Parents Tell of Over-Sedated Children in Case Against Dentist

The first in a long line of angry parents testified against a Pasadena pediatric dentist Tuesday during a preliminary hearing in which she faced criminal child abuse charges for allegedly over-sedating youngsters and leaving at least one patient with brain damage.

Dr. Drueciel Ford, who is free on $380,000 bail, faces 45 felony and 19 misdemeanor abuse counts related to her use of chloral hydrate, a syrup administered orally to calm children during dental procedures. In addition to multiple counts of child abuse, the charges include dissuading witnesses from reporting a crime, falsifying evidence and unprofessional conduct.

Ford, 49, has pleaded not guilty. She “absolutely denies” the charges, said one of her attorneys, Robert H. McNeill.

The criminal cases against Ford deal with the difficult ground between poor performance and outright abuse. The case is among a small, steady stream throughout the country in which children reportedly have been harmed through the misuse of the sedative.

The first parent to testify, Adriana Barnes, told Pasadena Superior Court Judge Mary Thornton House that she took her 2-year old son, Christian, to have a tooth pulled by Ford on Sept. 16.

Barnes said she arrived at Ford’s dental office at 9:30 a.m. and helped Ford’s assistant administer a pink liquid to her son, who was taken into a back room for surgery.

After waiting a while, Barnes said she was informed by the assistant that her son needed three more teeth pulled. Then, about noon, the assistant emerged to tell Barnes that Ford was out in the parking lot with her son, she testified.

“He was bleeding everywhere,” she said, sobbing on the stand. “He had blood running down his shirt. . . . [Ford] said it was normal.”

Barnes said Ford warned her that Christian would “sleep for the rest of the day.” After she got him home to Santa Clarita, Barnes said, her son did not wake up until about 8:30 p.m., and then acted as if he was “under the influence of alcohol.”

During cross-examination, Barnes acknowledged she decided to come forward only after seeing a television story about Ford’s arrest. Barnes also said she did not see who prepared the drug she helped to administer. She pointed out that the authorization form she signed did not contain the sedative’s name.

A second parent, Maria Chan, said she brought her 3-year-old daughter to Ford in December and that the youngster became “very active” after taking the pink medicine. Chan said her daughter was brought to another room for work on her molars, then was carried out the back door by Ford.

“She was like a rag doll--very, very soft,” said Chan, adding that her daughter came to about an hour later.

The witnesses--the first of 100 expected during lengthy proceedings--were called by Deputy Dist. Atty. Albert H. Mackenzie, who has argued that Ford used chloral hydrate so she could cram a high number of sedated patients into her schedule.

At the heart of the case are allegations Ford gave 16-year-old Melissa “Missy” McGrath of Pasadena what amounted to six to 12 times the standard dose--leaving her brain-damaged after her heart and lungs stopped during a March 1999 visit. McGrath, who could take the stand next month, was clinically dead for 28 minutes, prosecutors say. She now struggles to form simple words and exhibits other symptoms similar to those of stroke victims.

Prosecutors allege that when McGrath went into cardiac arrest, Ford failed to monitor the situation, delayed calling 911, then lied to emergency workers about the teenager’s medical condition.

An expert hired by prosecutors concluded that McGrath may have been given a lethal amount of the sedative, a charge that Ford denies.

McNeill, Ford’s lawyer, said he will show there is no connection between the dental treatment and McGrath’s brain damage. He said his client, at worst, should have faced misdemeanor counts under the state’s Business and Professions Code.

Ford, whose dental license has been suspended, has practiced dentistry for 27 years. Hundreds of people--including former patients, colleagues peers and members of her church--have rallied in support, McNeill said. More than a dozen of her supporters were in the courtroom Tuesday, including one dentist wearing green surgical clothes.

Ford faces up to six years in prison on each of the felony counts of child abuse or endangerment and up to a year in jail and a fine of $1,000 for each misdemeanor.