SCOTTSDALE, AZ — One of the last photos of Derek Swanson was taken in the dental chair with a big smile on his face.
He captioned the photo: “Yesterday, new car. Today, implant! Fun never stops.”
“He was so excited,” said his mother, Brenda Swanson. “He had fixed a lot of teeth, and they were looking really nice.”
Brenda said she went with him to an oral surgeon for a dental implant the morning of March 3, 2023. Derek was one of the first appointments of the day, she said, so there weren’t a lot of people in the waiting room.
“He turned around, and he gave me that wink and said, ‘love you.’”
She waited.
“There was a hospital right nearby with an emergency room. So I heard a siren, and I just assumed it was from the hospital, not realizing that the ambulance had come.”
She was unprepared for what happened next.
She said she was called back into the office and told there were complications. Her son had been rushed to the emergency room.
She called her husband.
“I said, ‘Bill, you better come. Something doesn't feel right.’”
She walked into the emergency room and saw the nurses.
“I could tell by the look, and some of the faces, this was serious,” she said.
Derek was on life support.
“This happened on the third of March 2023,” Brenda said. “We took Derek off life support on the 10th of March.”
The Maricopa County Medical Examiner ruled Derek’s death was due to complications of anesthesia administration during a dental procedure.
Brenda and Bill Swanson have never spoken publicly about what happened — until now.
In a recent interview with ABC15, their eyes filled with tears as they talked about their son.
He was a “gym junkie,” who liked to hike and golf. A former football player, he had plans to go back and help coach at the Mesa high school where he graduated.
“He was known as ‘The Mover,’ because if anybody needed help moving, Derek was the one that they called,” Brenda said.
The Swansons said they are speaking out to fight for accountability and new safeguards at the dentist.
They have filed a wrongful death lawsuit seeking monetary damages against Dr. Derek Lamb and Scottsdale Facial and Oral Surgery.
“We think Dr. Lamb made a variety of mistakes, not just in proceeding with the procedure, but in failing to adapt to the changing circumstances,” said Shannon Clark, an attorney who represents the family along with attorney Eleanor Shaffer.
“Dr. Lamb, in this case, was not only doing the procedure, but he was also responsible for the anesthesiology aspect of it,” Clark said.
The lawsuit alleges a series of failures during anesthesia that left Derek without enough oxygen, resulting in a brain injury that caused his death.
“You ought to be able to go to the dentist’s office and leave a dentist's office. You should not go in there and not walk out,” Clark said.
Dr. Lamb and his attorneys did not respond to emails and phone calls from ABC15, requesting comment. In a response to the lawsuit filed in court, they deny any negligence. They say Dr. Lamb met the standard of care and did not cause or contribute to Derek’s injuries or death.
The Arizona State Board of Dental Examiners, the state agency that licenses dentists, investigated and said there were several deviations from the standard of care.
The dental board said Dr. Lamb failed to consider risk factors, including the fact that Derek smoked cannabis the morning of the procedure. The board said cannabis increases the risk of a throat spasm that can close off an airway in patients undergoing anesthesia.
Dr. Lamb spoke to the dental board as they reviewed his case in 2023.
He said Derek was “talking normally” the morning of the procedure.
“No evidence that he was impaired in any way. I did consider the fact that he had smoked marijuana that morning,” he said.
Dr. Lamb also told the board: “I don't believe that things that I did were below the standard of care.”
As a result of the investigation, the board determined Dr. Lamb’s conduct was unprofessional. He had to complete 12 hours of continuing education, and his anesthesia permit was reinstated after a three-month suspension.
As for Derek’s family, they’re pushing for new laws.
In Arizona, an oral surgeon can perform dental surgery and also give the patient anesthesia as long as they have the required training and permit from the state dental board. Some oral surgeons will hire a second person, who is licensed to do anesthesia, even though it’s not required by law. This is what’s called a two-provider system.
The Swansons want the law changed to require two highly trained people in the room: One focused on surgery, the other licensed in anesthesia.
No state currently requires this. Some in the dental industry have successfully fought efforts to change the law in states, such as California and North Carolina, over concerns that it could increase costs.
The Swansons believe adding more safeguards will save lives. They hope an Arizona lawmaker will see their story and support their cause.
“No parent, no wife, no husband, son, daughter should have to go through this,” Brenda said. “We’d like to see some changes. So that's what we hope.”
Email ABC15 Investigator Anne Ryman at anne.ryman@abc15.com, call her at 602-685-6345, or connect on X, formerly known as Twitter, and Facebook.
