Multi-Million Dollar Settlement In Dental Office Death

CHICAGO (STNG) -- A North Side dental office will pay about $8.5 million to settle a lawsuit over the death of a school principal during a routine dental procedure last year.

Judge John Ward of the Cook County Circuit Court Law Division approved the settlement Wednesday between the Feldman & Feldman dental offices and the family of Georgette Watson of Skokie, according to a release from the plaintiff's attorney.

The suit includes an immediate cash payment of $3.9 million and future payments expected to equal $4.64 million during the life of Watson's son, Henry Jones, on whose behalf the suit was filed, the release said.

Watson, 46, principal of Brentano Math and Science Academy in the Logan Square neighborhood, died Dec. 17, 2007, after root canal surgery at the Feldmans' dental office at 3423 N. Broadway in the East Lake View neighborhood.

According to the release, she was given too much sedation prior to root canal surgery, and the dentists failed to monitor her adequately. She suffered cardiac arrest and was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Hospital.
Watson was pronounced dead at the hospital after being found unresponsive in a dental chair, the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said.

According to the suit, Watson underwent a root canal procedure, which began with an intravenous administration of a mixture of drugs that left her both conscious and unconscious. Drs. Laurence Feldman and Joseph Feldman work at the office, but it was not clear which was performing the surgery.

The suit alleged that during the procedure, doctors noticed Watson’s oxygen levels were failing and that her breathing was irregular. They then administered drugs to reverse the sedation and performed CPR before calling 911, the suit said.

According to a Town Hall District police lieutenant, Watson stopped breathing 40 minutes into the surgery while under some type of sedation or anesthesia. Medical personnel at the dental office unsuccessfully attempted to revive her before paramedics arrived.

An initial autopsy proved inconclusive, according to the medical examiner's office.

The Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation put Joseph David Feldman and Lawrence W. Feldman on probation in July 2007 for performing crown and bridge treatment on a patient allegedly below the standard of care and failing to maintain proper patient records, according to the agency's Web site.

The probation is in effect until September 2009. Both have also been disciplined for unspecified reasons in the past, the site said.

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