Parents Sue After Teen Dies During Wisdom Tooth Surgery
December 15, 2011 by admin
Filed under News Stories
December 15, 2011
ABC
By KATIE MOISSE
“No matter how you look at this story, it’s sad in every way imaginable. But make no mistake, an unprepared pair of doctors killed this girl.” –KTRN
The parents of a Maryland teen who died earlier this year during wisdom tooth surgery have sued the oral surgeon and the anesthetist for medical malpractice.
Jenny Olenick, a 17-year-old junior at Marriotts Ridge High School in Woodstock, Md., died in April from complications during the outpatient procedure performed on 5 million Americans each year.
“It’s so hard,” Cathy Garger, Olenick’s mother, told ABCNews.com. “She was the only one we had.”
The civil suit, filed in Howard Country Circuit Court, claims the oral surgeon, Dr. Domenick Coletti, and the anesthiologist, Dr. Krista Michelle Isaacs, were negligent and failed to resuscitate Olenick after her heart rate and blood oxygen level dropped.
Garger and Olenick’s father, John, declined to comment on the pending case, but a spokeswoman for the family said they hope to highlight the surgery’s risks and the need for better emergency training among dentists and oral surgeons.
