Patient Killed by Lethal Dose of Anesthesia in Garden Grove

A 25-year-old man who was inadvertently given a lethal dose of anesthesia died after he had seizures in the chair of his Garden Grove dentist, officials said Thursday.

Rodney Scott Craig of San Bernardino was pronounced dead Saturday at Los Alamitos Hospital, two days after his visit to the dentist.

Craig went to the office of Garden Grove oral surgeon Chris A. Larson, at 12777 Valley View St., on Saturday morning, according to police. A glucose solution was ordered for him, but he was intravenously given lidocaine, a common local anesthesia that can be fatal when injected, Chief Deputy Coroner Jim Beisner said.

Garden Grove paramedics were called at about 9:50 a.m., said the city’s fire marshal, Bernard Heimos. While Craig’s wife sat in the waiting room, the medics arrived and found Craig lying unconscious on his back in a dental chair with Larson trying to revive him.

Craig was having seizures that lasted about 15 seconds, Larson told paramedics.

Lidocaine is commonly used to anesthetize a small area or to treat heart problems, said Rick Marti, assistant director at the UCI Poison Control Center. If the drug is given in too large of a dose, it will cause seizures, he said.

The coroner’s office has tentatively ruled the death accidental, but, Beisner said, the death is being investigated by the California Board of Dental Examiners, whose ruling could affect the coroner’s decision.

It has not been determined who administered the lethal dose of anesthesia, said Larry Ballard, an investigator with the California Board of Dental Examiners in Sacramento, which licenses and investigates dentists.

“We’ll conduct the investigation, discuss the case with an expert and then determine whether there was fault,” Ballard said.

If the investigation finds that there is no wrongdoing, then no action will be taken, Ballard said. If negligence is found, the case could be turned over to the district attorney for criminal charges or handled administratively, possibly resulting in the loss of license to practice dentistry.

Larson, 37, was issued his dentistry license in December, 1983, and it is still current, a spokeswoman with the Dental Board said. He is a University of Illinois graduate and has a permit to practice general anesthesia, she said.

Craig worked at Vista Paints in San Bernardino, where he lived with his wife, Audra. Members of his family, many from Oregon, came for his funeral, which was held Tuesday.