Kansas 3-year-old dies during dental procedure, family sues dentist
WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH/CNN Newsource/WKRC) - Abiel Zapata died in Wichita on July 6 during a routine dental procedure. Both the child's parents and dentist involved are looking for answers and the case is likely to go to court.
The three-year-old died after visiting Tiny Teeth Pediatric Dentistry, where he was getting dental work done.
”You can imagine how a mother and father feel, who thoroughly investigated, trying to make sure their child went to a dental office that knows exactly how to take care of kids," said Brad Prochaska, the family’s medical malpractice lawyer. "Their son comes out dead, you can imagine how the parents feel,.
Now, the family is trying to figure out exactly what happened.
"You're going to think why would someone go get a dental procedure and come out dead? So, that's a very shocking result and right away you are going to think there was something done wrong," said Prochaska.
He says a preliminary report from medical records shows there was inadequate oxygen which caused an irregular heart rhythm which lead to no pulse. The child later died at the hospital.
Prochaska says there will soon be a lawsuit filed to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
“The people involved, we ask them questions under oath as to what really happened, that way we can fill in all the blanks as to what really happened and find out what really went wrong so this terrible tragedy doesn’t happen again,” said Prochaska.
The attorney representing the dental practice says they also want to find out what happened because they've never lost a patient like this.
A GoFundMe account has been set up for the Zapata family to help pay funeral expenses.
