A court in China’s Hainan Province has sentenced an intern dentist who carried out a tooth extraction without a medical licence or the patient’s consent, after the patient later died following complications.
According to reports, the defendant, identified as Huang, was working as an intern at a dental clinic and had not obtained either a physician qualification certificate or a medical practice licence.
The incident occurred in April 2024 when Huang allegedly removed a patient’s braces and extracted a tooth without first obtaining a signed informed consent form.
Following the procedure, the patient suffered persistent bleeding and was rushed for treatment. Despite medical efforts, the patient later died after developing multiple organ failure.
Court documents revealed that the patient had been suffering from several serious underlying medical conditions, including acute promyelocytic leukaemia, a form of blood cancer, as well as severe hypertension and Type 2 diabetes.
The court ruled that Huang’s unauthorised dental procedure constituted illegal medical practice. However, it found that the patient’s death was primarily caused by the progression of his pre-existing illnesses and related complications, rather than the tooth extraction itself.
Judges determined that the extraction and subsequent bleeding contributed to the deterioration of the patient’s condition but were not the direct or principal cause of death.
During the proceedings, the court facilitated multiple rounds of mediation between the victim’s family, Huang and the dental clinic involved. A settlement was eventually reached, with Huang agreeing to pay compensation of 200,000 yuan, while the clinic agreed to pay an additional 170,000 yuan, bringing the total compensation to 370,000 yuan.
The victim’s family accepted the settlement and issued a letter of forgiveness to the defendant.
The court ultimately sentenced Huang to 18 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, and imposed a fine of 20,000 yuan for illegal medical practice.
