Roughly two years after one Tulsa area dentist was accused of exposing thousands of patients to HIV and Hepatitis C via improperly sterilized and rustydental instruments, a second dentist in the area has been accused of putting his patients at risk.
Dr. Gary Dean Burnidge, an oral surgeon, has voluntarily surrendered his license and sold his practice after the Oklahoma Board of Dentistry began an investigationlast October. Burnidge is accused of operating on patients while under the influence of prescription drugs, including Neurontin (gabapentin), a medicationused to prevent seizures and treat nerve pain; Valium (diazepam), an anti-anxiety medication; and Phenergan (promethazine), an anti-nausea medicationthat has sedative effects.
Burnidge is also accused of extracting the wrong teeth from patients, operating on the wrong side of a patient's mouth, trying to extract a tooth withoutfirst numbing the area, overdosing patients on anesthesia, and administering an antibiotic to a patient despite being told of the patient's adversereaction to the drug.
The patient in the antibiotic case has filed a civil lawsuit against Burnidge, seeking consequential and punitive damages in excess of $75,000. Accordingto the lawsuit, "Burnidge utilized clindamycin, despite having been specifically made aware of health risks to [the patient] from the useof this drug." The lawsuit cites negligence, gross negligence, negligence per se, and battery, and describes the surgeon's actions as "wanton and oppressive."
A local news reportsays that staff members told investigators that the doctor required them to give him injections of drugs that they believed caused impairment. Theysaid they witnessed him performing surgery while his speech was slurred and he was drooling.
Additionally, reports say that the Oklahoma Board of Dentistry investigators found the practice's drug storage area to contain expired drugs, signed blankprescriptions, and no drug log. Upon asking for specific patient records, the Board discovered that the records did not exist, and staff members saythey saw the doctor's wife throwing them away.
Burnidge, 75, received his dental license in 1964, and until the allegations were made last fall, he had never been disciplined by the Board. A medicalnegligence lawsuit filed against him in November 2003 was dismissed without prejudice three months later.
Medical negligence may result in professional license revocation, the loss of one's practice, civil litigation, and, in some cases, criminal charges. Ifa medical professional causes a patient death while practicing under the influence of drugs or alcohol, he or she may be charged with first degreemanslaughter under 21 O.S. � 712. First degree manslaughter is punishable by a minimum of 4 years in prison.
