Victim Of Infectious Outbreak Linked To Dental Clinic Sues
The lawsuit claims that the procedure which led to the infection was not medically necessary. More than 70 children were hospitalized from the outbreak.
Orange County Register:
Lawsuit Filed In Case Of Girl Who Lost Part Of Jaw In Anaheim Dental Infection Outbreak
A negligence lawsuit on behalf of an 8-year-old girl who had part of her jaw bone removed after contracting an infection from contaminated water was filed Monday against Children’s Dental Group. Irvine attorney Daniel Hodes is representing Ericka Lorena Mendez and her guardian Kimberly Eufrasio. According to the suit filed in Orange County Superior Court, Eufrasio brought Ericka to Children’s Dental Group’s Anaheim clinic in June where she was told Ericka needed a pulpotomy or “baby tooth root canal.” (Perkes, 12/6)
In other news from across the state —
Fresno Bee:
County Workers Get More Money For Insurance As Pension Debt Looms
Fresno County supervisors voted Tuesday to give employees $50 more per pay period to cover their higher health insurance rates, but another financial problem looms that could jeopardize the county’s ability to maintain those payments. The increased contribution costs the county about $9.1 million this year. The cost to the county’s general fund is $1.6 million, and the remainder is coming from state and federal funds that cover the wages of most county employees. The county will use surplus general fund dollars to cover its portion. (Benjamin, 12/6)
Sacramento Bee:
Conjoined Twins Eva And Erika Sandoval Begin Separation Surgery
Fused from the chest down, the twins from Antelope have managed to grow into talkative, playful toddlers while sharing a liver, bladder and some digestive tract as well as a third leg. Their parents and Stanford doctors, however, decided to go ahead with the dangerous surgery because of growing health risks if the twins stayed conjoined. Only a few hundred surgeries have ever been performed successfully to separate conjoined twins, and doctors calculated a 30 percent chance that one or both twins wouldn’t make it through Tuesday’s operation. (Caiola, 12/6)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. Can Resume Shipping Sewage Sludge To Kern County After Judge Overturns Voters' Ban
A judge has struck down a voter initiative passed in 2006 that banned dumping of about 450,000 tons a year of treated human waste from Southern California on Kern County farmland. Tulare County Superior Court Judge Lloyd Hicks, in a 48-page opinion issued Monday, ruled that Measure E “is invalid and void for all purposes, for the dual reasons that it exceeds Kern’s police power and is preempted by state law.” (Sahagun, 12/6)