A tragic error has led to criminal charges for a doctor involved in a newborn’s procedure gone wrong. Dr. Hong-An Jan, practicing in Garden Grove, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter following the death of a two-day-old infant, Charles Wang, during a circumcision.
Dr. Jan, who had cared for Charles’s mother throughout her pregnancy and delivery, recommended the circumcision. However, the procedure took a fatal turn in February 2024 when he mistakenly administered Demerol, a narcotic painkiller, instead of the intended local anesthetic, Xylocaine.
Following the procedure, Charles’s parents, Yiqi Wang and Hongyu Lu, noticed their son was lethargic and refusing to feed. Despite their concerns, Dr. Jan reportedly dismissed these symptoms as normal and reassured the family there was no reason for alarm.
In the wake of this incident, Dr. Jan’s medical license has been suspended, and he now faces a felony charge. He has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing on May 1. The case continues to unfold, with the medical community and public closely watching the proceedings.
During the procedure, he allegedly injected Charles with Demerol, a narcotic painkiller, instead of Xylocaine, a local anesthetic, and performed the circumcision.
His parents then took the baby home, where Charles refused feedings and appeared lethargic. The baby’s parents, Yiqi Wang and Hongyu Lu, said Jan told them the symptoms were “normal and not cause for concern.”
Concerned, the parents took him back to Jan’s clinic. He reassured them again that the symptoms were normal, they claimed.
“Jan only ‘looked’ at [Charles] and reassured [his parents] that these symptoms were ‘normal’ post-circumcision reactions and advised them to return home,” a civil suit from the parents against Jan and South Coast Global Medical Center in Santa Ana claims. “He did not take any blood samples or order any laboratory studies, even though he observed the symptoms … symptomatic of opiate substances.”
The baby was found cold to the touch around 3 a.m. the next day. Charles died of bronchopneumonia due to acute Demerol intoxication, according to a coroner report obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
A toxicology report revealed there was no local anesthetic in Charles’ system, but there were high levels of Demerol. Local anesthetic is commonly used during such procedures.
The Wangs were unaware of the toxicology findings until prosecutors filed charges against Jan this year.
They alleged that Jan misled them by saying he only used Lidocaine and hid the use of Demerol in medical records.
Irvine Police Department Detective Brian Feeling claimed that Jan’s actions were “negligent and preventable,” in a court declaration.
Jan had told Feeling that he did have Demerol in his clinic but denied that he would’ve mixed it up with a local anesthetic.
The newborn’s parents are also suing Jan in civil court for wrongful death, medical malpractice and fraud.
A person at Jan’s office told The California Post that he had retired from medicine. He graduated from the National Taiwan University College of Medicine in 1967.
Circumcision deaths are rare. Just 100 babies die in the U.S. from the operation or associated complications.
