Dentist's

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Dentist's License Suspended After Patient's Death

 

 

CHICAGO (Sept. 30) - State regulators suspended the dental license of Dr.

Hicham Riba on Friday, two days after the death of a 5-year-old patient who

fell into a coma in his office.

 

Calling Riba's practices an "imminent danger to the public,"' the Illinois

Department of Financial and Professional Regulation said he failed to

properly monitor Diamond Brownridge's blood pressure, pulse and respiration

during her treatment last Saturday at his storefront clinic.

 

The agency's complaint also said Riba recorded that Diamond was "alert and

responsive" on discharge, even though her mother found her in a comatose

state in the dental chair.

 

Diamond died Wednesday at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. She had

been on life support for four days after her visit to Little Angel Dental to

have some teeth filled and others capped.

 

Attorneys for Riba confirmed the suspension late Friday and said a hearing

has been set for Oct. 13. They also released a brief statement from Riba, in

which he said: "Diamond's loss is tragic. As we have stated before, we have

fully cooperated with the investigation and will continue to do so."

 

Riba, 40, a resident of suburban Addison, faces up to $10,000 in fines for

each of the four violations alleged in the state complaint. Those charges

include making false or fraudulent representations, professional

incompetence and gross malpractice.

 

Riba has been in practice since 1997 and has a clean disciplinary history,

according to state records.

 

Diamond's mother, Ommettress Travis, said she took her daughter to Little

Angel Dental to have two cavities filled and have caps placed on the girl's

lower front teeth.

 

 

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She said Diamond received a triple dose of sedatives - an oral agent, an

intravenous drug and nitrous oxide gas - during her treatment.

 

Travis said she was asked to leave the room during the half-hour procedure.

She said when she returned, her daughter was lying in the dental chair, not

breathing.

 

"I feel if I would have stayed there, I would have known when her heart

stopped," Travis said. "I believe her heart probably stopped in the middle

of the procedure, and they did not recognize it."

 

The state complaint said that Diamond received two injections of diazepam or

Valium within a five-minute period, followed by oral Valium, lidocaine,

several other medications, and the nitrous oxide. The regulators did not say

whether the combination or the dosages were appropriate for the 35-pound

girl.

 

They did contend, though, that the radiographs taken of Diamond's teeth at

Riba's clinic were of too poor quality to be used in diagnosis.