WILMINGTON, N.C. — Dr. Henry Patel was a healthy man before getting a dental implant in July of 2020, his wife said. He was a prominent doctor in Wilmington, and went to his dentist for a routine procedure.
Oral surgeon Mark Austin gave him anesthesia and sedated him for his procedure. But Austin gave him too much, according to an autopsy report reviewed by WECT News. Patel’s wife believes the overdose of anesthesia killed him, according to Henry Patel’s wife.
Austin has surrendered his license to practice sedation and has been under investigation by the state since 2021 for abusing controlled substances, according to reporting from WECT News.
Henry Patel’s wife, Shital Patel, has been working for the past two years to bring awareness to what happened and prevent others from losing a loved one the same way.