4-Year-Old Autistic Boy in Vancouver Dies After Dental Procedure at Must Love Kids Pediatric Dentistry

In a simple trip to the dentist gone wrong, four-year-old Mykel Wayne Peterson from Portland, Oregon, who has autism, died after a routine dental procedure at Must Love Kids Pediatric Dentistry in Vancouver.

During their dental visit at Must Love Kids on March 10, FOX News said that the boy had trouble keeping his mouth open.

As a solution, the dental center, which has a certified anesthesologist, gave the four-year-old boy a common anesthesia called Ketamine, so that his dentist could check if Mykel's teeth needed filling or crown. To ensure that Mykel will keep still, the center's anesthesologist gave the boy another shot of Ketamine.

“The dentist was telling me everything she did with his teeth, and she was going to check to see if he was awake yet," Thmeka Curry, Mykel’s mother, told KGW8. "The anesthesiologist started to check his pulse and was shaking him and at this point I am still not aware anything happened to my son."

Mykel was declared dead upon arrival at a nearby hospital. A medical examiner is still determining the cause of his sudden death while the family needs to wait for up to eight weeks for the result of Mykel's toxicology report.

Meanwhile, Must Love Kids Pediatric Dentistry has not released a comment regarding the matter, except for an official statement saying that the institution hires highly qualified and certified anesthesologists who have performed more than 1,900 procedures involving anesthesia and deep sedation in the last three and a half years.

"He will be forever loved for the way that he selflessly loved them and for the memories he left...He was loved by all and will be truly missed," the family wrote on Mykel's Go Fund Me page, where people can donate to cover the costs of Mykel's funeral.