Sergio Gomes De Souza, DDS, was accused by the Arizona Board of Dental Examiners of failing “to understand the severity of the patient’s significant heart failure” in 2023 after one of his patients died in 2023 after receiving anesthesia before dental surgery.
The board stated in a written order that Dr. De Souza should have referred the patient to an oral or maxillofacial surgery setting or used another anesthesia provider that offered cardiac monitoring. The board also said he should not have used five drugs to sedate the patient.
Dr. De Souza was previously prohibited from administering anesthesia for at least one year and was ordered to take several hours of continuing education. He was also banned from doing tooth extractions and implants for six months, but the board received a complaint afterward that Dr. De Souza was still doing these procedures. Dr. De Souza later admitted to performing these services several times.
Following this complaint, the board ordered a revocation hearing for Dr. De Souza, which was scheduled for February. Dr. De Souza instead accepted a settlement that suspended his license for two years. He will have to come before the board to have his license reinstated after the suspension period ends, KNXV reported.
The board began considering changes to the state’s anesthesia requirements last year after multiple patient deaths.
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