Tuesday, March 17, 2009

A Look Into Kool Smiles In Kentucky

Each week I'm going to be taking a look into state filings of Kool Smiles, I'm starting with Kentucky.

Organization Number- 0669850

Name- Kool Smiles, PSC

Type-Kentucky Corporation

Status-Active

Standing-Good

File Date- 7/30/2007

Last Annual Report- 5/14/2008

Principal Office- 400 Galleria Parkway, Suite 800, Atlanta, GA, 30339

Registered Agent-CT Corporation System, 4169 Westport Road, Louisville, Kentucky, 40207

 

Corporate Officers:

President: Tu Tran

Director: Tu Tran

Incorporator: Tu Tran

Kentucky- Small Smiles and FORBA Holding

Kentucky

FORBA Holding, LLC
Small Smiles of Lexington, PSC
Small Smiles of Louisville, PSC

3-17-09 report

FORBA Holding, LLC

Organization Number-0674614
Organization Name- FORBA Holding, LLC
Type-Foreign Limited Liability Company
State Originated-Deleware
Origination Date-4-17-2006
Status-Active
Standing-Good
File Date-9-28-2007
Principal Office-618 Church Street, Suite 520 Nashville, TN
Signed by Manager-Rodney Cawood, Manager, EVP, CFO

KY 2008 Annual Report
KY 2009 Annual Report




Small Smiles Dental Center of Lexington, PSC
Organization Number-0673476
Name- Small Smiles Dental Center of Lexington, PSC

Type-Kentucky Professional Corporation
Status- Good
Standing- Active
File Date - 9/12/2007
Last Annual Report- 7/29/2008
Principal Office - 618 Church Street, Suite 520, Nashville, TN 37219

Registered Agent- National Registered Agent, 400 West Market Street, Suite 1800, Louisville, Kentucky.
Authorized Shares- 1000
Current Officers:
President- Kenneth E. Knott
Secretary-William Nash
Director-Robert F. Andrus
Director-Robert F. Andrus
Shareholder-Robert F. Andrus
Shareholder-Robert F. Andrus
Incorporator- Kenneth E. Knott
Assumed Names:
Small Smiles Dental Center
Small Smiles Dental Centers of Lexington
________________________________________


Small Smiles Of Louisville, PSC
Organization Number- 0662918
Name- Small Smiles of Louisville, PSC
Type-Kentucky Professional Corporation
Status-Active
Standing-Good
File Date-4/24/2007
Last Annual Report-7/29/2008
Principal Office: - 415 N. Grand Ave, Pueblo, Colorado 81003 (isn't that FORBA's address in Colorado...hmmm)
Registered Agent- CT Corporation System, 4169 Westport Road, Louisville, Kentucky 40207
Shares-1000
Corporate Officers:
President- Jodi Kuhn
Secretary-William Nash
Director-Jodi Kuhn
Shareholder- Kenneth E. Knott
Shareholder- Robert Andrus

Shareholder-Jodi Kuhn
Incorporator-Jodi Kuhn
Assumed Names: Small Smiles Dental Centers of Louisville, Small Smiles Dental Clinic, Small Smiles Dental Clinic of Louisville.
____________________________________________
Now it's my understanding that Kenneth Knott and Robert Andrus were fired by FORBA over some 'credentialing fraud', but I don't know that as fact.
They used to be listed as the following until FORBA updated their Corporate Contact sheet in August or September last year.
Ken Knott- SVP Central Region
Robert Andrus-SVP West Region
So doesn't this mean these two either worked solely for FORBA and lent their name and dental licenses for business filings OR they owns the clinics in Kentucky as well as work for the company that so called 'manages" those clinics.
That being the case, should it not be these three, (Ken Knott, Bob Andrus, and Jodi Kuhn suing me in Federal Court instead of the company that just 'manages' the clinics for them?
But wait, according to the trademark office, FORBA Holding owns the rights to the Small Smiles logo. Boy this sure is confusing isn't it.


update: 2-1-2010



Small Smiles of Louisville, PSC
Kentucky Organization Number: 0662918
Formed 4-24-2007 By Jodi Kuhn
Name and address of Original Shareholder:
Jodi Kuhn
5615 Sarah's Oak Drive
Cincinnati, OH 45248

Name and address of Incorporator:
Jodi Kuhn
5615 Sarah's Oak Drive
Cincinnati, OH 45248

