$95M Verdict For 4-Year-Old’s Brain Damage From Sedation: On January 7, 2016 at Diamond Dental, 4-year-old Nevaeh Hall was sedated by a dentist in preparation for a for a baby root canal and to have a crown placed on one of her teeth. She was restrained on a papoose board (a temporary medical stabilization board used to limit a patient’s movement to decrease the risk of injury while allowing safe completion of a dental procedure; a papoose board is used only when necessary) and the dentist began removing decay from her teeth. Nevaeh evidently suffered a seizure while restrained and sedated during which she started screaming followed by having convulsions. The child’s Texas dental malpractice lawyer alleged that suffered permanent brain damage as a result of “the consequence of the epidemic of overtreating children at corporate-owned Medicaid clinics managed to maximize profits.”
Instead of calling for an ambulance, the dentist allegedly provided Nevaeh with medication not approved for treatment of seizures and may have interacted with other medications provided to the child that deprived her of oxygen to her brain. Soon after the medication was administered. Nevaeh had abnormally low oxygen saturation levels, an elevated pulse, and low blood pressure. Hours later, Nevaeh suffered another seizure while still in the dentist’s office. At approximately 4 p.m., she began violently shaking and vomiting. It was not until approximately 4:30 p.m. that the dentist instructed her staff to call for an ambulance. Nevaeh, who is now 10 years old, requires around-the-clock care: she is unable to see or walk, she cannot speak, she cannot eat on her own, and she continues to have seizures.
The Texas Dental Board revoked the dentist’s dental license in November 2016 (the dentist had been reprimanded by the Board in 2005 and 2012) and the dentist was reportedly indicted on charges of “intentionally and knowingly by omission (causing) serious bodily injury to a child by failing to seek and provide adequate medical attention.” The prosecutor assigned to the criminal case stated, “Ms. Jefferson chose to do everything other than provide the care the victim needed. As a result, the victim has suffered permanent brain damage and will never lead a normal life.” The criminal trial is scheduled to begin in October 2022.
On September 21, 2022, after a three-day trial, a Houston medical malpractice jury awarded the child’s parents $95 million in damages. Unfortunately, the dentist had only a small dental malpractice insurance policy that had already paid its policy limit. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that the parents will recover the damages verdict: “The problem is the dentist has long since paid the pittance that she could pay. Now, we’re sitting here and we’re screwed.”
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