Philadelphia Personal Injury Attorney Blog | Pomerantz Perlberger & Lewis LLP

A dentist who was dancing while drilling a patient’s tooth is being sued because the drill bit snapped off while he was dancing, and the drill lodged near her eye. Brandy Fanning, 31, had to undergo emergency surgery and spent three days in the hospital due to the dental dancing mishap. The lawsuit, filed in New York last month against Dr. George Trusty, seeks $600,000 for her medical expenses, pain, and suffering.

Ms. Fanning went to the Syracuse Community Health Center emergency dental clinic after pain in a left molar started getting worse. With a root canal ruled out as an option, Dr. Trusty gave her some Novocain and began drilling to break up the tooth before extracting it. As he drilled, the song “Car Wash” came on the office radio, and he began dancing to it. Then a loud snap was heard. Trusty tried to use a metal hook to pull the bit out, but that only pushed it farther up, driving it through the sinus and bone near her eye socket.

Fanning said the dentist told her she should go to an ER immediately even though she may eventually “sneeze the drill bit out,” but doctors told her that if she really had sneezed, the drill bit could have blinded her left eye!

Fanning still suffers facial swelling, nerve damage, and chronic infections since the October 2004 incident.

If you or a loved one has suffered or died due to medical malpractice in Philadelphia or anywhere in Pennsylvania, please contact the medical malpractice attorneys at Pomerantz Perlberger & Lewis today to schedule an initial consultation.