A Minnesota mother has revealed new details surrounding the death of her 17-year-old daughter who suffered cardiac arrest and died after routine wisdom tooth surgery.
Diane Galleger published a moment-by-moment account of the day she brought her daughter Sydney to Dr Paul Tompach’s office in Edina – only to have the teen leave in an ambulance.
Galleger revealed that Dr Tompach did not check Sydney’s vitals before proceeding with the surgery and that his crash cart with emergency equipment and drugs was ‘expired’.
Describing a reaction similar to ‘a captain jumping ship’, she wrote that Dr Tompach ‘left Sydney ALONE and waited in the hallway for the paramedics to arrive.’
Galleger also added that the dentist had the necessary equipment on hand, but he didn’t use it because he claimed he didn’t know how.
But she suggested that the capnography monitoring equipment lacked a mask, ‘a $12 piece that would alert the first sign of a patient not breathing. This could have saved Sydney’s life. I would have gladly paid for this piece.’
Diane Galleger (left) has revealed new details surrounding the death of her daughter Sydney, 17 (right), who went into cardiac arrest after her blood pressure shot up during a routine wisdom tooth surgery and she later died in the hospital
![Galleger revealed that Dr Tompach did not check Sydney's (pictured) vitals before proceeding with the surgery and that his crash cart [with emergency equipment and drugs] was 'expired' and some of the medications were expired](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/08/15/471EF56600000578-5160263-image-m-34_1512747594623.jpg)
Galleger revealed that Dr Paul Tompach did not check Sydney’s (left and right) vitals before proceeding with the surgery and that his crash cart [with emergency equipment and drugs] was ‘expired’ and some of the medications were expired. She also claims that his equipment lacked a mask that would have alerted that the teen was not breathing
Galleger’s family filed a wrongful death suit against her dentist, Dr Paul Tompach (pictured), alleging that his ‘negligent and dangerous’ actions during the routine surgery led to the teen’s death. His license was temporarily suspended and the family settled for $2million
Sydney family filed a wrongful death suit against Dr Tompach, alleging that his ‘negligent and dangerous’ actions during the routine surgery led to the teen’s death.
Galleger went into cardiac arrest after her blood pressure shot up during the June 2015 procedure and she later died in the hospital.
Dr Tompach’s license to practice was suspended in January 2016 after the death of 17-year-old, who was a junior at Eden Prairie High School, a diver on the high school swim team and an Alpine skier.
It was resumed under restrictions put in place about six weeks later by the state Board of Dentistry. The restrictions were lifted in late June of this year.
An investigation revealed that Dr Tompach allowed an uncertified dental assistant to monitor Sydney after administering anesthesia, and failed to respond appropriately when the emergency transpired.
Last week, the Galleger family reached a $2million legal settlement.
Under terms of the publicly disclosed settlement, parents Diane and Steven Galleger will receive $1,279,600, the law firm representing them $740,000 and the family’s health insurer $40,400 for medical expenses related to the death.
During the June 9 extraction, Sydney’s blood pressure suddenly shot up, her pulse dropped and she went into a cardiac arrest.
Sydney was then transported to the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children’s Hospital, where she was placed on a ventilator to help with her breathing.
An investigation revealed that Dr Tompach allowed an uncertified dental assistant to monitor Sydney (pictured) after administering anesthesia, and failed to respond appropriately when the emergency transpired
During the June 9 extraction, Sydney’s blood pressure suddenly shot up, her pulse dropped and she went into a cardiac arrest. In subsequent days, she (pictured with her parents) suffered numerous seizures and underwent surgery to fit a drain in her skull to relieve the swelling of her brain. However, her brain continued to swell, cutting off the drain
In subsequent days, she suffered numerous seizures and underwent surgery to fit a drain in her skull to relieve the swelling of her brain. However, her brain continued to swell, cutting off the drain.
‘[Dr Tompach] seemed to have cut so many corners… to put more money in his pocket? But it was all at the expense of a life… Sydney’s life,’ Galleger wrote.
‘The last straw came when he and his attorney continued to say he was the victim in all of this. Really? He still walks around every day, has a spouse, his children AND a job… Our daughter will never have any of those thanks to him.’