A woman filed a negligence lawsuit against the University of Florida (UF) Board of Trustees and its hospital claiming that one of its dentists dropped a dental bur down her throat, causing her to be hospitalized.
In addition to suing the UF board, Jill Doerr filed a lawsuit recently in the Circuit Court of the 8th Judicial District Circuit in and for Alachua County, FL, against UF Shands Teaching Hospital and Clinics, UF Health Shands Ocala, and UF Health South Central.
Doerr alleges that Dr. Sherif Hosney, an employee at UF Health South Central, breached the standards for applicable care in multiple ways. Doerr is seeking more than $100,000 in damages, according to the lawsuit.
In July 2023, Hosney performed a routine dental procedure on Doerr at UF Health Faculty Dental Practice in Gainesville, FL. During treatment, Doerr claims Hosney negligently dropped a 2.5-centimeter dental bur into her throat, causing her to swallow or aspirate while lying back in the chair during her procedure, according to the suit.
Furthermore, Doerr alleges that Hosney failed to immediately find, retrieve, or account for the bur or initiate appropriate emergency protocols to locate the object or prevent more injuries.
Doerr claims that she was transported to the UF Health Shands emergency room, where she underwent a lung exam procedure. Emergency personnel suspected the bur had entered her respiratory system. However, the object was not there, according to the lawsuit.
“Due to the size, shape, and the metallic nature of the dental bur, and the risk of perforation, infection, or obstruction,” Doerr was hospitalized for five days so the object could be safely removed. The bur was found in the cecum of the woman’s intestine, according to the suit.
