Our hearts are heavy as we announce the death of yet another toddler at a dentist office. However, today there is justice as the Washington state anesthesiologist who administered the drugs that killed 4-year-old Mykel Peterson, has been charged.
In March of 2017, Mykel’s mother, Thmeka Curry, brought her “happy, loving and energetic boy”1 to Must Love Kids Pediatric Dentistry in Vancouver to get crowns on his teeth. Because he had been “squirmy” during previous visits he was put under anesthesia. However, Curry became worried after the procedure was completed and Mykel wasn’t waking up in the recovery room.
Soon after he stopped breathing. Paramedics rushed him to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy later revealed that Mykel died of multiple drug intoxication from anesthesia.2 Curry remembers the anesthesiologist “…was just saying how he gave him just a little extra dosage to make sure he didn’t wake up through the procedure.” 3
