The family of 21 year old Francis Keller was awarded a settlement of $11 million this week in their oral surgery malpractice case against surgeon George Flugrad, after their son died only 12 hours after having his wisdom teeth removed.

Keller suffered from a hereditary condition which caused severe swelling from any trauma to his face or hands.  In fact, he had been hospitalized only a few months before his death for swelling of his larynx.  The Keller family claim that both their son’s dentist, John Madaris, and Flugrad knew about his condition and should never had proceeded with the surgery.

During the trial, in which both dental professionals were sued, the two pointed fingers at one another each claiming no knowledge of the boy’s condition nor responsibility for his death.  The jury cleared Madaris of negligence but found Flugrad guilty.

There are many types of surgical malpractice, and oral surgery is just as serious as any other kind.  All surgeries carry with them a risk and potential danger to the patient.  If you think you’ve suffered from an oral surgical error, or any other type of surgical malpractice, you should contact a medical attorney immediately.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 at 12:51 pm and is filed under Medical Malpractice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.