Unsafe medication practices found at Fort Worth dental office where child died

FORT WORTH, Texas - A search of the dental office where a child died this past April revealed an office that didn't follow mandatory safety practices.

What's New:

Detectives who searched Cuddle Kids Dental Care in Fort Worth found syringes with varying levels of leftover medication located in a box in the office.

48-year-old Chrishelle Hemphill, who was arrested this week after 4-year-old Aithana Arriaga died at the office in April, told investigators the office would reuse medication from a previous dose if the entire medication wasn't used.

Hemphill's dental license was temporarily suspended on July 15, the day of her arrest, by the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners.

The suspension order states chloral hydrate, a discontinued sedative that has no specific reversal agent, was administered to Arriaga.

Child death at dentist's office

The backstory:

Investigators determined Hemphill was responsible for the April death of 4-year-old Aithana Arriaga at Cuddle Kids Dental in Fort Worth.

An arrest affidavit states Arriaga did not wake up following a procedure on her tongue performed by Hemphill on Apr. 1. The victim's mother told police she felt rushed to sign documents for the procedure by Hemphill.

According to the affidavit, Hemphill encouraged Aithana to drink a clear liquid medicine before the surgery. An unusually high amount of meperidine (demerol, an opiate) was found in the child's blood system. 

A medical examiner said the amount in the child's system would have been toxic for an adult.

Investigators also found Hemphill failed to properly address signs of respiratory distress, and gave the victim improper medication to address an opiate overdose.

The affidavit states Hemphill held a popsicle up to Arriaga's lips when the child's head fell backwards. A temp dentist assisted with CPR before the child was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.

Hemphill used an AED to check the child's pulse after finding the victim unresponsive, despite Arriaga having a pulse. Flumazenil was also found in Arriaga's sytem to counteract the meperidine overdose, when Narcan should have been administered.

"Should have never happened"

What they're saying:

"This catastrophic event should have never happened."

Dr. Robert Morgan, a board-certified pediatric dentist, tells FOX 4's Lori Brown that Hemphill did not follow proper procedure in disposing of medication.

"It's not just thrown away. We have to have a witness showing that that's the unused meperidine," Morgan said. "It has to be wasted in the view of at least two people. So there is no chance for a reuse or for an error or, quite frankly, abuse."

Morgan was surprised that neither Hemphill or the assistant recognized the signs of respiratory distress. He encourages parents to make sure the second person monitoring a dental procedure are certified with Pediatric Advanced Life Support, or PALS.

"What should have been a simple rescue of an airway appears to have cost a child a life."

What's next:

Hemphill is out of jail on a $10,000 bond. Her attorney did not respond to FOX 4's request for comment.