An adorable 3-year-old girl who suffered a heart attack during a dentist visit likely died because she was given the maximum dose of sedative drugs, according to an autopsy report.
Finley Puleo Boyle, of Kailua in Honolulu, Hawaii, probably died because of the sedatives and local anesthesia that were administered during her December dental procedure, Honolulu Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Christopher Happy concluded in his autopsy report. He classified the death as an accident.
The girl lapsed into a coma on December 3 in the office of Dr. Lilly Geyer at Island Dentistry for Children. She died on January 3. The office has since closed.
The autopsy report said the previously healthy girl had no signs of underlying heart problems or an allergic reaction to the array of sedatives and anesthetic she received in preparation for cavity fillings and root canals, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Friday.
The medical examiner noted her teeth were in good shape: 'the oral cavity has native dentition in good repair.'
The autopsy report said the previously healthy girl had no signs of underlying heart problems or an allergic reaction to the array of sedatives and anesthetic she received in preparation for cavity fillings and root canals, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Friday.
The medical examiner noted her teeth were in good shape: 'the oral cavity has native dentition in good repair.'
Finley received five drugs, according to the report, including Demerol, hydroxyzine and chlorohydrate. She was also given laughing gas and an injection of a local anesthetic, lidocaine with epinephrine.
'Immediately following the lidocaine injection, the decedent became unresponsive and went into cardiopulmonary arrest,' Happy said in his report.
Parents Ashley and Evan Boyle filed a negligence lawsuit while their only child was in a coma. Their attorney, Rick Fried, would not comment on the autopsy report.
Geyer's attorney, John Nishimoto, has called the allegations 'unproven' but declined to comment further because of the lawsuit. He didn't respond to the newspaper's requests for comment on the autopsy report Thursday.
Geyer was issued a license to practice dentistry in the state in July 2005, the Star-Advertiser has previously reported.
As of last December, there were no records of complaints against her or her practice on file with the Hawaii Department Of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, according to the newspaper.
Ms Boyle is being represented by attorney Richard Fried who called the maximum dosages of five different drugs 'grossly excessive'.
He cited the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry's standards which warned that young children should be monitored every five minutes and that an extra person should be there to help in case resuscitation is needed.
The procedure on December 3 broke both of those rules. Instead of checking Finley's oxygen levels every five minutes, records show she wasn't checked for 26 minutes which explains why the brain damage was so severe.
When the girl went into cardiac arrest, a doctor from another office had to be brought in to perform CPR - which Ms Boyle believes is the main reason her daughter fell into a coma.
Ms Boyle was left with the agonizing decision to not resuscitate her daughter, saying that although she held out hope that her daughter would recover she didn't want her to live in a vegetative state.
'Had it been initiated at the correct time, she'd be walking out of the hospital right now,' Boyle said.
Finley may not have even needed the fillings. Ms Boyle has been contacted by others mothers who got second opinions after visiting Dr Geyer and found out that her recommendations were 'either totally unnecessary or somewhat unnecessary' according to Fried.
Other mothers said their children had trouble walking for a few days after having work done by Dr Geyer.
Ms Boyle calls the botched procedure a 'massive tragedy' that she and her family 'will have to deal with for the rest of our lives.'
In January, new state rules took effect tightening oversight of dental sedation in Hawaii.
This article is courtesy of the Daily Mail.
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