Eden Prairie Oral Surgeon Sued Over the Death of Teen Patient

An Eden Prairie oral surgeon was sued after a teenage died during a routine wisdom tooth extraction procedure.

An oral surgeon from Eden Prairie, Minnesota was sued for malpractice after a teen patient died during a routine wisdom tooth extraction. The court documents suggest that the oral surgeon operated under general anesthesia, but failed to monitor the adolescent’s vital signs. The Board of Dentistry suspended the professional’s medical license for the duration of the trial.

Doctor Paul Tompach, an Eden Prairie oral surgeon, was recently sued by Sydney Gallager’s family for malpractice. The medical professional stands accused of failing to provide adequate medical care to a patient placed under general anesthesia.

According to Sydney Gallager’s family, the teenager went to the Tompach in order to have her wisdom tooth extracted. The proper protocol for this type of intervention dictates that the patient must be placed under general anesthesia and that his or her vital signs (blood pressure, pulse, cell oxygenation levels, and carbon dioxide levels) must be closely monitored by an individual who possesses the proper medical training.

However, during the said oral surgery, instead of monitoring her vital signs, Doctor Paul Tompach entrusted this task to one of his employees, who does not have the experience and training to perform such a task.

The same court documents stated that during the wisdom tooth extraction surgery, Sydney’s blood pressure skyrocketed and her pulse began to plunge. Seconds later, the 17-year-old teenager went into cardiac arrest.

Unfortunately, she was later pronounced dead at the Children’s Hospital. Months after Sydney died after the botched tooth extraction surgery, her grieving family filed a lawsuit against the medical practitioner.

Sydney’s parents accused the Eden Prairie oral surgeon of gross negligence during the wisdom tooth extraction surgery. They’ve also declared that Doctor Tompach failed to use the appropriate medical equipment in order to ensure the teen’s safety during the medical intervention.

In addition, the doctor is also accused of allowing unqualified personnel to operate specialized medical equipment without training and hands-on experience. At the moment, Sidney Gallager’s family is requesting $50,000 for damages.

The amount asked by the family should cover the funeral, medical, and judicial expenses. However, the family is also considering asking for punitive damages. At this moment, it is still unclear whether or not how the court will settle the family’s request for additional damages.

As for the Eden Prairie oral surgeon, on the 29^th of January, Minnesota’s Board of Dentistry has decided to suspend his medical license for the duration of the trial.

Image source: Wikipedia

Bio
Latest Posts

Ryan Harris

Ryan has started his career as a web developer and designer before joining us. He enjoys the creativity work and loves experimenting with various techniques in both print and web. He covers the social media, technology and gadgets updates.