Winter Park dentist quits four years after dropped tool kills patient
During a two-year period, Dr. Wesley Meyers and staff twice dropped dental tools down Charles Gaal Jr.'s throat
 Photo of the 2.5-inch "wrench" that was retrieved from the lung of Charles K. Gaal, who died in 2007 after surgery to remove the lower lobe of his left lung. A Winter Park dentist , who turned in his license May 20, dropped the small dental tool into Gaal's mouth and he inhaled it into his lung. (SENTINEL ARCHIVE / May 20, 2011) |
A Winter Park dentist facing discipline from the Florida Board of Dentistry turned in his license Friday, according to the Florida Department of Health.
The state board, which has the authority to discipline dentists, moved to revoke the license of Dr. Wesley Meyers at a hearing Friday, but Meyers decided to voluntarily hand over his license instead, his attorney said.
The board acted nearly four years after Meyers dropped a tool down the throat of a patient who later died.
Meyers, 69, has not been practicing since he sold his business last summer, said his attorney, Edwin Bayo. But Meyers appeared at a Florida Board of Dentistry hearing Friday in Jacksonville, facing more complaints about his care of 90-year-old Charles K. Gaal Jr. During a two-year period, Meyers and his staff twice dropped dental tools down the man's throat.
Gaal first visited Meyers' office in October 2006, seeking dental implants that could be used to secure dentures in his bottom jaw.
During that procedure, Meyers and his staff dropped a tiny screwdriver down Gaal's throat, according to Board of Dentistry records. A doctor later removed it from his large intestine.
Despite the incident, Gaal returned to Meyers in May 2007, complaining of soreness in his denture. Records state that while working on Gaal, Meyers dropped a miniature torque wrench down the patient's throat.
X-rays taken later that day at Winter Park Memorial Hospital showed that Gaal had inhaled the mini wrench. Meyers tried unsuccessfully to dislodge the wrench by performing the Heimlich maneuver. Later, surgeons removed part of his lung, but Gaal "never fully regained his health" and died June 19, 2007, from complications of inhaling the mini wrench, state records show.
Originally fined $17,000 by the Board of Dentistry in 2008, plus another $10,000 for the cost of the state's investigation, Meyers also was prohibited from performing more dental-implant procedures until he had further training.
The case was not over, however. In 2010, Gaal's children sued Meyers in civil court. In the course of the lawsuit, Meyers' dental assistant testified in a deposition that the dentist had delegated to her the job of putting "healing caps" on Gaal's new implants.
According to Board of Dentistry records, the dental assistant, Betsy Estes, testified that during the 2006 incident she — not Meyers — dropped the screwdriver into the patient's throat.
It was that testimony that brought Meyers before the Board of Dentistry again. On Friday, the board recommended that Meyers' license be revoked for delegating work that should only be performed by a dentist. It is unlikely, one board member said, that any action would be taken against Estes.
Gaal's family members could not comment, because of terms of their legal settlement with Meyers. However, their attorney, Mark Glassman of Weston, issued a statement.
"With today's decision, the board has demonstrated that it is committed to protecting the people of Florida and Mr. Gaal's family finds comfort in the fact that his death was not in vain," the statement said.
Bayo said Meyers had no comment, "except basically, he's glad it's over."
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