Monday, October 08, 2012

Richard Malouf’s Six Flags Over Malouf WaterPrik Park–Update!

 

WFAA

 

 

by BYRON HARRIS

Bio | Email

WFAA
Posted on October 8, 2012 at 10:03 PM
Updated today at 10:03 PM

DALLAS — There's a different kind of skyscraper going up in one of Dallas' most exclusive neighborhoods on Strait Lane. Mavericks superstar Dirk Nowitzki, former Rangers owner Tom Hicks and even Mayor Mike Rawlings live close by.

This "skyscraper" is really a three-story water slide and lazy river in the backyard of Texas' most famous dentist. 

Dr. Richard Malouf made millions from putting braces on children under Medicaid. 

In a whistleblower lawsuit, the Texas attorney general says much of Dr. Malouf's work was fraudulent. All Smiles Dental Clinics — which Malouf founded and still owns part of — filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.

Work on the water park and an addition to Malouf's huge chateau on Strait Lane continues. malouf2

A turquoise pigtail of a water slide curls over the backyard and peeks through neighbors' trees. A five-foot wide, concrete-lined Lazy River water feature is taking shape below.

But a News 8 investigation finds the Bentley-driving Malouf has a history of being sued for failing to pay his bills.

Dental Service Organization (DSO) Affordable Care/Affordable Dentures Dentist Stripped of License

Affordable Care is owned by American Capital, the same Private Equity firm who invested in the disgraces and bankrupt Small Smiles Dental Centers. Affordable Care and it’s President, Douglas W. Brown, were behind the big push in North Carolina to make life easy for Dental Service Organization in that state.
Affordable Care and it’s “affiliated” clinics go straight to the top of the nasty DGPA organization and has so many tentacles that it would make an octopus jealous!


 
By DON DARE
6 On Your Side Consumer Investigator
MORRISTOWN (WATE) - Disciplinary action taken by the Tennessee Board of Dentistry against David Harrison has been swift and decisive.
The board revoked the Morristown dentist's license, stripping him of his ability to work in Tennessee. It was the most extreme punishment available to the state.
In the consent order, "unprofessional conduct" was cited as one of the grounds for taking such extreme measures.
June McClary was one of Harrison's first patients to call 6 On Your Side and one of the first to contact state investigators about Harrison's practice.



Dr. Wendell Allen Racette sentenced to 15-30 years in prison for sexual assaulting a child patient

Now, if you can just get the same for physical assault, progress will have been made. Could this be Dr. Thomas Floyd’s future? I hope it is.

 

lsl

 

 

racette

Written Laura Misjak

A former Lansing pediatric dentist convicted last month of sexually assaulting a child patient was sentenced Wednesday to 15-30 years in prison.

A jury in August found Dr. Wendell Alan Racette, 65, guilty of five counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and 10 counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Ingham County Circuit Judge William Collette sentenced Racette to 15-30 years in prison for each of the first-degree charges and seven years two months to 15 years for the second-degree charges. Those will be served concurrently.

Racette also was sentenced to a lifetime of electronic monitoring when he’s done with prison, and ordered to not contact the victim’s family directly or indirectly.

Racette declined to give a statement during the hearing. His attorney, Chris Bergstrom, was not immediately available for comment following the hearing.

Prosecuters said Racette sexually assaulted a boy in his Lansing dental office between 1996 and 2000 when the boy was between the ages of 5 and 10. He came forward with his story in 2010.

Arthur Laffer’s study on Dental Service Organizations (DSO’s) is questioned

Dr. Biscupid
By Donna Domino, Features Editor

October 8, 2012 -- A new study conducted by a well-regarded economist but paid for by the dental chain Kool Smiles found that dental service organizations (DSOs) provide lower-cost treatment to underserved populations. The report also eschews criticisms about Medicaid fraud and unnecessary procedures that have been leveled against many DSOs. ellisquote

The report, released September 19, was compiled and written by Arthur Laffer, PhD, a former advisor for President Ronald Reagan who is known as the father of supply-side economics. The 17-page paper, "Dental Service Organizations: A Comparative Review," evaluated all Texas Medicaid data from fiscal year 2011, including 25.9 million procedures.

