Texas Family Awarded $95 Million After Dentist Visit Left Child Blind, Paralyzed

A Texas family was awarded $95 million in damages after their then-4-year-old daughter suffered brain damage during a dentist visit in 2016.

A state district court jury in Houston, Texas, found that former dentist Bethaniel Jefferson was negligent in her treatment of the victim, Nevaeh Hall, following a three-day trial, ABC 13 reported.

Nevaeh suffered drug-induced seizures and oxygen deprivation at the Diamond Dental Practice in Houston in January 2016, according to the report.

Nevaeh, now 10, is conscious but can no longer see, speak, walk or eat on her own, her family testified in the trial. She requires 24-hour medical care.

While her parents were in the waiting room during the 2016 dental appointment, Nevaeh started having seizures. But instead of calling 911, Jefferson decided to treat the then-4-year-old girl herself.

Nevaeh left the clinic in an ambulance and was hospitalized for severe brain damage after the organ was starved of oxygen.

The jury found that the child was improperly restrained and sedated during the treatment of decayed teeth, a release from the family's attorney said.

Her parents, Courissa Clark and Derrick Hall, also alleged that Jefferson kept their daughter away from her mother after she began having seizures.

An attorney for the family said that Jefferson administered five sedatives to the 30-pound child during the seven-hour procedure.

"The evidence in trial was heartbreaking," one of the family's lawyers, Ryan Skiver, said, according to Click 2 Houston. "A 30-pound girl, little more than a toddler, was physically and chemically suffocated by an out-of-control, financially motivated dentist."

Despite being awarded $95.5 million in damages, the Halls may never actually collect the money. The former dentist has already paid out the maximum amount she was able to. The exact figure was not disclosed.

"The problem is the dentist has long since paid the pittance that she could pay. Now, we're sitting here and we're screwed," said Jim Moriarty, one of the family's attorneys, according to ABC 13.

In November 2016, the Texas Dental Board revoked Jefferson's medical license. A year later, Jefferson was indicted by a Harris County grand jury on charges of intentionally and knowingly by omission causing serious bodily injury to a child by failing to seek and provide adequate medical attention.

The trial is set to start in October.

If convicted, Jefferson could be handed a prison sentence of between five to 99 years.