The parents of a 13-year-old Ohio girl who died in January of 2011 after receiving intravenous sedation for oral surgery have filed a lawsuit against other parties related to the practitioner who performed the procedure, according to an article in the Chronicle-Telegram.
The suit, filed in Lorain County Common Pleas Court, alleges that Cigna, Cigna Dental Health of Ohio, Mercy Regional Medical Center, NES Healthcare Group, and Gilbert Palmer, MD, failed to act, resulting in Marissa Kingery's death.
Her parents are seeking an amount in excess of $25,000 in compensatory damages, further punitive damages and interest, costs, and reasonable attorney fees, the article explained.
On December 21, 2010, Marissa went to Henry Mazorow, DDS, to have two teeth removed and was given a combination of propofol, ketamine, remifentanil, and Versed. When she collapsed, she was rushed by ambulance to Mercy Regional Medical Center in Lorain and placed on life support, then later flown to Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital in Cleveland and placed on a ventilator. After failing to respond to treatment, she was officially pronounced dead on January 3, 2011.
Dr. Palmer, the suit alleges, did not do enough to save the girl while in his care at Mercy Regional Medical Center, which is alleged to have provided substandard care resulting in her death.
The office cause of death -- which was ruled accidental -- was diffuse hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy due to respiratory arrest, the coroner's report stated.
Cigna, Kingery's mother's dental insurance provider, is being sued for not holding Dr. Mazorow accountable for certain medical standards that were advertised, according to the article. The company had touted onsite facility assessments of their dentists. Additionally, the next closest Cigna-approved oral surgeon was some 20 miles away.
Following Marissa's death, Dr. Mazorow stopped giving intravenous sedation. He subsequently agreed to retire in September 2011 after consulting with the Ohio State Dental Board.
According to court documents filed October 27, 2011, a $984,080 partial settlement was paid to the family by Dr. Mazorow's insurance company.
In addition to Kingery, a 67-year-old woman died after having six extractions performed by Dr. Mazorow in 1997.
