A 14-month-old Texas girl died while under anesthesia at Austin Children's Dentistry on March 29, 2016. After an extensive investigation, the family has just filed a wrongful death lawsuit and is seeking $1 million in damages. The parents of Daisy Lynn Torres issuing the dental practice and the anesthesiologist because they believe their little girl died as a result of a Medicaid scam. The dentist had advised multiple baby Root Canals and crowns on six of the toddler's teeth.
Medical Examiner's Office
According to the Medical Examiner's Office, the cause of Daisy's death was the result of the anesthesia given to her for treatment she was about to undergo for decay on six teeth.
Elizandro Torres, the girl's father, says the family wants justice for their daughter. Betty Squier, the girl's mother, said the child's dentist, Dr. Michael Melanson, told her that there were more problems with her daughter's teeth than had been expected. He changed his original report about the child having two cavities to four cavities and finally to six cavities.
The lawsuit stated that the child's mother asked to be with her daughter during the procedure, but she was not permitted to do so. She was told that she had to remain in the waiting room. The child's heart stop beating and her breathing ceased at some point during the procedure.
The lawsuits
The parents' lawsuit claims the girl's death was part of a corporate scheme to bill Medicaid for unnecessary dental treatment just so Austin Children's Dentistry could get paid.
After the official autopsy report was filed last September, Austin Children's Dentistry filed its own lawsuit against the forensic dentist. Also, Dr. Melanson was suspended indefinitely from the practice until the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners completes its investigation and comes to a conclusion.
The parents' lawsuit is pending while the case is still under investigation to determine if the cause of the girl's death really was what the parents suspected about a Medicaid scam, or if her teeth were as bad as they had been told.
