Mother Calls For Hospital Dental Procedures For Children Following Teenage Daughter’s Death
A mother has called for all paediatric procedures to be completed under general anaesthetic in hospitals, following the death of her teenage daughter.
Cathy Garger, from Maryland, said she believes that all dental procedures, which involve general anaesthetic, should be done in hospital after her daughter, Jenny Olenik, passed away in April 2011. Jenny suffered complications during a routine surgical procedure.
Since Jenny, who was 17 at the time, passed away her mother has been researching dental procedures and has discovered a number of similar cases. She has filed a lawsuit against the surgeon and anaesthetist who were involved in the procedure.
Ms Garger has now established a network of parents who have similar stories to her own, known as FEDD UP, or Families Eliminating Dental Deaths Urging Precautions.
The aim of the group is to raise awareness of the possible complications of general anaesthesia and dental procedures and to gather support for new legislation to be introduced to ensure that all paediatric cases done under general anaesthetic are carried out in hospital, rather than a standard dental clinic.
Speaking about her daughter’s death, Ms Garger said that she was expecting Jenny to be in and out after an hour and a half, but just 15 minutes into the procedure she received a telephone call and when she heard sirens in the background, she knew it was bad news.
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