The family of the teen from Eden Prairie who died during an oral surgery is suing the dental surgeon who was involved in the procedure. The lawsuit is for medical malpractice and wrongful death.
The teenager, Sydney Galleger, was undergoing a wisdom tooth extraction when she died. The lawsuit was filed by her family in Hennepin County District Court.
The dentist was identified as Dr. Paul Tompach, who continues to see patients under the state licensing board restrictions. The lawsuit claims he had missteps during the procedure that caused the death of Gallager.
The teenager died on June 2015 and the Board of Dentistry conducted an investigation. After the investigation was completed, Tompach was placed under indefinite restrictions, which started last March 2016.
The investigation concluded that Tompach's missteps included incorrectly administering general anesthesia and failing to provide proper monitoring of the patient while under anesthetics. He also had untrained dental assistants, lax planning for medical emergency and poor response to the patient who had a cardiac arrest. He also failed to inform the parents of the patient about the risks of general anesthesia, Star Tribune reported.
The lawsuit claims the decision to place Galleger under anesthesia without the proper monitoring agreement was dangerous and negligent. it showed a deliberatelack of regard for the safety of his patients.
The lawsuit also detailed what happened when the surgery started and what happened after the teenager suffered cardiac arrest. Galleger went in for the surgery at 9 a.m. on June 9. From 9:15 to 9:20 a.m., it was found out Galleger's heart rate fell dramatically and she had no pulse after suffering from a cardiac arrest.
At around 9:31 a.m., a call was made to 911 and CPR was done before emergency responders arrived. The teen was taken to a hospital at around 9:50 a.m. but she died six days later, Shakopee Valley News reported.
Tompach is still practicing his profession but is no longer allowed to administer general anesthesia or sedation. He can, however, still ask another person to perform procedures including oral surgery.
