Girl, 3, Dies Following Brain Damage During Dental Procedure Says Lawyer

Jan. 4, 2013 — -- A Honolulu girl has died after going into cardiac arrest during a dental procedure left her severely brain damaged last month, according to her family's lawyer.

Finely Boyle, 3, had been in hospice since early December, and doctors there removed her feeding tube last week because there was no hope for recovery, L. Richard Fried, Jr., told ABCNews.com. She died Friday night surrounded by her parents and relatives.

"Even the doctors are in tears," Finley's mother, Ashley Boyle, told ABC affiliate KITV in Hawaii earlier this week. "They all have children, too. We were all waiting for her to wake up."

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Finley went to her first dental appointment at Island Dentistry in November, when doctors told her mother she had 10 cavities and would need four root canals, according to the civil complaint against Dr. Lilly Geyer and Island Dentistry.

Shortly after doctors administered a mix of drugs to sedate and numb Finley for the dental procedures on Dec. 3, she went into cardiac arrest, according to the complaint. Fried said that Finley was given too much of each drug and that most of them weren't necessary.

The doctor did not know how to revive Finley and ran out of the practice and down the hallway to find a pediatrician to administer CPR, Fried said.

"She didn't make an attempt to do it, didn't know how for whatever reason," Fried said, adding that Geyer claimed to have been trained in advanced pediatric life support. "It's pretty horrific."

But the lack of oxygen left Finley severely brain damaged and in a vegetative state, he said. She was breathing on her own, but needed a feeding tube to survive, he said.

With no hope for a recovery, hospice doctors removed that feeding tube last week, Fried said.

The website for Island Dentistry says that the practice is "now closed permanently."

ABCNews.com tried reaching out through the email address provided, but received no answer.

The family, which is suing the practice and Geyer for negligence and other wrongful conduct, is seeking damages, but the lawsuit does not specify an amount.

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