Mailing Address of Principal Office:
415 N. Grand Ave
Pueblo, CO 81003
Status-Active
Standing-Good
File Date-4/24/2007
Last Annual Report-6/17/2009
Principal Office: - 415 N. Grand Ave, Pueblo, Colorado 81003 (isn't that FORBA's address in Colorado...hmmm)
Registered Agent- CT Corporation System, 4169 Westport Road, Louisville, Kentucky 40207
Shares-1000
Corporate Officers:
President- Jodi Kuhn
Secretary-William Nash
Director-Jodi Kuhn
Shareholder-Jodi Kuhn
Incorporator-Jodi Kuhn
Assumed Names: Small Smiles Dental Centers of Louisville, Small Smiles Dental Clinic, Small Smiles Dental Clinic of Louisville.
(Note in 2009 report Dr. Robert F. Andrus and Dr. Kenneth E. Knott are no longer 'shareholders')
KY 2008 Annual Report
KY 2009 Annual Report
On June 25,2009 they finally changed the Principal Office address to FORBA Holding, LLC's address at 618 Church Street, Suite 520, Nashville, TN.

Ky Change of Principal Office 2009

___________________________________________________________________
Small Smiles Of Lexington, PCS
Kentucky Organization Number: 0673476

Formed 9-12-2007 By Dr. Kenneth E. Knott

Name and address of Original Shareholder:
Robert Andrus

1499 Blake Street

Denver, CO 80202

&
Kenneth Knott
7530 S. Biloxi Ct.
Aurora, CO 80016

Name and address of Incorporator:
Kenneth Knott
7530 S. Biloxi Ct.
Aurora, CO 80016
Mailing Address of Principal Office:
618 Church Street, Suite 520

Nashville, TN 37219
Organization Number-0673476
Status- Good
Standing- Active
File Date - 9/12/2007
Last Annual Report- 6/17/2009
Principal Office - 618 Church Street, Suite 520, Nashville, TN 37219

Registered Agent- National Registered Agent, 400 West Market Street, Suite 1800, Louisville, Kentucky.
Authorized Shares- 1000
Current Officers:
President- Jodi Kuhn

Secretary-William Nash
Director-Jodi Kuhn

Director-William Nash

Shareholder-Jodi Kuhn

Assumed Names:
Small Smiles Dental Center
Small Smiles Dental Centers of Lexington
(Note in the 2009 report Dr. Robert F. Andrus and Dr. Kenneth E. Knott are no longer 'shareholders' or 'directors')
KY 2008 Annual Report
KY 2009 Annual Report





Looks like Dr. Jodi Kuhn has laid a hell of a lot on the line for FORBA Small Smiles House of Horrors.

Kansas TV Station Looks Into Small Smiles

Families Concerned About Small Smiles

Posted: March 17, 2009 03:40 PM

Updated: March 17, 2009 09:30 PM

Jason and Naomi Pinkston called FactFinder Investigators shortly after taking their four-year-old daughter, Aerial, to the dentist. They say they knew right away something wasn't right.

"I feel they took advantage of my daughter to make a profit," says Naomi.

Jason says the family did research shortly after their experience at the clinic.

"All you have to do is Google these guys to get page after page of horror stories. It felt like a nightmare we couldn't wake up from," says Jason.

That nightmare, as Jason describes it, is the work Small Smiles performed on Aerial. The family showed us before and after pictures of Aerial's teeth. Her baby teeth were showing signs of decay so Small Smiles ground them down and put crowns on them. But the Pinkstons say their problems began before any work was performed.

"She didn't explain anything to me about why it would be important to Aerial to have crowns-whether we didn't do it what would happen or what a crown was. Absolutely nothing," says Naomi.

We don't know if the work was necessary; it's too late to get a second opinion because her teeth are gone. We can tell you four of Aerials front teeth that were crowned by Small Smiles will have to be pulled by another dentist.

We wanted to talk to Small Smiles about Aerial's dental work, but instead were referred to a company in Washington, D.C. Spokesperson Don Meyer tells us the clinic thinks Aerial's treatment plan was appropriate, but the execution was less than ideal. He says because of what happened, dentists in the Wichita clinic will seek continuing education.

"What we're finding is that some of our dentists may require some extra training on what's called a ‘New Smile Crown'," says Meyer.

Although Small Smiles markets exclusively to children, we were told none of the dentists at the clinic have pediatric qualifications. They are trained only in general dentistry.

We talked to pediatric dentists in the Wichita area. All of them told us many of their patients come from Small Smiles. Patients like Shelbi Meisch's daughter Amaya.

