A six-year-old girl died Thursday hours after being sedated at a private dentist clinic in Alzira, Valencia, health authorities confirmed Saturday. The clinic did not have authorization to administer the intravenous sedation reportedly used during the procedure.
The Valencian Health Department said the facility is authorized only “as a dental clinic with dentistry and stomatology activity,” which permits use of local anesthetics but not sedations with intravenous drugs. Health officials warned such sedations can cause cardiorespiratory arrest.
The child was treated to extract baby teeth and place fillings. According to the clinic’s owner, staff inserted an IV to sedate the girl “to make her more relaxed.” The owner added that afterward the child “left perfectly fine” and that they did not know “what could have happened.”
A second patient, a four-year-old girl treated the same day at the same clinic, remains in the intensive care unit of the Hospital Clínic in Valencia.
Following the deaths, the inspection service of the regional health authority opened an inquiry and ordered the precautionary suspension of the clinic’s activities. The head of the Court of Instruction Number 5 of Alzira has also opened preliminary judicial proceedings to investigate the case.
Authorities say the investigation is ongoing.