DALLAS - "Something needs to be done before one of these children dies," Brenda Flores said.
Flores is tough, smart, and protective of her grandson, Isaac. When he didn't come home until after dark one day last March, she was about to call for an Amber Alert.
It turns out, fifteen-year-old Isaac had been taken from his neighborhood to a southeast Dallas dental clinic without her permission.
Isaac, who has severe ADD and asthma, was approached on March 6 by a man in a van.
"'I can give you $10, and a $50 dollar gift card later, and a pizza to take home,'" Isaac quoted the man as saying.
All Isaac had to do was go to the dentist. The man drove him to All About Dentistry on Scyene Road in Dallas. Billing records show All About Dentistry billed Medicaid for 25 procedures on Isaac Flores, totaling $2,041. Medicaid rules do not allow treatment of a minor without the parent or guardian's permission.
"I'm angry," Mrs. Flores said. "I'm very angry, because I'm here to protect my grandson. And he was taken off the streets without my permission. He was sedated. And he has a medical condition."
Devon Allen has a medical condition, too.
He was taken by a recruiter to All About Dentistry last month, without his mother's knowledge. Gale Allen, his mother, has now hired an attorney, Ajay Shah. "It truly shocks the conscience," Shah said. "These children have been truly impacted by this individual's actions." He now represents two parents and four children in the case, but the number may be growing.
Isaac Flores said there were other children in the van with him when he was taken to All About Dentistry last March.
Blanca Flores said she filed a police report the day of the incident, and complained to the Attorney General as well. She hasn't heard back. State Senator Royce West, (D-Dallas), urges victims to contact his office. "I won't get stonewalled by an agency, because we will make certain that those claims get investigated by the proper authorities," West said.
Dr. Hamid Farahani, who owns the clinic on Scyene Road and two other All About Dentistry clinics, denies he has done anything wrong. He said he has been audited by Medicaid five times and never found guilty of anything. He admits he owns a van and that he employs a patient recruiter.
So far, he has refused to give any of the parents involved any paperwork on their sons' treatment. E-mail bharris@wfaa.com
Parents and law enforcement go on high alert when reports come in about a “suspicious looking” van near schools, playgrounds or other venues where children hang out.
Who knew stranger danger for children would be kidnapping children for dental treatment. I can’t make this crap up.
Ya know how we teach children not to take candy from strangers. We can now add “free dental treatment” to that list.
WFAA
Posted on August 2, 2012 at 10:22 PM Updated yesterday at 12:10 AM
DALLAS - To treat a child under Medicaid, a dentist must have a parent's permission. But competition for Medicaid income is so fierce, some dental clinics are literally picking kids up off the street and taking them straight to the dentist's office without letting parents know.
Here's a sequence of events that transpired three weeks ago in southeast Dallas: Four boys, ages 13 through 17, were walking along a sidewalk in their neighborhood. A man, they say, drove up and asked them if they were on Medicaid. They all said yes.
The man replied, "How'd you like to make $10?"Okay, they said. "Just go to the dentists office and have your teeth cleaned," the man said. All the boys already have dentists, but the man did not ask.
They were taken by van, they say, to All About Dentistry on Scyene Road, one of three clinics owned by Dr. Hamid Farahani. The boys say they were asked to sign their mothers' names on some papers, and ultimately treated by a man they assumed was a dentist.
Once in the chair, the dentist proceeded to numb their mouths with shots, drill their teeth, and put fillings in.
"They gave me four shots," said 15-year-old Devon Allen.
Devon's mother, Gale Allen, said her son suffers from chronic asthma and has some drug allergies. Not knowing this and not asking, the dentist filled several of Devon's teeth. That night his mouth swelled up, pictures show.
Jonathan Henderson, 13, and his brothers, Reginald, 17, and Roderick, 16, also got shots and fillings that day. Roderick got four shots and eight fillings, he said. Reginald got four.
None of the boys even knew they needed fillings. "They're the dentist," Roderick said. "I thought that was right. I let 'em give me four cavities [fillings.]"