"She's terrified to see the dentist, still. Every time we go she's scared to go in," says Shelbi.

Like the Pinkstons, Shelbi doesn't feel her options were explained and Small Smiles ended up pulling six of Amaya's teeth.

"No they didn't tell me they were going to be pulling all those teeth. I was under the impression they were going to crown two back teeth and pull the front teeth," says Amaya.

Another dentist had to perform corrective work Amaya's case.

Then there is Stacy Luthy and daughter Emma. Stacy contacted us after learning we were working on the story.

"They informed me that they had a harness they put the kids in that restrains them. They made it sound routine and no big deal."

Stacy wasn't allowed to be in the room with her daughter when they went to Small Smiles about two years ago.

"About 20 or 30 minutes later they came out and said she had been throwing up. They brought her to me. She had been screaming. She was horrified. She was in tears," says Stacy.

Like Aerial and Amaya, Emma has also had corrective work performed. The teeth Small Smiles crowned fell out, leaving her with nothing until her permanent teeth come in.

The parents say all three girls now have to be sedated to even visit the dentist.

"She'll never not be afraid of a dentist, which is alone is horrible because it's such an important thing to do," says Naomi Pinkston.

That's why the Pinkstons came to us. To encourage other parents to ask the questions they didn't ask.

More Company Response:

Forba, the company that manages Small Smiles, tells us many changes were made in late 2007. They include some of the following:

  • Parents are now allowed back with their children during visits. Small Smiles made the change after receiving complaints from parents.
  • It conducted about 12,000 surveys seeking parental feedback.
  • Working to better communicate with parents.
  • Dentists have been retrained on the use of protective restraint
  • Created a toll-free number for parents to call with concerns or complaints (1-877-302-KIDS)
  • Kansas law requires dentists' offices to be locally owned. This is the company's response to corporate ownership concerns.

It is not uncommon for doctors and dentists to hire or outsource various professional and specialized services, including advertising, computer technical support, legal advice, and even human resource specialists to assist them in managing their practices. For example, the Kansas Medical Society created a practice management firm to provide a broad range of office management services to physician practices around the state. Such services are provided under a management services agreement, include a variety of services and are done for a negotiated fee, much like our agreement with Dr. Reza.


Click here for the transcript of the live chat that took place after the segment aired.


________________________________________

This blogger's Comments:

I don't care what kind of crap they say, Dr. Mohammad Reza Akbar doesn't own this clinic. At the Kansas Secretary of State's Office it says the mailing address is:

Linda Zoller
618 Church Street, Suit 520
Nashville, TN 37219
(FORBA Holding and FORBA Services Address, Linda Zoller is just the VP of the legal department and does most of the state business filings.

I don't even think Dr. Reza Akbar lives in Kansas but I could be wrong, he didn't used to.

As you noticed no one at FORBA would speak on camera, heck they don't speak off camera. They only send their PR guy, Don Meyer to appear, or write responses or start a blog to defend and promote the company. You would think Dr. Reza would want to defend his own clinic wouldn't you?

Don Meyer says a lot of changes took place in 2007. Well, evidently not near enough since I didn't start this until early 2008 and I've heard these horror stories for well over a year now, and they still keep coming in. All of their talk is nothing but Hogwash and they think people are actually going to be gullible to believe it.

********************************************************************************

Here is just one comment from the KWCH TV Website: (go to the bottom of the page and click on 'see all comments')


Whistleblower:

Thursday, March 19, 2009

To Jason, you are welcome and yes I am employed at Small Smiles. The guest brought up some good points...why am I still there? Partly because I do know what goes on and even if I can only save a couple of kids from being traumatized by the procedures and roughness that and unnecessary work I have done a little to stop some of it.

I know I can't stop it all but anything helps. Yes I will be out of a job but there will be a lot of kids that won't be put through this there. As for the dentist in Colorado....yes it is a different state but Small Smiles is nationwide and all of the training is done in Pueblo, CO for the dentists so you see...they have one way of training and we have had a number of dentists that were just as bad, maybe not taking drugs but doing terrible work or pulling permanent teeth when it should have been the baby tooth, or numbing the right side and then working on the left side and ignoring the child's screams of pain.

I know they have the same sub standard type of dentists across the nation. Maybe not ALL of them but a good portion of them are very substandard. The good dentists that we have had didn't last long. They left because they refused to work like that and didn't want to jeopardize their licenses. Trust me...when I first started working there I couldn't believe this type of care was actually going on in America. Maybe I will loose this battle and they will continue to operate but at least I tried and I know I have saved a few kids from the horror and pain along with the parents.