"DSOs are providing dental care to some of the poorest, most underserved segments of our society," Laffer wrote. "DSOs are not only providing much needed care, but they are providing that care expeditiously and relatively inexpensively when compared to non-DSO affiliated dentists."

DSOs have operated since the 1960s but have become much more prevalent since the late 1990s, he noted.

Full Article can be read here.

Frank Catalanotto, DMD, …said he also questions the report's integrity.

"Any time an organization is under investigation, you'd always look suspiciously that Kool Smiles has a self-serving motive in paying for studies like this," Dr. Catalanotto told DrBicuspid.com. "We have to assume the investigations are also valid and based on complaints and specific reasons. But in any organization you have to determine what's driving the organization. Is there a profit motive, and does that result in bad behavior?"…

Full Article can be read here.

Houston attorney Jim Moriarty, who is part of a whistle-blower case against Dallas-based All Smiles Dental Centers, agrees that DSOs violate state dental practice laws.

"The elephant in the room is what Kool Smiles and Small Smiles and the rest of the DSOs are doing is illegal," he told DrBicuspid.com. "No private equity firm spends a billion dollars buying a dental practice unless they get complete control over the business and complete control over the income stream. So Laffer's premise that the private equity firms that own most of them do not have control over the clinics is a lie, and he glosses over this."

Laffer did not respond to calls for comment.

Sunday, October 07, 2012

Dr. Thomas Floyd, on Dr. Thomas Floyd

Dr. Thomas Floyd was recently arrested in West Palm Beach, Florida for, among numerous other charges, beating, choking and gagging children. One such child was being stabbed in the mouth so badly by Dr. Thomas Floyd, his assistant ran through the office screaming for someone to call the police, she though Floyd was going to kill the child!

Below is Floyd’s bio he posted on classcreator.com. Sounds like such a lovely man, but I believe his bio needs a bit of updating!!  What a creepy mean old man.

Thomas Floyd Bio on ClassCreator.com

Thursday, October 04, 2012

Roben Brookhim–Arrested for using identity of deceased dentist Larry Kirkland, Jr.

A dentist in New Jersey who had his license to practice dentistry temporarily suspended in 1999 for fraudulent billing practices.  His license was permanently suspended in 2004, for continuing to practice dentistry using another dentist’s identity while under the 1999 suspension. In 2011, Roben Brookhim took on another identity.

This time it was of deceased dentist, Dr. John Kirkland, Jr. Dr. Kirkland’s dental license was renewed one day before he passed away in October 2011. It appears Kirkland and Brookhim were dentists at  Associated Dental in New Providence , Associated Dental in New Springfield and Associated Dental in Springfield in addition to Family Dental Center in West New York.  Dr. Brookhim allegedly assumed Dr. Kirkland’s identity to practice at all locations, according to northjersey.com.

The company website – associateddentalofnewjersey.com is registered to Dr. Roben Brookhim, Associated Dental NP, LLC, P.O. Box 589, Milburn, NJ 07401 973-339-2105.

Associated Dental NP, LLC was registered to do business in NJ 12-2005. But there are several companies beginning with Associated Dental in NJ, two of which were created in 1999, when Brookhim had his license temporarily suspended – Associated Dental Center, LLC and Associated Dental Group, PA.

This is just speculation, but maybe when Brookhim owns these 4 clinics. After he lost his license to practice dentistry he needed a fake owner dentist, enter Dr. Kirkland. Kirkland up and dies, leaving Brookhim in a real bind.

One thing for sure, Brookhim has been mascarading as someone else for years. I wonder who he was between 2004 and 2011?

I’m sure there is much more to this story.

Presss Release: October 4, 2012

NEW PROVIDENCE – Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa and the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs today joined with Union County Prosecutor Theodore J. Romankow and the New Providence Police Department, to announce the arrest of an unlicensed dentist who is accused of falsely using the name and license number of a dentist who died last year, in order to treat patients.

Tuesday, October 02, 2012

Are High-Volume Dental Chains Exploiting Kids on Medicaid?

