Even though 90-year-old Charles K. Gaal’s dentist, Dr. Wesley Meyers, dropped a tiny screwdriver down his throat in October of 2006, he insisted on returning to Dr. Meyers for care. This lead to his death following another incident with many similarities.
During the screwdriver folly, Gaal was going to have Meyers perform a dental implant procedure that was to secure his lower dentures. When the mini-screwdriver was dropped down his throat, Gaal swallowed it and wound up needing a colonoscopy to have it removed from his large intestine. Meyers assured the Gaal family this had never happened before and would never happen again. This was good enough for Gaal who returned to Meyers in May, 2007.
The second time, Meyers dropped a mini-wrench down Gaal’s throat where it got stuck. Meyers tried to perform the Heimlich maneuver, but was unsuccessful. Gaal aspirated the wrench into his left lung and had to have surgery to remove it. According to the Gaal family lawsuit, Charles never recovered and died nearly two months later. The complaint alleges Meyers was negligent and failed to document both situations in Gaal’s medical records. He also did not report these things to the state, something required by law.
As a result, Meyers was fined $17,000 by the state and is barred from doing further implants until he receives more training. Speaking for Meyers, his lawyer states he took adequate precautions to protect Gaal, which included having an assistant and a high-suction tool present. His lawyer also stated that Meyers “deeply regrets” this incident and stresses that this truly was an accident.
Dr. Ted Haeussner, president of the Florida Dental Association, states that these types of accidents involving dental tools are rare. He also says that safeguarding the dental patient through the use of rubber dams or gauze placed in the throat will keep them from swallowing any tools. However, these can’t be used on every dental patient. The Gaal family believes more should have been done to protect Charles Gaal, and wants the public to know and possibly learn from this tragedy. They also plan on suing Meyers.
If you or a loved one has been injured by a dentist, please contact an experienced injury lawyer in your area.
