A Lakewood dentist's permit to sedate patients was indefinitely suspended recently due to unsafe practices after a medically fragile man died while undergoing a procedure to have multiple teeth removed.
The state Department of Health's Dental Quality Assurance Commission and Thi Nguyen, who owns Gravelly Lake Dentistry, agreed to an order last month that indefinitely suspended Nguyen's permit to practice moderate sedation with parenteral agents in Washington, according to a copy of the order. Parenteral agents is a term for drugs injected or infused into a patient.
Ngyuen, who previously denied wrongdoing, may still practice as a dentist because his dentist's license remains intact, a state health department spokesperson confirmed.
Nguyen may also petition the commission to reinstate his permit. If successful, he would be required to comply with several conditions, including paying a $25,000 fine, reimbursing the commission $10,000 and undergoing unannounced audits of sedation cases and additional education, the order showed.
Nguyen's sedation permit and dentist's license were both suspended in early November amid allegations of unsafe practices following the patient's death under moderate sedation in June 2022, according to state health department records. In late November, the commission lifted the license suspension, finding insufficient evidence that the discipline was necessary "to ensure that the license holder would no longer pose an immediate threat to the public health and safety."
The permit suspension remained in place pending a full administrative hearing into the allegations, according to a health department document.
In a statement to The News Tribune in November, Nguyen denied all allegations and said he looked forward to proving his case at the hearing. Neither he nor his attorney responded to messages Friday and Monday seeking comment on the most recent action.
On July 29, the commission accepted and entered an order that indefinitely suspended Nguyen's sedation permit, based on findings of unprofessional conduct. He failed to adequately and accurately assess the patient's risk level; didn't consult with the patient's physicians or monitor or document all required vitals in appropriate intervals after giving medications to the patient; and provided an inadequate dose of a life-saving drug before emergency responders arrived, according to the order.
The patient had been undergoing the dental procedure prior to a planned heart valve surgery when he began to experience drops in oxygen-saturation level, heart rate and blood pressure roughly five minutes in, according to the health department. First responders tried for approximately 40 minutes to revive him. The patient's medical history included hypertensive cardiovascular disease, congestive heart failure, chronic kidney disease, morbid obesity and other ailments.
Nguyen has been practicing dentistry in the Lakewood area for 20 years, according to Gravelly Lake Dentistry's website.
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