Are High-Volume Dental Chains Exploiting Kids on Medicaid?

by Olga Pierce ProPublica, Oct. 2, 2012, 2:27 p.m.by Charles Ornstein and Lena Groeger, ProPublicaby Dan Nguyen, Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber, ProPublicaby Robin Fields, Al Shaw and Jennifer LaFleur, ProPublica

David Heath of the Center for Public Integrity recently investigated a new breed of corporate dental care chains that cater to low-income adults and children. Heath collaborated with Jill Rosenbaum of PBS FRONTLINE on "Dollars and Dentists." They found a high-volume business model that scored dentists on production and offered bonuses based on the revenue they brought in. Heath and Rosenbaum reported that Georgia-based Kool Smiles, the biggest Medicaid dental provider, has been accused by state regulators of giving shoddy or unnecessary care to some of America's poorest kids. (Kool Smiles' response is here.)

As part of our ongoing look at patient safety, we occasionally interview other journalists who've examined health care quality.

PP: What did you find in your reporting? Heath: I looked at what impact corporate dentistry is having on the care being provided. We looked at two of the larger chains, and found evidence that these companies were putting pressure on their dentists to produce at certain revenue targets, thus encouraging them to do procedures that may have been unnecessary.

PP: Can you say a bit more about the harm or overtreatment to patients that you saw? Heath: One of the chains focused on kids on Medicaid, and the reimbursement rates for Medicaid are pretty low. So in order to get a lot of revenue from these patients they were doing things like taking x-rays that were not needed, or putting stainless steel crowns instead of fillings on their teeth. They could make twice as much money from Medicaid on these crowns versus just putting a filling on a tooth. Kids were getting treatments that they really didn't need. We also looked at a chain that focuses on adults who haven't been to the dentist in years.  What were found there is again, patients would come in and everyone was given the same treatments. They were given these deep cleanings and a lot of people would get dentures and we were finding that in some cases maybe they didn't need those services. We had one example of an 87-year-old woman who had already been to the dentist and she went in to have two teeth pulled, thinking it would be cheaper at [New York-based] Aspen Dental. Instead they looked at her mouth and they came up with a treatment plan that was going to cost $8,000. They convinced her though hard-sell tactics to borrow that money through a credit card, and something like $2,000 of that was just to clean her teeth. (Aspen Dental's response is here.)

PP: So, in some cases, you're talking about pulling someone's teeth unnecessarily? Heath: There was a case where a woman went in who needed to have some teeth pulled, but they pulled all of her upper teeth, and several dentists told us she didn't need that.

 PP: What are the market forces that have resulted in private equity-owned chains providing dentistry? Heath: These days, when dentists get out of dental school, they often owe anywhere between $200,000 and $300,000 dollars. Dental school is actually more expensive than medical school. So they come out with these huge debts, in a lot of cases they can't really afford to start their own practice. These dental chains hire people, a lot of the time right out of dental school, and they pay fairly decent salaries and they have a bonus system where the more work you do on a patient the more you get paid. That's true for a private dentist as well, but the difference is that these companies are owned by private equity firms, and they're managed in a different way. You have people who are not dentists coming up with a business plan that's based on metrics. They try to get new patients in who haven't been to the dentist in a while, and they've already calculated how much revenue the average new patient should generate. If you happen to go in and you don't really have anything wrong with your mouth and you're a new patient you're not fitting the model. That creates pressure for the dentists to find things that are ‘wrong.'

 PP: Is dentistry particularly ripe for these kinds of abuses? Heath: In dentistry there's not really any peer review or oversight. So there's really not anyone to challenge dentists. And patients almost never challenge that kind of thing either. For somebody who's not ethical, there's a lot you can do and get away with in dentistry.

 PP: How is it that so many kids in Medicaid have ended up relying on corporate chains for their dental care? Heath: Not that many dentists actually accept Medicaid. There are some states where the reimbursement rates are so low that even the chains don't go there. Like in Florida, for example, the Medicaid rates are so low there that chains don't really even bother. So children end up going to the emergency room because they have a toothache and there's nothing else they can do. They end up in hospitals to treat a tooth. There was a famous case in Maryland where a 10-year-old boy had a toothache and it was abscessed and he ended up dying because he didn't have a dentist. [Note: According to a recent study, only about a third of children in Medicaid-- which covers more than 30 million American children -- will see a dentist in a given year. In Florida, where reimbursements are particularly low, only a quarter of the children in Medicaid see a dentist.] In other states, like Connecticut, Texas and Virginia, they have dramatically increased reimbursement rates. You have more options there, but not the same options a someone who can afford it. Dentistry is a little unusual from doctors because a lot of people don't have dental insurance, and even if you do have dental insurance it often doesn't cover a lot, and a lot of dentists don't take insurance any more because of low reimbursement rates. So even if you have dental insurance, finding a dentist can be a challenge. So there is a real problem, especially for children, to find a dentist if they don't have money.

