The Press Enterprise
TEMECULA, Calif. — A 24-year-old Murrieta man died late last month after he experienced a medical emergency while having his wisdom teeth removed at a Temecula oral surgeon’s office, his family says.
Marek Lapinski was taken to Rancho Springs Medical Center in Murrieta March 21 and later transferred to UCLA Medical Center, where he died March 24, Los Angeles County coroner’s officials said.
An autopsy is planned this week to determine Lapinski’s cause of death, said Craig Harvey, a coroner’s office spokesman.
Lapinski, who grew up in Pittsburgh and graduated from Duquesne University in 2011, worked at Tactical 3rd Dimension Systems in Murrieta, according to a website established in his memory.
Lapinski’s family could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
His sister and mother previously told Fox News San Diego that Lapinski was having his wisdom teeth extracted by Dr. Steven Paul in Temecula March 21 when problems arose.
They said medical records show Lapinski began to cough during the procedure, was given additional sedatives and went into cardiac arrest. Records also show that a piece of gauze was found in his airway, the family told Fox News. They said Lapinski had no health problems that they know of and raised questions about the care he received in the oral surgeon’s office.
Paul’s attorney, Clark Hudson, released a written statement Tuesday.
“Dr. Steven Paul has always provided the highest level of oral surgery care to his patients. He maintains an oral surgical suite that provides state of the art services and monitoring for his patients. However, as safe as oral surgery is in today’s environment, no surgical procedure is without risk,” he wrote.
“The circumstances regarding Mr. Lapinksi’s complications are not completely understood,” Hudson wrote. “What is understood is that Mr. Lapinski’s complications occurred despite the fact there were no apparent contraindications for his oral surgery, routine anesthetic medications were being used for the procedure, and immediate measures were undertaken to revive the patient.”
Hudson said standard protocols were followed.
“Dr. Paul, and his staff’s, thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Lapinski, Mr. Lapinski’s family and close friends,” Hudson wrote.
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