, we have fully cooperated with the investigation and will continue to do so."
Riba, 40, faces up to $10,000 in fines for each of four violations, which include making false or fraudulent representations, professional incompetence and gross malpractice.
State regulators said Diamond received two injections of diazepam or Valium within five minutes, followed by oral Valium, lidocaine, several other medications, and nitrous oxide. The regulators did not say whether the combination or the dosages were appropriate for the 35-pound girl.
update ping
Jeeeeeez, ol' Keith Richards would have a struggle with all that stuff, let alone a little 5 year old girl.
geez! our boys are getting some fillings this month,
but our dentist uses locals only.
that is one heck of a drug smorgasboard for a 5 yr old!
Most dentist use what that one did as a last resort. Actually General Dentist should not be doing such a thing at all. It falls more in the line of an Oral Surgeon. Most General dentist would refer a patient to such. I've had tooth extractions of one entire side of my mouth at a time in a dentist office and only had locals for pain.
The killer, oops, alleged killer should be follicle tested to see what he's been on.
A 5 year old get tooth caps on her first teeth? Does this even make sense?
that's what i was thinking too. our oldest had teeth removed,
prior to braces, at the dentist, with only a local. after the
braces came off, he had to have his wisdom teeth pulled. he
went to the oral surgeon for that and was sedated.
btw, same oral surgeon who pulled my wisdom teeth, who was
also past president of the ADA. :)
"A 5 year old get tooth caps on her first teeth? Does this even make sense?"
My question too. It doesn't make any sense to me.
The Navy pulled all my wisdom teeth but they weren't so easy about it LOL...
ouch! i'm so sorry!
(patton has a similar history with military dentists) :(
LOL thats OK I got a day of no duty for the trouble. When at sea that's like a mini vacation.
a mini vacation to recoup from that?
not my kind of vacation ;)
They can't make you work or stand watch. Sleep at sea on most ships is only 4 hours on some nights 6 hours the rest of them.
at least you could sleep after that surgery.
a bit of much needed rest, i'm sure!
From what I know, there are no simple tooth extractions. Today it is a kind of surgical procedure.
It's considered oral surgery but unless complications like impaction or dry socket occur it's simple. If I was going to have a tooth extracted I would go to a Denture Clinic. The dentist are far more experienced in doing extractions and IMO less painfull. I had both upper and lower teeth extracted in about 4-5 visits and I saved a lot of money. Average cost roughly $35-50 a tooth with discounts on multiple extractions.
this is the least of it...I think criminal charges are next. THEY LEFT THIS LITTLE GIRL ALONE. ALONE after giving her mass dosages of sedatives.
Notice it says *some teeth filled*; more than two is my guess. I can only imagine the condition of that girls mouth, because I've seen some like it. I know of a 5 year old who nearly needed root canals because her mother hated dentists so much, she wouldn't take her.
Some people have unexpected reactions to anethesia, but in this case it doesn't sound like that's it.
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