PP: Are changes under way as a result of your story? Are there solutions on the table? Heath: There is a [U.S.] Senate investigation still ongoing, I don't know what will come of that. There are investigations in some of the states, Texas being one, looking at this issue. I think there are things in the works we really won't really know the full impact of for a while yet. We definitely got the attention of the dental community; we got a lot of feedback from them. This whole issue of accepting patients who have limited resources is a real issue in dentistry and something I think the dental community has to sort out.

Dr. James Fruehan - “token” arrested dentist for October 2, 2012 ?

 

PA-AG

October 2, 2012

Wayne County, PA dentist charged with Medicaid Fraud

HARRISBURG - A Wayne County dentist was arrested today on charges that he fraudulently billed the Medical Assistance program for more than $75,000 worth of patient procedures that were allegedly not properly performed or not administered.

Attorney General Linda Kelly identified the defendant as James Fruehan, 52, 51 Marshwood Bend, Clarks Summit. Fruehan is a licensed dentist and owns and operates Fruehan Family Dentistry, 15 Fruehan Drive, State Route 590, Hamlin, Wayne County.Fruehan

According to the criminal complaint, Fruehan submitted claims to Medical Assistance for sealants and prophylaxes (teeth cleanings) that were not provided by Fruehan or licensed dental professionals.

The charges state that Fruehan allowed dental assistants, who did not have a a proper license, to perform teeth cleanings on patients. Fruehan allegedly billed Medical Assistance more than $31,000 for prophylaxes that were provided by the dental assistants. 

Kelly said that more than $35,000 worth of fraudulent claims were allegedly submitted for dental assistants writing "sealants" in the patients? charts, which indicates that they were not done by a dentist, dental hygienist, or expanded function dental assistant.

Teeth Whitening Booth at Oklahoma State Fair Closed By Dental Board

There is no doubt – I’m an idiot. One with a “God Complex”, I’m told. I know this to be true, since I don’t understand the difference between shutting down a teeth whitening booth at the county fair and shutting down illegally operating dental clinics. Here, the Oklahoma dental board actually “staked” out the place and words like “felony” were used.

TULSA, Oklahoma -

Posted: Oct 02, 2012 5:01 PM CDT Updated: Oct 02, 2012 5:39 PM CDT

Lori Fullbright, News On 6

9newsThe State Board of Dentistry shuts down a teeth whitening booth at the Tulsa state fair. The Board got an injunction against EuroShine USA for practicing dentistry without a license.

The Board got a complaint, then staked out the booth Monday and watched them treat six people. The Board says there was a lack of knowledge and sanitary cleanliness that put people's health at risk. tulsa

On Monday, the Dentistry Board told the booth workers to stop operating, then went back the next day with the court order.

Read the application for temporary restraining order

Read the temporary restraining order

When the booth opened Tuesday, the employee began taking down the signs advertising teeth whitening for $40. The Dental Board says the blue light they saw the employee using isn't supposed to be used on people with cataracts or who've had cataract surgery, yet no medical histories were taken.

Nothing out of DC, or anywhere else, on Organized Criminal Dentistry - Why? When?

It's October 2, 2012. Organized criminal dentistry continues with as much vigor today as in 2007. Still, only silence out of Washington.

On November 4 it will be 5 years since the public saw the first video of what these Medicaid dental mills were doing to children. It's been 5 years since I learned of this abuse and I'm still fighting mad over it. It shakes me to my core to think what would be happening if i weren't. As a select few of other Americans, I devote every day to squashing this, dead in its tracks. Does anyone, besides these few  give a shit care?

