An autistic 15-year-old boy checked into the acclaimed Seattle Children’s Hospital for a routine dental surgery and ended up dying. Because of his autism, he was unable to swallow oral medications, and so the boy was sent home with a fentanyl painkiller patch on his back. The patch ended up killing him with a narcotics overdose.

It’s unfortunate when a prescription drug designed to help a medical condition has side efffects so severe they cause other serious medical conditions. Such is the case, allegedly, with Merck & Co.’s widely used drug for osteoporosis: Fosamax. Many claim Fosamax causes damage to the jaw (specifically, osteonecrosis of the jaw). In fact, Merck is currently embroiled in lawsuits that involve nearly 900 cases of osteonecrosis caused by Fosamax.

It’s always discouraging to learn that an everyday product can be harmful to your health. A number of lawsuits now indicate that long-term use of denture creams can cause serious medical problems, including the buildup of zinc in one’s system and neurological issues.

It took some time for doctors to recognize that neurological problems in their patients were caused by denture cream use. Those named in the lawsuits include GlaxoSmithKline PLC, maker of PoliGrip, and Procter & Gamble Co., maker of Fixodent. The companies claim their products passed safety standards and are not harmful to users. They also state that zinc is commonly used as an additive or supplement. Procter & Gamble says the amount of zinc a user of Fixodent ingests per day is the same amount found in about six ounces of beef.

You can file this under, “Are you kidding me?” According to a story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer dated November 9, 2008, dentist and oral surgeon Thomas Laney has been sued for disfiguring a young woman during a breast reduction surgery that was performed in 2005. Laney has a questionable record as a dentist and oral surgeon. In 2005 he was licensed and practicing in Seattle, despite having 10 lawsuits filed against him, as well as the death of a patient.

From previous postings you may know our client won his jury trial against Willamette Dental for damage to his lingual nerve from a wisdom tooth extraction. The trial was in Portland, Oregon in June 2006. Willamette Dental was insured by Fortress Insurance and appealed the jury verdict. The case was argued before the Oregon Court of Appeals by Maureen Leonard for our client and we prevailed. The insurance company tried to get our client to settle for less than 1/3 the verdict and then less than 1/2 the verdict (not including the 9% interest that was running on the judgment). Insurance companies try to wear down clients. Fortunately, believing in the jury and the court system, our client stood up to the insurance company and didn’t blink. Last Thursday, July 31, 2008, over two years after the verdict, our client received a check from the insurance company for the full amount of the jury verdict plus interest.

Who could imagine that dental care could be hazardous enough to cause death? Though uncommon, apparently there have been enough patient deaths resulting from dental care to prompt the state of Washington’s Health Secretary to ask the state’s dental board, known as the Washington Dental Quality Assurance Commission, to launch an investigation.

The Seattle P-I newspaper first published a story on July 15, 2008, that investigated three patient deaths. The article asserted that the dental board’s investigations of these deaths were inadequate.