Dentist Drops Instrument Down Patient’s Throat During Root Canal

CHICAGO (August 2, 2016) – Attorneys Patrick A. Salvi and Rob L. Kohen of the Chicago law firm Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C., obtained a $675,000 settlement in Cook County on behalf of a man who was injured after a dentist dropped a barbed broach down his throat.

On October 1, 2014, Janusz Pawlowicz of Hoffman Estates visited Dr. Beata Kozar-Warchalowska at Gentle Dental Services in Des Plaines, Ill. to have a root canal procedure. During the procedure, Dr. Kozar-Warchalowska dropped a barbed broach (a dental file) down Mr. Pawlowicz’s throat. When Mr. Pawlowicz noticed Dr. Kozar-Wachalowska searching in his mouth for something, she initially told Mr. Pawlowicz that she did not know what had happened to the broach she was using.

Three days after the root canal procedure, Mr. Pawlowicz began to experience nausea and severe abdominal pain. On October 10, Mr. Pawlowicz went to the hospital and had an x-ray done that revealed the dental instrument was lodged in his gastrointestinal system.

Mr. Pawlowicz was forced to have surgery to remove the broach from his stomach.

“I feel very lucky and thankful to be alive,” Pawlowicz said.

For more information or a copy of the complaint, please contact Marcie Mangan, Public Relations Manager, at 312-372-1227 or mmangan@salvilaw.com.

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[JANUS PAWLOWICZ and BARBARA PAWLOWICZ v. GENTLE DENTAL SERVICES, LTD., and Illinois Corporation and BEATA KOZAR-WARCHALOWSKA, DDS. Case No.: 2015 L 003984]