Texas Woman Sues Oral Surgeon After Metal Drill Bit Left Inside Her Jaw

Lawsuit claims Dr. Kirk E. Scott and Stonebriar Facial and Oral Surgery downplayed the mistake after it was discovered in X-rays five months later

News provided by

The Button Law Firm

Oct 25, 2021, 16:05 ET

DALLAS, Oct. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A Texas woman who visited an oral surgeon to fix her dental implants has filed a lawsuit against Dr. Kirk E. Scott and Stonebriar Facial and Oral Surgery in Frisco, claiming the dental specialist left part of a surgical instrument inside her jaw and then minimized the mistake when it was discovered in X-rays five months later.

A Texas woman who visited an oral surgeon to fix her dental implants has filed a lawsuit against Dr. Kirk E. Scott and Stonebriar Facial and Oral Surgery in Frisco, claiming the dental specialist left part of a surgical instrument inside her jaw and then minimized the mistake when it was discovered in X-rays five months later. X-rays and a CT scan confirmed a broken metal trephine drill bur (or drill bit) was left inside her jaw. Ms. Musa is represented by Russell Button of The Button Law Firm.

Indeera Musa, a North Texas resident, had two dental implants that needed to be removed and replaced. Dr. Scott performed the oral surgery on Jan. 27, 2020. The suit states that Musa experienced problems within days of her surgery and called Stonebriar Facial and Oral Surgery to report agonizing pain and swelling. Musa claims Dr. Scott and his staff dismissed her concerns and told her to continue taking prescription and over-the-counter medication. She then returned to the dental office two more times within two weeks of her surgery, prior to her scheduled appointments, because the pain was so intense. Musa claims she was told that everything was fine, but they scheduled her for a third follow-up appointment on June 8, 2020.

The lawsuit alleges that X-rays taken at this follow-up appointment, about five months after her surgery, revealed a metal trephine drill bur (or drill bit) was left inside her jaw, and most likely the cause of her intense pain. A CT scan taken several days later confirmed the broken trephine drill bur in Musa's jaw.

"It is unacceptable and reckless for any dentist or doctor to leave remnants of surgical equipment inside of a patient following a surgery," says Musa's attorney Russell Button of The Button Law Firm. "Ms. Musa was forced to live in excruciating pain for five months because Dr. Scott and Stonebriar Facial and Oral Surgery failed to follow safety protocols that were created to prevent careless mistakes like this."

To make matters worse, the suit also claims that once the drill bit was discovered in Musa's jaw, Dr. Scott and Stonebriar Facial and Oral Surgery downplayed the error, brushing it off as a normal occurrence. The suit states Dr. Scott told her that "leaving pieces of metal drill bits in a patient's jaw is of no alarm" and likened it to leaving metal bullet fragments in a patient's body.

The lawsuit is Indeera Musa v Kirk E. Scott, M.D., D.D.S.; Kirk E. Scott, M.D., PLLC; Stonebriar Facial and Oral Surgery, P.A., Cause No. CC-21-01367-B in Dallas County, Texas.

About the Button Law Firm
The Button Law Firm (https://www.buttonlawfirm.com) is a Texas-based personal injury law firm that represents individuals in meaningful litigation to make local communities safer, including medical malpractice, daycare injuries, catastrophic injuries, and automotive accidents. The firm has offices in Dallas, Houston, and Midland.

SOURCE The Button Law Firm