13 fatal mistakes in Jeddah dental clinics under probe
JEDDAH — A medical error by a dentist has allegedly caused the death of a 20-year-old woman in Jeddah, Al-Watan newspaper reported Saturday.
The woman was a secondary school student. The victim’s brother said she was taken to a private dental clinic in south Jeddah when she complained of severe tooth pain after coming back from school.
A resident dentist who saw her said there was inflammation under her tooth and decided to immediately extract the tooth.
The man said the doctor pulled out the tooth without giving anesthesia while his sister kept screaming with pain. Upon returning home, his sister again felt the severe pain and had high fever, he said.
He rushed her to a nearby health clinic, which refused to accept her and asked him to take her to the same dentist.
He claimed that the dentist asked a nurse to administer his sister with an antibiotic to relieve her pain.
He said his sister immediately became unconscious and died but the doctor kept assuring him that she was only taking a nap as she felt relieved from the pain. He claimed that two hours later doctors told him his sister had died.
He accused the doctor of negligence and charged that the dental clinic did not have proper equipment or qualified medical personnel. He submitted a complaint to Jeddah Health Affairs Directorate, which in turn referred the case to the forensic medicine committee.
A member of the committee confirmed they have received the case. He said the medical report indicated that the woman was injected with an antibiotic to relieve the swelling after the tooth was extracted, but the injection caused her a cardiac arrest.
He pointed out that the committee is reviewing 15 cases involving medical mistakes by dentists at private clinics since the beginning of this year. Thirteen of these mistakes have resulted in deaths of patients.
Saudi Gazette
