A 23-year-old fashion intern died after suffering a massive cardiac arrest in a dentist's chair while she was having a wisdom tooth removed.
Victim Gaia Pagliuca's heart simply stopped after she was given six doses of two different local anaesthetics during the procedure.
Prosecutors now investigating her death in Petrignano, central Italy, after an autopsy revealed that she had died from local anaesthetic systemic toxicity, or LAST.
Gaia Pagliuca poses in undated photo. She died three days after a tooth operation on Sept. 29, 2024. Note: Private photo taken from social media. (Newsflash/NX)
Forensic medics believe Gaia's heart stopped beating when her heart suffered a seizure triggered by the anaesthetics she had been given.
The condition can be reversed with an antidote if it is spotted early but by the time Gaia was rushed to hospital, it was too late.
Design school graduate Gaia had been at a routine appointment for a filling 10 months ago, on 26th September 2024, when the dentist said one of her wisdom teeth had to be removed.
But moments after being injected with the painkillers she collapsed and was rushed to the intensive care unit at Santa Maria della Misericordia hospital.
Gaia Pagliuca poses in undated photo. She died three days after a tooth operation on Sept. 29, 2024. Note: Private photo taken from social media. (Newsflash/NX)
Medics managed to restart her heart with a LAST antidote but Gaia never recovered from a coma and died three days later.
The dentist who treated her and his two daughters, who also worked with him, are facing manslaughter charges.
Prosecutors say they also uncovered a series of safety violations like not keeping medical records and failing to get signed patient consent forms.
The dentist, who was not named, denied any wrong-doing and says Gaia died from a freak allergic reaction.
His lawyer Luca Maori described her death as a "tragic misfortune" and said they will request a second autopsy.
Gaia Pagliuca poses in undated photo. She died three days after a tooth operation on Sept. 29, 2024. Note: Private photo taken from social media. (Newsflash/NX)
But Dr Sergio Scalise, who performed the first post mortem examination, said: "As far as we know, the young woman had no known allergies and had never shown any signs of such problems."
Gaia's family says she was in perfect health and had never smoked or drunk alcohol.
They described her as a "sunny girl" who was working as an intern at Italian fashion house Bottega Veneta and hoped to one day become a fashion designer herself.
The investigation continues.
(Simona Kitanovska / newsX)