A doctor in California is currently under scrutiny after a tragic incident involving a newborn. Dr. Hong-An Jan is facing criminal charges following the death of a 3-day-old infant, whom he allegedly administered a narcotic instead of a local anesthetic, as detailed in an ongoing lawsuit.

The charges against Dr. Jan include involuntary manslaughter concerning the untimely death of baby Charles Wang, according to records from the Orange County court. Additionally, the bereaved parents have filed a wrongful death and medical malpractice lawsuit against him.

As outlined in the lawsuit acquired by Law & Crime, Dr. Jan conducted the circumcision on February 27, 2024, at his private clinic situated in Garden Grove Medical Plaza. Shortly after the procedure, the infant showed alarming signs such as severe lethargy, refusal to feed, and unusual unresponsiveness, the lawsuit claims.

Despite these troubling symptoms, the boy’s parents, Yiqi Wang and Hongyu Lu, were reportedly reassured by Dr. Jan that what they observed was normal, the complaint states. Tragically, Charles passed away the following day.

The lawsuit further accuses Dr. Jan of deliberately administering Demerol, a powerful Schedule II narcotic, in place of Xylocaine, a commonly used local anesthetic for circumcisions. In his medical documentation, Dr. Jan purportedly recorded the use of Xylocaine. However, toxicology results revealed that Charles had “excessive levels” of Demerol in his system.

Plaintiffs allege that the doctor “intentionally administered” Demerol, a Schedule II narcotic, instead of Xylocaine, a local anesthetic typically used for circumcisions. Jan allegedly wrote in his medical report that he used the anesthetic. Toxicology reports stated that the boy had “excessive levels” of Demerol in his system.

“The administration of that narcotic was not disclosed to Plaintiffs, and its risks were concealed until the unveiling of an indictment, which, for the first time, disclosed the false records and wrong use of a narcotic sedative,” wrote plaintiff lawyer Leodis C. Matthews.

Charles’ death was initially deemed to be of natural causes.

“The claims in this case are primarily based upon the intentional misconduct, unauthorized drug administration, deceit, concealment of material facts, and conscious disregard for the life and safety of a newborn child,” the suit said.

Matthews writes in the lawsuit that there were no immediate complications after Charles’ birth. The parents opted to have Jan perform the circumcision after Charles and his mother were discharged from the hospital. But about an hour after the procedure, Charles, who was initially an active baby, became “extremely lethargic and nonresponsive, difficult to arouse, refusing any feeding, and was not acting normally as a newborn,” the lawsuit said.

The parents called Jan, who allegedly told them to “closely monitor” the baby but did not raise an alarm. But as the day went on, Charles’ condition seemed to be worsening so they brought him back to Jan’s clinic. Per the suit, Jan “looked” at the baby and assured the parents that everything was fine and told them to go home.

After falling asleep around 11 p.m. with the baby still lethargic, Lu awoke around four hours later to find Charles was “cold to the touch, despite the room being warm, he was not breathing and was completely unresponsive.” The parents rushed him to the hospital where doctors tried to revive him. However, the attempts failed and doctors pronounced the boy dead shortly after 4 a.m.

Jan did not have parental authorization to use the narcotic and instead “misled” the boy’s parents into thinking he used the local anesthetic, Matthews wrote. The plaintiffs also say that Jan’s reassurances that Charles’ symptoms in the hours after the circumcision were “materially false and misleading.”

Police began investigating after the cause of death was determined to be a drug overdose, Matthews said. Jan was later indicted by a grand jury.

According to the Los Angeles Times, a detective with the Irvine Police Department called Jan’s actions “negligent and preventable” during a court hearing. Jan pleaded not guilty and is set to appear in court on May 1. The Times reports that Jan’s medical license was suspended pending the outcome of the criminal case.