Michigan woman dies after dentist visit, family claims

April Walters (Fox2)

Amber Waddell’s mother went to the dentist for a procedure on Friday— and never came back. Now Waddell and her family want answers as to how April Walters, 46, died after she was only supposed to get her teeth pulled.

Walters went to Southfield Dental Care in Southfield, Michigan, to have 18 of her teeth pulled due to an infection, Fox2 reported. Though she had health issues— sarcoidosis, asthma, COPD, high blood pressure, diabetes, and she required use of an oxygen tank— Walters had been cleared to have her teeth pulled.

When she arrived at the dentist, the medical assistant was concerned with her vital signs, Walters’ sister, Crystal Cutright, told Fox2, as her heart rate was 130, but the dentist moved forward with the procedure.

The dentist stopped the procedure after pulling 16 of her teeth, advising Walters to have her heart checked because her heart rate was high.

Cutright and her husband, James, took Walters to the car but her oxygen tanks ran out and she was having difficulty breathing. Cutright went back to the dentist’s office for help and the staff brought more oxygen but Cutright claimed no one knew how to administer CPR.

"When the dentist came out she started yelling 'I told you to take her to the hospital' so I yelled back at her 'I have to get her in the car in order for that to happen,’” Cutright told Fox2.

The family is awaiting results of an autopsy and Fox2 reported an investigation is underway at the dentist’s office.

"We feel deeply for what happened," Caroline Oldsey, who works at the dentist office’s human resources office, told Fox2. "Our thoughts and prayers are with them."

Walters’ family wants to know what happened.

"A 46-year-old woman should not die in the parking lot of a dentist's office," Waddell told Fox2.