How much punitive damage should I seek?

Here's the story:

My 5 yr-old daughter got a tooth infection with swelling. I took her to a dentist and he recommended extraction. So instead of giving her Amoxicillin to shrink the swelling before the extraction, he decided to give her an anesthesia shot to the swelling and remove the tooth. He didn't prescribe any antibiotics after that.

So we came home and the next day she got a high fever. I called the dentist and asked about it, he said "It's fine, she'll be okay. No need for any medication." The next day, her fever is still high but now the bacteria has run up to her eye, causing the eye to swell up and redden.

I immediately disregarded the dentist's advice and decided to run her to the children's hospital ER. A team of 6 doctors and oral surgeons surrounded her and examined her for hours and decided she had to stay overnight for treatment.

They finally talked to me and said it was the infection caused by the extraction. They kept asking who the dentist was and said they would write a letter of complaint to him and the board for being so careless. So it took a team of 6 doctors and oral surgeons to treat her with IV and such, overnight.

The doctors told me it was a good idea to bring her in and not listen to that dentist and wait, before the bacteria went further up to her brains. They said I should really do something about it and that they would send him a letter of complaint for being careless and moronic, giving her a direct shot to the swelling without treating it first with antibiotics.

I'm going to write that dentist a letter with all the proofs of what the doctors had written and demand a punitive damage, before seeking a lawsuit if he refuses. How much should I ask for? The hospital treatment costs $6000, and the pain and suffering my daughter got, not to mention the whole family as well.

Thanks!

 

talk to a lawyer, not an internet forum. Punitive damages are decided by a judge. You can ask for the moon, but it has no bearing on the outcome. There are rules governing punitive damages that vary by state. An attorney can educate you about the specific rules in your state, as well as help you decide the appropriate amount. You are not entitled to astronomical sums, despite what you might read in the papers.

FWIW, I wouldn't necessarily take the statements of a bunch of ER doctors over that of an experienced dentist. As far as we know, the dentist has been practicing for 30 years, while the ER doctors you talked with have only been out of school for ten. Since they treated your daughter, we'll never know if the dentist was right or not.

 

I would just leave it at that.

 

^

 

Lawyer up and sue. Is your daughter ok now?

 

Well, first and foremost, the dentist was wrong in giving the swelling a shot instead of waiting for the swelling to decrease. That's fault #1. He didn't prescribe antibiotics after the extraction and said there was nothing to worry about. That's fault #2. Fault #3 is telling me to wait it out and not to worry about medications. What if I waited and the bacteria had gone up to the brain? People have died from brain infection because of bacteria from the teeth.

I called the dentist on the phone and he admitted he made a "honest mistake". Duh! That "honest mistake" or I call it careless mistake will cost him (or his insurance) at least some money. I have a rough figure of $10K but I think it's way too low.

Finally, I'd take the words of pediatricians and oral surgeons over most dentists anytime.

My daughter is okay now, after a week. But that's because I decided not to wait for the infection to get worse (or the dentist's advice) and to bring her to the doctors who specialize in children.

That dentist is a fifty-something year-old Vietnamese who's been a dentist for half of his life. His wife is a medical doctor, and together, they are filthy rich. They own more houses and business buildings than I have fingers on my hands. I brought my daughter to him in the first place because it was walk-in basis. Other dentists would've taken weeks via appointment. He made a crucial mistake with me.

I'm not saying Vietnamese doctors shouldn't be trusted but he made a mistake. Coincidentally, the head of the oral surgeon team at the hospital happened to be another Vietnamese, not even 40 yrs old. He was the one in charge and the other surgeons listened to him. Very smart guy, it seemed!

I think I should ask for more than $10K for his mistakes and our suffering. I missed a week of work and many nights of sleeplessness, and that's besides from my daughter's sufferings of course.

 

I'd ask for the hospital bills, and what you missed at work. People suffer all the time, go down to the homeless shelter and have a look.

 

I don't think more is warranted.
But hey, this is America. Aren't you supposed to "get as much as you can?"

If he had given the Amoxicillin up front and your daughter had an allergic reaction to it, I'd bet you'd be suing him for $10,000 because of administering "unnecessary" antibiotics.

What the dentist's main F'up here was not communicating effectively. If he had a more honest discussion with potential risks and complications, he could have limited his exposure to this type of scenario.

 

not to make light of your daughter's distress but this is one of the reason why healthcare cost is out of control.

doctors are people. People make mistakes. It's just that when doctors make mistake, the damage can sometime be very large. Even the best doctors make mistakes. A recent Duke heart transplant case comes to mind.

I repeat: EVERYONE makes mistakes!!

Americans have this expectation where if a doctor is rich, sue him for all he has. Doctors have by and large practice defensive medicine, ordering unnecessary tests and exams. Those tests/exams have to be paid, and guess what, the costs have to be spread to the insurance companies.

Everyone complains about the high cost of health care but wants perfect result, costs be damned. If there's a mistake, "let's string him up and empty his pocket".

You can't have it both ways.

 

I understand what you're saying, but I and the other doctors don't consider this a mistake but carelessness. He's been in "business" for decades and should know it's a general rule-of-thumb to never administer an aenesthesia shot to a swollen infected area. I think he knew this but did it anyway, and wrote it off after the extraction. It was a quick way for him, like most of his other patients, "Bam! Bam! Thank you, maam! Please come again!" kind of practice.

All of his patients are Asian adults, mainly Vietnamese and Chinese, who pay cash, medicare, or insurance (a few), who come in for quick "bam! bam! Thank you, maam!" visits. He treated my 5 yr-old like one of those adults and was careless. Of course he knew it was a bad idea to do such a thing, but he wanted a quick transaction. I brought my daughter to him because it was convenient. American dentists would take weeks via an appointment and she needed treatment. I SHOULD'VE brought her to the children's hospital in the first place, as they have doctors and dentists. But I thought being a dentist for over 2 decades, he would've known what to do with such a fairly simple procedure. Who knew he'd be careless and want a quick transaction.

One thing about these older Vietnamese and Chinese doctors, they always treat their practices as quick transactions, preferably with cash. They are not trustworthy or knowledgeable as American doctors, or Asian-American doctors who have been 100% educated here (usually not so old). Even before I told the ER doctors, they even asked: "Is it one of those Chinatown dentists?" And kept looking and staring at each other in shock. They knew these "Chinatown" doctors are careless and not very knowledgeable and always want quick transactions, and I bet it wasn't the first time it'd happened either. One lesson I've learned for sure, no more "Chinatown doctors"! Either American doctors or hospitals only.