TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (CN) - A woman says a surgical team knocked her teeth out while removing an anesthesia device during knee surgery, and the hospital told her to retrieve them after "she passed (the teeth) through her intestinal tract" so her dentist could sterilize and reinsert them. But she says she can't afford that and she can't eat or drink because of swelling.
Alma Brewer went to DCH Regional Medical Center for knee surgery on Sept. 25, 2008. She says an anesthesia device damaged her teeth, as a result of which she "lost her teeth, has experience severe swelling in her mouth, and has difficulty eating or drinking or taking sustenance."
On May 29 this year, she says, DCH sent her attorney a letter stating "that the defendants took an X-ray of the plaintiff's trachea and stomach with the following results and recommendations: 'The X-ray showed dental work in her stomach. The anesthesiologist explained that she could retrieve this after she passed it through her intestinal tract, and a dentist could sterilize it and reapply it.'"
But Brewer says she is indigent and can't afford that.
She seeks damages for negligence. The claim has been transferred from Pickens County to Tuscaloosa state court. Brewer is represented by John A. Russell III of Aliceville.
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