Man Dies After Having Wisdom Teeth Removed

The family of Marek Lapinski of Murrietta is asking some hard questions after the man went to have his wisdom teeth removed in an oral surgeon’s office and never woke up from the procedure.  The day before the procedure, he had tweeted, “gettin [sic] my wisdom teeth out tomorrow. Loading up on some #soup and #yogurt.” Unfortunately, he did not need them.

Lapinski, 24, was healthy and had no risk factors that would make him a poor candidate for the procedure, which often takes place in the doctor’s office rather than in a hospital.  Lapinski’s surgery was performed by Dr. Steven Paul of Temecula. Paul’s lawyer said that his client provides “state of the art services and monitoring for his patients,” but points out that “no surgical procedure is without risk.”

The circumstances of what went wrong are not completely clear. The ambulance report states that Lapinski started to wake up and cough during the procedure. He was then given propofol, the same anesthetic that killed Michael Jackson.  Lapinski had surgical gauze stuck in his airway, as well as a small “surgical cone” that could not be removed. He was taken to UCLA Medical Center, where he died three days later.  A friend of the family called the death a “senseless tragedy” and said that Lapinski’s mother wants a full investigation.

In cases like this, witnesses are often reluctant to talk — particularly if they work for the defendant — and it is not unheard of for evidence to become difficult for the family to obtain.  Often the only way to get answers is to call a lawyer who is experienced in handling medical malpractice cases for assistance.

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