Last week, a 28-year old South Carolina woman was awarded $2 million by a jury in a case against her dentist, who accidentally pulled out 13 of her teeth.
In 2006, when Elizabeth Smith came in for treatment at the Sexton Dental Clinic in Florence, South Carolina, a low-cost clinic for those who couldn’t otherwise afford dentistry, she agreed with her dentist to have three teeth pulled.
When she showed up for the surgery, however, the dentist mistakenly removed all 16 of her top teeth—13 more than they’d discussed. To make matters worse, said Smith’s attorney, Robert Ranson, clinic employees attempted to cover up the mistake after the fact by fudging the numbers in Smith’s chart. (The clinic denies having manipulated the chart.)
As of the trial, all of Smith’s top teeth were still missing; reconstructive surgery will cost an estimated $80,000.
While this kind of mistake is everyone’s worst nightmare (literally; I’ve personally had more missing teeth dreams than I care to recount), it’s heartening to know that patients who suffer from medical and dental mistakes can still get the compensation they deserve.
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