August 3, 2012
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
