$1,000,000 SETTLEMENT - Dental Malpractice - Nerve Injury Caused by Failure to Inform Patient of Broken Instrument From Root Canal

Our client, a 57-year-old woman, underwent a root canal done by the defendant endodontist, who broke off a piece of his instrument during the procedure unbeknown to our client. While the breaking of the instrument was not a breach of the standard of care, not informing our client what happened was a breach. Since our client did not know the instrument remained inside of her, she did not get additional medical care until several months later when the pain would not go away. The subsequent treating endodontist found the broken piece and removed it, but the delay caused infection and inflammation, which permanently damaged our client’s trigeminal nerve. The defendant and his dental assistant claimed that he did tell our client, but his records did not contain any mention of the broken instrument or his conversation with our client. The case settled during litigation at mediation for $1,000,000.

 

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