A Winter Park dentist who twice dropped tools down the throat of a 90-year-old man is being sued for negligence by the man’s survivors, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
On Oct. 4, 2006, while he was performing work on Charles K. Gaal Jr., Wesley Meyers dropped an “implant screwdriver tool” down the patient’s throat.
Gaal swallowed the tool, and two days later he underwent a colonoscopy. The tool was removed from his intestines, the suit said.
On May 1, 2007, Gaal visited Meyers because he had a sore mouth. Meyers wanted to remove a “ball” attachment on an implant.
During that procedure, Meyers dropped a “mini-wrench” into Gaal’s throat, which the patient swallowed, the lawsuit said.
The tool was removed from his chest cavity when part of his left lung was removed.
Gaal never fully recovered, the lawsuit said. He died on June 19, 2007.