Oral Surgery Malpractice Lawsuit Filed After Death of Teen

Published: January 11th, 2012

The parents of a Maryland teen who died during routine oral surgery have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the anesthesiologist and oral surgeon who allegedly committed medical malpractice during wisdom tooth surgery.

The complaint was filed November 30 by the parents of Jennifer Michelle Olenick, 17, who died earlier last year.

The oral surgery malpractice lawsuit alleges that Olenick died due to the negligence of Dr. Krista Michelle Isaacs, the anesthesiologist, and Dr. Domenick Coletti, the oral surgeon.

According to the complaint, Olenick’s heart rate dropped to 40 beats per minute and she suffered oxygen loss as a result. The plaintiffs claim that Isaacs and Coletti failed to take proper action in resuscitating her. The teen had no pulse by the time emergency medical technicians arrived at the dental office in Columbia, Maryland, where the surgery took place. She suffered brain damage and died on April 6.

According to a report by the Baltimore Sun, a medical report indicates that Olenick was not fully anesthetized by the standard dose of anesthesia given by Isaacs, so the anesthesiologist administered more.

When Olenick began to suffer bradycardia, or a slow heart rate, she went into hypoxic arrest and emergency responders were called. They were able to resuscitate her and regain a pulse within four minutes. However, by that time it was too late, as she had suffered brain damage from lack of oxygen and a severe brain edema.

Typically, such circumstances can be prevented by proper monitoring of patient breathing and heart rate, allowing health care professionals to address low oxygen and heart rates before serious side effects occur. It is unclear how closely Olenick’s heart rate and oxygen level was being monitored before she suffered hypoxic arrest.