2026 Going Under: Legal Risks, Timing Failures, and Liability Exposure in In-Office Anesthesia Dentistry

1 CE Credit | PACE Subject Code: 550

• Identify the high-risk inflection points in office-based anesthesia that most frequently lead to high-severity malpractice claims.
• Evaluate patient selection criteria and screening protocols to identify anatomical and medical contraindications for in-office sedation.
• Analyze real-world adverse event data and case studies to understand the legal consequences of monitoring lapses and delayed emergency responses.
• Implement rigorous, legally defensible documentation strategies that accurately reflect the patient’s physiological status throughout the perioperative period.
• Design and execute system-level safeguards and emergency response protocols to minimize liability exposure and maximize patient safety.

Speaker: Jacqueline E. Clarke, J.D.

Jacqueline Clarke received her BA in Literature and Film from Kalamazoo College in 2010, and her Juris Doctorate from Michigan State University College of Law in 2013. She is admitted to practice law in both the Michigan and Illinois state courts, as well as the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan. Before joining MedPro Group, she worked as a litigation attorney at Smith, Haughey, Rice & Roegge in Ann Arbor, Michigan. There, she specialized in the defense of hospitals, healthcare facilities, physicians, nurses, and dentists in all stages of the licensing, claims, and litigation processes. She also provided risk management consultative services to a number of institutional clients, including the University of Michigan Health System, Spectrum Health, and Beaumont Health. Jacqueline joined MedPro in 2018 and helped our dental division achieve a trial win rate of 95% and a closed without payment rate over 80%. Jacqueline’s responsibilities include developing and delivering risk management and patient safety services to MedPro-insured dentists, students/residents, and national dental organizations. Jacqueline also serves in a business development role by providing educational seminars on risk reduction and proactive risk management to prospective clients, distribution partners and dental students and residents.

Conflict of Interest: MedPro