Both Reginald and Roderick already have braces on their teeth, installed by another Medicaid dentist. Reginald said his braces were broken by the dentist at All About Dentistry.
None of the boys were given any forms outlining what had been done to them.
Gale Allen, who contacted News 8, is infuriated. She's been unable to talk to the dentist, or to obtain any paperwork.
"They had no reason to approach Devon, first of all," she said. "Second of all, I'm his parent and for you to just pick up kids on the corner, that's wrong."
Regina Robertson, mother of Johnathan, Reginald and Roderick, is amazed it could happen. She said the boys are not old enough to sign any consent forms, because they're all still minors.
Mrs. Allen accompanied News 8 to the All About Dentistry clinic on Scyene.
At first, the receptionist said there was no dentist there that day, even though the clinic was clearly open. The dental licenses of two dentists were on the wall of the new facility. Finally, a Dr. Massood Shariati cracked open the door to the waiting room.
News 8 asked how his office could treat children without parental permission. "I don't know what you're talking about," Shariati said. "I treat all patients correctly, I was on the Dean's list at Baylor Dental School."
Then he ducked back behind the door. A photocopied "Baylor's Dean's List" was framed, on the waiting room wall.
The receptionist got the clinic's owner, Dr. Hamid Farahani, on the phone. He also denied the boys had been mistreated. After a heated conversation with News 8, he hung up.
In later phone conversations, he promised to produce parental permission forms, but he never did. Farahani admits he employs a "marketer" to bring in patients, but would not reveal how much the marketer is paid.
News 8 asked the mother of three toddlers at the clinic if she was being paid to bring her children to the dentist. She said yes. How much? "I don't know yet," she replied.
It is illegal to pay parents on Medicaid to bring the children. But in the murky world of Medicaid dental, it regularly happens. Parents are typically not paid by a clinic until after their children are treated.
Out in the parking lot, an unmarked van registered to Hamid Farahani matched the one the boys said picked them up. Farahani admitted to News 8 it's his. He said it's legal for a clinic to provide transportation.
Gale Allen is seething. "These people are driving around and soliciting them, and asking them do they want to make ten dollars," she said. "That's wrong."
Neither mother has been able to determine exactly what was done to their boys by All About Dentistry.
Why is this kidnapper dentist, Dr. Hamid Farahani not in jail this morning?
What about the kidnapper (recruiters)he hired. I don’t care how you cut it, Dr. Hamid hired people to kidnap children off the street and bring them to his office for “dental treatment”!
The one kid’s mom is right, they had no business approaching children at all. It’s illegal to patient shop or pay for patients in any way. Just last week at the Texas Stakeholders Quarterly Meeting, this very question was raised. The answer given was:
TAC 353.795 (d) MCO’s and providers - that would be Dr. Hamid Farahani– shall not conduct any direct contact marketing except through enrollment events. The Office of Inspector General says it’s a $10K fine per instance. (slide 78 of meeting presentation)
At that same meeting (slide 79 of the meeting presentation) it’s stated the Texas Health and Human Services Commission - Office of Inspector General is aware of this patient soliciting and is aware of the people hired to “recruit” patients. They even offer a hotline number to call to report such incidences – 1-800-436-6184.
Texas State Board of Dental Examiners, acting attorney, Sarah Carnes-Lemp talked about this as did another attorney with the board. They went into great detail about soliciting patients, gifts and such and stated clearly is was a “criminal offense”. Further “recruiters” were mentioned with a big fat “NO to recruiters”.(slide 83 of the presentation)
On slide 84, it was pointed out that the Dental Practice Act 295.005 said “Unprofessional to intimidate or exert undue pressure or undue influence over a prospective patient.” Though not specifically mentioned,but I’m thinking kidnapping would fall somewhere between NO and HELL NO. In addition, kidnapping minor children would be a “go to jail, go directly to jail” event!
HOWEVER, and this is a big however, the powers that be mentioned NOTHING, not one thing about doing anything about these “recruiters” .
Why are “recruiter” companies, such as Dental Professional of Texas’ very own