A woman undergoing an endoscopy who lost 5 teeth after biting down on a bite block and later sued the hospital and anesthesiology provider for medical malpractice recently had her case dismissed by a New York judge.

Christine Neuner went to Huntington Hospital in Huntington, N.Y., in 2010 after having severe vomiting, court documents say. Gastroenterologist David Gabbaizadeh, MD, says he recommended she get an endoscopy to check for Barrett's disease.

During the procedure, Ms. Neuner was given a bite block, court documents say. The endoscopy happened without incident, however, when she went into recovery, she woke up suddenly, sat up and began clenching down on the bite block, anesthesiologist Davina Harkey, MD, and Yvonne Weigel, RN, who were in the room, say.

As she was biting down, Dr. Harkey and Ms. Weigel repeatedly asked Ms. Neuner to open her mouth, but she was not coherent, according to court documents. She also began pushing the bite block with her tongue and 5 teeth broke off from the front of her mouth.

Ms. Neuner says she did not remember the teeth breaking, and when she woke up, a nurse and hospital administrator apologized and told her they would take care of her costs to see a dentist. Ms. Neuner had a denture fitted but says it caused her pain, and was later given implants.

Ms. Neuner had poor dental health, brushed her teeth once a week, never flossed and did not consistently see a dentist, court documents say. She also took narcotics for pain management, smoked cigarettes and had trigeminal neuralgia, all of which contributed to her poor dentition.

A dentist who saw Ms. Neuner after the incident says in the court documents that her teeth likely broke off because of decayed fractured roots. The judge found that Ms. Neuner's injuries were not caused by any care, and instead were because of extensive decay, weakness and the force of her biting down.

When reached for comment, Bauman & Kunkis, listed in court documents as Ms. Neuner's law firm, said they no longer represent her and could not comment. The attorney representing Dr. Harkey from McHenry, Horan & Lapping was unavailable to comment. Huntington Hospital's representation, Kerley, Walsh, Matera and Cinquemani, did not immediately return requests for comment.

Kendal Gapinski