PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A Washington state anesthesiologist is accused of “incompetence” in the death of a 4-year-old boy at a Vancouver dental office in March 2017.
Washington’s Medical Quality Assurance Commission accused Chester C. Hu of “incompetence, negligence or malpractice” over the incident. The commission’s notice gives Hu the chance to defend himself, but if he doesn’t he faces “discipline and the imposition of sanctions.”
On Tuesday, Prashant Gagneja and Monisha Gagneja — the co-owners of Must Love Kids Pediatric Dentistry — were also charged for incompetence. They have 21 days to respond to their allegations, according to a spokesman for the Washington Dept. of Health.
The case
Though the 4-year-old is only identified as Patient A in the notice, the information matches the case of Mykel Peterson.
His mother, Thmeka Curry, took her son to the Must Love Kids dental practice in Vancouver for planned tooth surgery in March.
Instead of giving him gas to go to sleep for the surgery, Curry said an anesthesiologist gave him a shot, and she rocked him until he fell asleep.
After surgery, she said she was told to come back in and wait for Mykel to wake up.
That never happened.
Police, fire and an ambulance arrived and rushed the boy to the hospital. But Mykel died.
The medical examiner’s office ruled the “manner of death” was “natural,” and the cause of death was “multiple drug intoxication” due to “anesthesia for dental restoration” and “dental caries,” the scientific term for tood decay or cavities.
At the time of Mykel’s death, his mother said she was going to hire an attorney.
KOIN 6 News will continue to follow this story.