Nevaeh is now unable to speak or walk because the doctor wanted her sedated and restrained.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – A family in Houston is preparing to go to court after a dentist visit left four years old with brain damage. According to the attorney, the child was severely sedated and restrained, while the parents were not allowed to sit next to their daughter. They were only filled in with the situation after the paramedics left.
Courrissa Clark brought her daughter, Nevaeh, to the dentist for the third time. The mother was expecting the dentist to remove or cap some of her daughter’s decayed teeth. That’s why she signed the agreement that stated that four years old Nevaeh would be tied to a chair during the procedure.
Little did she know that the day would not end with an ice cream and a cartoon marathon. Upon entering the procedure room, Nevaeh was sedated five times during the seven hours that she spent tied up to the dentist’s chair.
The papoose, or the device used to restrain the sedated four years old, is usually used by practicing dentists to restrain patients in severe situations. The papoose immobilizes the arms and legs of the patient so that the individual would not hurt himself or the physician.
But Bethaniel Jefferson, the doctor who treated the little girl showed gross negligence. Because Nevaeh was sedated and immobilized, she had trouble breathing. And Dr. Jefferson did not bother to check her vitals.
According to the four years old chart, her heart rate was 196 and her oxygen levels were 49 percent. Per comparison, a normal heart rate for a child her age is between 80 and 120. Everything higher than that is considered shock. But the real damage to the girl’s brain was done by the incredibly low oxygen saturation. Doctors start to get worried when the level drops beneath 86 percent. Severe hypoxia greatly and permanently affects brain functions.
And Dr. Jefferson didn’t bother herself with announcing the parents who were being kept in the waiting room that their daughter was having seizures. She only told them that she was shaking. It was only after the second visit of the paramedics that the Clark family was allowed to see their child.
Jim Moriarty, the family’s lawyer, stated that this is not the first time when Jefferson is accused of negligence while treating a patient.
Another dentist who accompanied the Clark family said that parents who are asked to authorize the use of a papoose should immediately take their child and search for another doctor, as dentist visit left four years old with brain damage.
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