********************************************************************************
UPDATE:


By Michael Schwanke (WICHITA, Kan)
investigators@kwch.com
316-831-6166

Update:

STATEMENT FROM SMALL SMILES DENTAL CLINIC OF WICHITA

Every year we see thousands of children who receive compassionate, high-quality dental care at our dental center. Through our parent surveys, comment line and direct interaction with caregivers, Wichita families regularly express high levels of satisfaction with our care.

However, based on the story aired by Channel 12, an internal review of standards, quality and compliance has been initiated at the Small Smiles Dental Clinic of Wichita.

We take seriously any parent who expresses concern with their child's care, and we are always looking for ways to improve. We strongly urge any parent who has concerns to contact our parent hotline at 1-877-302-KIDS.

Kansas Dental Board is asking that anyone with a complaint regarding Small Smiles contact their office.
You can file an offical complaint at
http://www.kansas.gov/kdb/ or call 785-296-6400.





________________________________________________
This blogger's comment:

1. The key word in that statement is the word "our". If Dr. Akbar owned that clinic wouldn't the term be "my" but no, they once again FORBA admits to owning these clinics.

2. I've heard this same statement over and over for 2 years! Why do you think that hotline number was set up in the first place?

3. The Kansas Dental Board has been alerted on several occasions about Small Smiles and their tactics and haven't done a darn thing so far. But I highly suggest you give it a go anyway.

4. I like to hear from those patients who were actually treated by Dr. Mohommad Reza Akbar himself.

Monday, March 09, 2009

Man Died After Having Wisdom Teeth Pulled; New Jersey Jury Awards $11 Million for Dental Malpractice

 

March 09, 2009 10:06 PM

In the largest oral surgery malpractice verdict in New Jersey history so far, a jury awarded $10.2 million this week to the family of 21-year-old Francis Keller of Woodbridge, who died from suffocation after having his wisdom teeth removed by oral surgeon Dr. George Flugrad, of Perth Amboy.

Because Keller had a genetic immune disorder which caused severe swelling in reaction to trauma, he should not have been a candidate for dental or any other surgery. The morning after his tooth extractions, he began to have trouble breathing, and suffered from throat swelling that ultimately led to suffocation and death.

The Middlesex County jury found that Dr. Flugrad committed malpractice when he extracted the wisdom teeth in full knowledge of Keller’s genetic condition.

Friday, March 06, 2009

Colorado Springs Gazette Mentions 20/20 Probe

Colorado Springs Gazette's reveals 20/20's probe into Small Smiles.

 

Small Smiles dentistry focus of ‘20/20′ probe
March 5th, 2009, 2:02 pm by Brian Newsome

Small Smiles Dental Centers, a national chain with offices in Colorado Springs, Denver and Pueblo,  will be featured Friday in a “20/20″ report about questionable practices. Small Smiles, which serves mostly children on Medicaid, has come under fire in various media stories for restraining kids, not allowing parents to be present with them, and doing unnecessary procedures to get Medicaid reimbursements Here is a YouTube clip from an ABC News investigation in the D.C. area.

A spokeswoman for “20/20″ confirmed the report will air Friday at 8 p.m. MST. Correspondent Deborah Roberts reported from Pueblo, according to 20/20 media relations publicist Alyssa Z. Apple, but Colorado Springs is not specifically mentioned.

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

I found the following over at "American Thinker".

By Brian Riley:

When President Obama recently nominated Kansas governor and universal healthcare advocate Kathleen Sebelius to be to the country's Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), the president of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) called it "a very smart choice. She has a good intellect, a big heart and tremendous expertise." AHIP and its predecessor, the Health Insurance Association of America, have a track record of financial support for Gov. Sebelius dating back to the time she served as Kansas Insurance Commissioner.

Of course, the health insurance industry also supported President Obama's first choice, Sen. Tom Daschle. Daschle's financial backers included AHIP, which paid Daschle $40,000 for two speeches, and health-insurance giant United Health Care, which paid him $5,000 for "advice."

Many people criticized Daschle for taking money from the insurance industry. Few people asked the more obvious question: What were insurance companies doing paying thousands of dollars to someone who devoted his life to policies that could put them all out of business?

