DENTAL SCHOOL USES TOO MUCH LAUGHING GAS

The University of Iowa dental school is apologizing for accidentally exposing more than 100 child patients to potentially unsafe levels of nitrous oxide, also known as “laughing gas”. The school says an error occurred during the clinic’s remodeling, when a contractor switched the tubes carrying nitrous oxide and oxygen during installation. The clinic fixed the problem April 21st. 124 patients who underwent procedures at the pediatric dentistry clinic between March 1 and April 20 were given higher than intended amounts of nitrous oxide, which was used as an anesthetic. Those patients face an “extremely small risk” of long-term health effects. The school notified affected families about the low risk so they can “seek the appropriate evaluation and treatment if needed.”
* An “extremely small risk”, which means “you can count on it.”
* Switching the oxygen with the nitrous oxide. That’s a laugh.
* For a few brief days, people were actually happy to visit the dentist.
* One sign of overexposure is if you find yourself laughing at CBS sitcoms.
* I tell you what: this is no laughing matter.
* Maybe I should rephrase that.
* I picture an entire courtroom where everyone is laughing and suing.
* They knew there was a problem when patients said to pull all their teeth out because it felt great.
* So the contractor who remodeled the clinic jumped in and started hooking up hoses? I think I see where the problem is here.