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3-year-old dies after dental procedure

Posted at 11:27 AM, Jan 05, 2014
and last updated 2014-01-05 11:27:35-05

(CNN) — Finley Boyle, a 3-year-old Hawaiian girl who suffered massive brain damage after undergoing a dental procedure last month, died Friday night, her family’s lawyer said Saturday.

The girl died with her relatives in attendance at Hospice Hawaii’s Kailua home, said the lawyer, L. Richard Fried Jr., of Cronin, Fried, Sekiya, Kekina & Fairbanks.

Her parents are suing a Kailua, Hawaii, dentist, alleging negligence and dangerous conduct.

The lawsuit, filed against Lilly Geyer and her practice, Island Dentistry for Children, alleges improper medications with incorrect dosages were administered to the girl on December 3, according to court documents filed this week.

“As a direct and proximate result of the medications administered to (Finley) by defendants, (Finley) suffered cardiac arrest during her dental procedure,” the lawsuit says.

It alleges that, as a further result of improper medications, Finley “suffered severe and permanent brain damage.”

Geyer and her attorney, John Nishimoto, did not respond to CNN’s requests for comment. The Island Dentistry website states it has been permanently closed and directs patients to an e-mail address.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in Hawaii’s First Circuit Court, alleges that Geyer had no plan in place to respond to medical emergencies, such as the one Finley suffered. It seeks unspecified damages.

Finley’s mother, Ashley Boyle, said she first took her daughter to the dentist in November, when she was told her daughter needed six fillings and four root canals, she said.

They returned in December to undergo the root canals, Boyle said.

The parents allege that Finley was sedated and left unmonitored for 26 minutes.

Finley was moved from a hospital to a hospice in late December.

Finley’s pediatric neurologist, Dr. Gregory Yen, said MRIs showed the girl suffered severe brain damage and that she was in a “persistent vegetative state.”