Conn. dentist has license suspended after patient dies

A Connecticut dentist has had his license suspended for not monitoring a sedated patient who died after he allegedly ignored repeated warnings by dental assistants about the patient's falling oxygen levels.

Health and dental commission officials suspended the license of Enfield dentist Rashmi Patel, DDS, on April 14 for improperly delegating conscious sedation to dental assistants and failing to timely replace expired medications. Dr. Patel also failed to properly address and/or extract a patient's throat pack, which fell into a patient's throat during an extraction procedure, causing the patient to aspirate it, according to the health department charges.

In one incident, Dr. Patel attempted to do several extractions, bone grafting, and place several implants for patient Judy Gan, 64, in a single office visit on February 14, despite her pre-existing medical conditions, according to the charges. She died after dental assistants repeatedly warned Dr. Patel that her oxygen levels were falling, according to a WFSB.com story, but he insisted on continuing with the procedure.

Gan was taken to the Bay State Medical Center in Massachusetts, where she was pronounced dead.

The second incident involved a man who was getting extractions by Dr. Patel in December 2013. During conscious sedation, the patient's sucked his throat pack into his lungs, and an assistant told Dr. Patel several times before the man aspirated the gauze, according to the story. The patient was rushed to the hospital and spent six days being treated for heart and lung damage.