Dr. Hong‑An Jan, a California physician, has been charged with felony involuntary manslaughter in the 2024 death of 2‑day‑old Charles Wang following a circumcision at his private clinic in Garden Grove. The case centers on the improper use of a powerful opioid instead of the expected local anesthetic during the procedure.
What led to the baby’s death
On February 27, 2024, Jan allegedly injected the newborn with Demerol (meperidine), a synthetic opioid painkiller, during the circumcision, court documents and reporting show. The baby’s toxicology report later revealed high levels of Demerol instead of the standard local anesthetic Xylocaine. The Orange County coroner ruled the cause of death as bronchopneumonia due to acute Demerol intoxication, indicating the opioid overdose as the central cause.
After the procedure, Charles’s parents, Yiqi Wang and Hongyu Lu, reported that their son appeared lethargic and unresponsive, symptoms they raised with Jan. The lawsuit alleges that Jan only briefly “looked” at the baby, downplayed the symptoms as “normal” post‑circumcision reactions, and sent the family home without ordering blood tests or further evaluation, even though the signs were consistent with opioid overdose.
Criminal and civil consequences
Charles died the next day after being rushed to the hospital, prompting an investigation by the Irvine Police Department and the county coroner’s office. Jan was later charged with involuntary manslaughter, pleaded not guilty on February 19, 2026, and is scheduled for a pre‑trial hearing on May 1, 2026. His medical license was simultaneously suspended by court order pending the outcome of the case.
In parallel, the baby’s parents are pursuing a wrongful‑death, medical‑malpractice, and fraud lawsuit against Jan, accusing him of gross negligence in both performing the circumcision and failing to respond adequately to the infant’s opioid‑intoxication symptoms. The case has drawn attention to safety standards and oversight in outpatient pediatric procedures performed in private clinics.
