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In 2014, the day after Ryan del Grosso got his wisdom teeth removed, he passed out at home. His father hadn’t thought too much about it – but then it kept happening, and Ryan began to lose weight and developed a high fever accompanied by chills.
After several weeks of this, Del Grosso visited the doctor and was told that he had endocarditis, a heart infection that takes root in the lining. The bacteria that caused this infection is called Enterococcus faecalis – feces.
Del Grosso’s father, Rene, very strongly expressed his disbelief, “It’s beyond belief what this [oral surgeon] was able to do.”
Dr. John Vecchione, the oral surgeon to blame, has had 15 patients diagnosed with endocarditis in the past two years.
Twelve of them have needed heart surgery, and one has since passed away.
Dr. Vecchione, who is based in New Jersey, has had his dentistry license revoked by New Jersey’s State Board of Dentistry.
According to Attorney General Christopher Porrino, Dr. Vecchione has deviated from “infection control standards, as revealed in three separate inspections, represent a lack of judgment and failure to recognize the grave risk to which he is exposing his patients.”
Dr. Vecchione did agree to “maintain infection control improvements,” but investigations suggest otherwise.
In Dr. Vecchione’s office, he doesn’t always use sterile water or tools and often improperly handles and stores medication.
The Board of Dentistry has tried multiple times to address infection control issues, but the state of Dr. Vecchione’s office doesn’t reflect any of these changes.
His dentistry license has since been revoked.
For patients like Ryan del Grosso, their lives have been inalterably changed. Del Grosso is on medication 24/7, suffers from hearing loss, and can’t sleep well at night.
“The worst part is this didn’t have to happen,” Rene said. “This whole thing could have been prevented, and it was luck of the draw my kid and 14 other people were the ones affected.”