Daschle's book Critical: What We Can Do About the Health Care Crisis praises universal, single-payer healthcare as a worthy goal. However, he concludes that it would be politically problematic to implement such a system in the United States due to the opposition of special interest groups like the insurance industry.

Here is how AHIP, the health insurance industry's top trade association, responded to the nomination of someone who views the very existence of insurance companies as an obstacle to reform:

"Senator Daschle is exceptionally well qualified to bring people together in support of universal coverage, cost-containment, and improved quality."

The industry's philosophy -- not to oppose policies that would harm insurance companies and their customers; not to simply acquiesce to ridiculous demands; but to enthusiastically embrace changes designed to reduce the ability of average Americans to buy health insurance -- was on display during the recent expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP, commonly pronounced S-CHIP), the federal program designed to provide healthcare to children.

In the past, SCHIP benefits typically were limited to families earning up to 200 percent of poverty level. The legislation recently passed by Congress raises the cap to 300 percent of poverty level and allows states to raise the cap even higher, subject to lower federal subsidies for those additional benefits.

To qualify for SCHIP benefits, the government requires families to first drop their individual health insurance entirely.

If families do not have an individual policy but get their coverage through their employer, they may be allowed to keep their group coverage in some cases. States may offer this option if the employer pays least 40 percent of the cost, as long as the policies do not allow families to set up a health savings account to pay for their medical expenses.

As a result of provisions like these, many kids who enroll in SCHIP in the future will not come from the ranks of the uninsured, but from families that drop their private coverage in order to receive "free" government care. According to the Congressional Budget Office, even before these changes it already was the case that for every 100 children who qualified for SCHIP, 25 to 50 dropped their private insurance.

Imagine for a moment that you are the chief lobbyist for U.S. health insurance industry, and Congress is considering a law that would give government healthcare benefits to people who can afford to pay for their own insurance. Further imagine that Congress would require people who already have health insurance to drop that coverage in order to qualify for government aid. What would your response be?

Here is the actual response if the insurance industry, provided by AHIP:

"This vital legislation provides health security for millions of children in working families and builds momentum for comprehensive health care reform. Expanding coverage for kids is a big first step toward ensuring that all Americans have affordable, quality health care."

Some foreshadowing of the insurance industry's apparent death wish came during the U.S. Presidential campaign. Sen. John McCain proposed giving families $5000 each to buy their own health insurance, while Sen. Obama proposed giving everyone the option of a "new public plan" instead of private health insurance. My review of campaign donation data indicates that employees of the nation's biggest health insurers -- Aetna, Blue Cross, Cigna, Humana, United HealthCare, and Wellpoint -- voted with their dollars, giving over twice as much to Obama as to McCain.

In Ayn Rand's book Atlas Shrugged, industrialist Hank Reardon is stabbed in the back by his "man in Washington," Wesley Mouch. In the novel, Reardon is a relatively innocent victim of the man hired to protect his interests from Washington predators.

In the real world, the insurance industry is no innocent victim. For example, to head its Washington operations, the industry chose someone whose experience came from working for the AFL-CIO and, I am not making this up, the Committee for National Health Insurance, an organization formed by labor unions to lobby for "a truly radical overhaul of the health care system" with the federal government as the nation's only health insurance carrier.

I wonder how that job interview went:

Question: "Tell us a little about your experience."

Answer: "I've been working to put you all out of business."

Reply: "Great! When can you start?"

I personally know someone who recently was sent out of her local welfare office in tears, because an overwhelmed government bureaucrat mistakenly told her there was no state coverage available for her child's leukemia.

I know of a child who was hospitalized because her parents were not given government assistance to buy insurance, but instead were forced to use the local Medicaid-funded clinic where their daughter was misdiagnosed.

I have read stories in my local newspaper about children who are strapped to "papoose boards" like tiny Hannibal Lecters in order to get their teeth examined. Why? Because instead of providing financial assistance to low-income families to make dental insurance more affordable, the government instead forces them to go to Medicaid-financed dentists.

These horror stories are what we all have to look forward to as elected officials, aided and abetted by insurance industry lobbyists, gradually replace private health insurance with government-run healthcare.

Bryan Riley was the Republican candidate for Kansas Insurance commissioner in 1998, losing to incumbent Kathleen Sebelius.


I just wish that money was allocated to increase reimbursement rates to our private dentists. This would surely shut down these dental mills. Hit them in the pocketbook, right?

I encourage each of you to contact your state Legislators and Heath and Human Services Department and voice your opinion about increasing the reimbursement rates.