Apr 22, 2008 9:00 am US/Eastern
Dental Nightmare: Woman Put Under, Forgotten
Oral Surgery Goes Awry As Patient Given Anesthesia And Then Left In Building While Employees Lock Up And Leave
Cops Cut Locks Off Doors To Make Save
Reporting
Cindy Hsu
BROOKLYN (CBS) ―
For most, going in to get a wisdom tooth pulled is already a nightmare scenario. So imagine going in to get a wisdom tooth pulled, and then being locked inside the dental office and forgotten by the staff.
CBS 2 HD has learned a lot more about these shocking, real-life allegations.
Ramona Mercado says she was hysterical after waking up from general anesthesia all alone at the Oral Surgery and Implant Center in Williamsburg.
"Terrified, I was hyper ventilating," Mercado said. "I threw up a couple of times from over exhaustion of crying.
"No one in the office, everything was closed all the lights were off."
Mercado says from inside she called the service that referred her to this place, and they called 911 to get her out.
"The police officers came, they snipped the locks off," Mercado said. "They were the ones who opened up the door and let me out."
Mercado, a mother of two small children, says she was locked in the Oral Surgery Center for about 40 minutes and even saw her dental file left on the desk. She says the recovery room was a walk-in space with no door, so she can't understand how the staff didn't see her.
"I never got a chance to sign myself off to be discharged out, so I don't know if they were waiting for me to wake-up or they just forgot," she said. "I assume they really forgot, forgot about me."
She's now suing for medical malpractice. Her lawyer says even his colleagues find the story amazing.
"They thought it was so outrageous, they wouldn't even believe it, and unless I told them that the police had to come there and break the door down to get them out," John Kouroupas said.
"People now realize that something this crazy can happen to someone."
Needless to say, Mercado has soured on the whole surgery idea.
"I will not get anesthesia again," she said. "I don't care what procedure I have to go through, I just have to suffer through the pain."
CBS 2 HD contacted Mercado's doctor at the Oral Surgery and Implant Center for a comment, but received no response.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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