What that settlement is remains unknown. Here is the latest entry on the court docket, dated June 3, 2014.
ORDER: The court has been notified that this case has settled. It is hereby ORDERED that a stipulation of dismissal or other settlement document shall be filed within thirty (30) days of the entry of this Order.
The preliminary injunction hearing set for June 5, 2014, and the initial case management conference set for June 6, 2011, are CANCELLED.
It’s complicated to liquidate a company operating illegal dental clinics. As of February 21,2013 there have been 630 various pleadings filed in the bankruptcy case of Small Smiles Dental Centers. The Docket report is dang near 70 pages. Even it is an interesting read.
If you currently work for Small Smiles Dental Centers or have EVER worked for Small Smiles Dental Centers you need to read this carefully. I realized they mass mailed a “Summary” of the Liquidation and Trust Agreement, as well as a “Ballot” but the key word is “summary”.
This junk company is an albatross that will forever more hang around the neck of every executive, every regional or sub-regional manager and every dentist who ever worked there. You will constantly be looking over your shoulder for the next 10 years or longer.
The last time I took the bar exam was… uh… NEVER, so read it and draw your own conclusions.
This the the current PROPOSED Plan of Reorganization and not approved by any means as of yet. There are objections by their malpractice carrier on file, and that’s where the dentists come into play even more I suspect.
[Now, if I found myself in the middle of a malpractice lawsuit and being represented by an attorney assigned to me by a malpractice insurance company who didn’t want to cover claims because they got hoodwinked by some slick willy system scammers, I’m not sure I’d feel that particular attorney had my best interest in mind. Think about it.]
Proposed Second Amended Joint Plan of Reorganization Doc 594 01-11-2013
I particularly enjoyed this section on page 17.
4.17(h) Claims Against Former Affiliates. Each holder of a Class 5(a) Claim will retain any and all claims and legal rights such holder may have against any of Danny DeRose, Edward DeRose, Michael DeRose, William Mueller, or Adolph Padula. All holder of Class 5(a) Claims will be entitled to initiate and prosecute any such claim against any or all of Danny DeRose, Edward DeRose, Michael DeRose, William Mueller, or Adolph Padula without restriction in the tort system. To the extent the automatic stay in these Chapter 11 Cases or any other limitation imposed by these Chapter 11 Cases would limit any such action, such automatic stay or limitation will be lifted thirty (30) days after the Effective Date of the Plan
Summary of Liquidation and Trust Agreement
Church Street Health Management Court Docket, February 21,2013
December 11, 2012
On Tuesday, December 11, 2012, The Today Show aired an investigative report about the on going troubles at the Small Smiles Dental Centers. Interviews included one with Health and Human Services (HHS) officials in charge of overseeing the compliance of the notoriously troubled clinics.
If you’ve not seen the report, please take time to do that here.
The segment included an interview with a HHS-OIG Branch spokesperson. However, if not for the HHS-OIG seal displayed one would presume it came out of the the PR department at CSHM headquarters.
NBS News Senior Investigative Correspondent, Lisa Myers asks HHS-OIG spokesperson, “They’ve had 4 bites at the apple, when is enough, enough?”
HHS-OIG responded with this check list:
1. “Dentists have been fired” – Well, dentists are fired there every day!! They are fired every day because they don’t meet the production numbers set by the corporate office. Their turn over had been setting at 48% since the beginning!
What about the Chief Dental Officer – Steven Adair, DDS? He actually got a promotion. Dr. Adair is the author of the news letter for CSHM in which he suggests instead of the papoose board, try the “superman cape” method.
What is the Superman Cape Technique? Here, read this!
Compliance officers? – Yes, a few. They have burned through 3 in 2.5 years. CSHM will not hesitate to been throw one under the bus, blaming them for falsified reports to the OIG.
2. “Clinics have been closed” – Yes, they have filed bankruptcy! The started closing clinics in early 2011! HHS only forced 1 clinic in actually close – Manassas Virginia.
3. “This is not the same company” – True, it simply filed for bankruptcy, reorganized with some of the same investors in the background, and changed it’s name, replaced the CEO and President. But that was in 2011!
3. “The Independent Monitor is telling us that Quality of Care is consistently improving” – The same independent monitor in place for 3 years! The one CSHM pays. The one whose head dental investigator is buddies with the company’s Chief Dental Officer. So exactly when did that “improvement” begin? June of 2012? Certainly not in April 2012? The new people in charge actually stepped in October 2011. It just wasn’t on paper with the bankruptcy court until June 2012.
The company has been in the news, how many times since 2007?
Countless!!!
Check-Up PAC
Rep. Beth Harwell, (R-TN) created Harwell PAC asked supporters to help fund her bid for Speaker of the House in Tennessee and FORBA/Church Street Health Management stepped in to help out. Money raised by Harwell PAC were used to gain favors with fellow Republican Caucus members by making donations from the PAC to their campaigns.
How you ask and what the hell is Check-Up PAC?
Money from 46 different Small Smiles dental clinics were spent on various other political campaigns. A whopping $7500 was spent on an inaugural party for current Tennessee Governor, Bill Haslam. Click here to see the pictures from the party you paid for but didn’t get to attend.
Remember that your tax dollars, all from states other than Tennessee help fund this shindig.
Yes it’s a bit more complicated than that. Your tax dollar made a few stops along the way before it ended up in Governor Haslam’s party coffers.
But, shoot, this ain’t nothing compared to the Football Stadium and multi-million dollar homes you bought for the DeRose and Padula’s of Pueblo, Colorado.
Now it just happens to filter through Colorado and back to Tennessee to support the Michael Lindleys, Alfred Greens and the Todd Cruses of the world, just before it heads over to Bahrain of course.
I don’t know much about campaign laws, and don’t care to figure it out. But something seems wrong when one company pulls money from all their very own pockets and pass the smell test of campaign finance laws. I think this is the thing the Supreme Court decided last fall, which was so damn wrong in my opinion, for reasons such as this.
I notice they limited the pull from each of their own clinics to $1000.00. What about their fake owners, such as Randy Ellis, Jodi Kuhn, Karen Chu, do they know they fake contributed to Check-Up PAC. That answer would be no, since I’m sure they are allowed anywhere near their center’s checkbook!
This is just how it is, and the reason laws don’t get enforced (Kentucky, for one) and other laws get changed in favor of crooks (Kansas).
You the people have no say whatsoever.
Check-Up PAC 3rd Quarter 2010 Report
Check-Up PAC Pre-General Election Report
Check-Up PAC 4th Quarter 2010 Report
