Local News in Brief : Death Not by Anesthesia
A 19-year-old Los Angeles man died of a heart attack and not from an anesthesia procedure performed at a controversial low-cost dental clinic, the county coroner’s office reported Monday.
The victim, Jose Cabral, was under general anesthesia while having four teeth pulled Feb. 5 at the Howard Stein Dental Group in Bellflower when he suffered the heart attack, authorities said.
“The bottom line is that the anesthesia had nothing to do with his heart attack,” said coroner’s spokesman Steve Stewart.
The dental clinic, headed by Dr. Howard Stein of Huntington Beach, has attracted controversy because of allegations of malpractice and fraudulent billing. Last December, Stein lost a court bid to block the airing of a “60 Minutes” segment in which he was accused of shoddy dental work, overbilling and failing to supervise his staff.
Stein claimed the allegations were prompted by other dentists upset by his low fees and high-volume business.
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