How many times in the last five years have we heard the cry of corporations at the feet of Congress pleading for more money, citing the death of one child over a tooth infection that migrated to his brain – Deamonte Driver? Too many! This poor child’s death is being used, by corporations and associations, as a tool to abuse other children and be paid by the taxpayer to do so.

How many times have we heard the cry of corporations at the feet of Congress over the abuse of Miguel, seen in the exclusive video? None! N.O.N.E! None! Has any company, or association for that matter, been to Congress pleading for someone to stop the practice of children being tied up in straight jackets, held by 3 or 4 misguided dental assistants only to receive what can only be called barbaric dental treatment? No!

It was 2003 - 9 YEARS ago - when a young reporter – Stuart Watson- in North Carolina first reported about the DeRose family's child abuse for tax dollars scheme. Most enduringly referred to as - "serving the underserved."

It's 2012. The abuse continues daily. The only real thing to change is one, the companies playing the game, more folks want in on the action. Two, the changed the terms used to describe the crimes. “Quota” was changed to “Goals”, the “Goals” changed to “Targets” and “Targets” to “Forecasts”. It’s hard to find new words for abuse a child for a dollar, though.

There are mounds of evidence detailing this criminal behavior which has landed on the desks (or trash cans) of Attorney Generals, Senators and Congressmen - both Federal and State levels. More than enough to make sweeping arrests and stop this child abuse and raping of every taxpayer this very day. Yet, another day will pass and no one stops it. No one closes the doors of the dungeons or arrests the dungeon masters.

You've seen what these children are subjected to - the videos, the testimony, the documents, the first hand accounts from employees, patients and parents!

You've seen testimony of a small child being "waterboarded" by Small Smiles corporate dentist - Megann Scott. Yet, only a "waterboarded" terrorist gets your attention!

You've been shown, just recently, that children are literally kidnapped at bus stops, taken thru the back doors of clinics, then coerced into forging their parents signature! Yet, you do nothing!

You've allowed the chop shops to set up in every poor neighborhood in the country. Even given them our tax dollars to do so.  If allowing these predators this much access to our babies and children was not enough, you've allowed them access to children in our public schools, via gypsy style mobile dental clinics. You have been shown the devastation children are enduring because of this practice - Isaac Gagnon.

You've seen the deaths of babies sedated for over-treatment of dental procedures, yet, you do nothing!

It is a disgrace, crime against humanity, and a black mark on the entire county, to continue to allow this to happen another day. In my opinion, a much bigger than the Fast and Furious debacle.

It's worse than disgraceful this is still happening, 5 years after first being alerted to these children being abused. I am saddened at what is becoming the biggest disgrace of all - the lack of action!

I'm embarrassed nothing is being done - other than a few token arrests of a dentist here and there. Only one, that I'm aware of from the criminal organizations themselves - dentist and inventor Robin Lockwood in Oklahoma.

The companies who have perfected this madness don't even try to defend their actions any longer. Kool Smiles - NCDR for example. The best they can do at this point combat their disgusting behavior is to hire someone that in essence said, "we can abuse and mangle more children for less" My GOD! Are we all insane?!

Are lawmakers and law enforcement hoping the pool of patients will just run dry if it's ignored long enough? I'm note sure. They wouldn't have to bite the hands that feed their campaign coffers, would they? These abused children are growing up, they have not and will not forget the horrors bestowed upon them by these brutal dentists. Nor, will they forget those who sat idly by and let, if not encouraged, it to happen. I doubt they will subject their own children to these abuses, though it may mean no dental care at all for future generations. (This could explain why there is always a crisis in dental health here in America.)

This very day – Tuesday, October 2, 2012- thousands more children will be abused in these clinics, it will happen again tomorrow. What will it take to stop this? Tell me, please. What do you need?

Millions of tax dollars dollars will be paid to companies today to physically abuse, mangle children faces and mouths and leave crippling emotional scars. One such child who suffered these horrors well over a year ago, just this past weekend, gained the courage to leave her mom and spend a few short hours with her grandparents! How is doing nothing about this, OK?

IMG_2820This week, I’m spending my time nurturing a grandchild or two or three. We will be decorating pumpkins, and doing anything else I can think of to give them loving memories. Hopefully they will carry these moments in their hearts and minds, long after I’m gone.

Prosecutors, Attorney Generals, everyone on Capitol Hill, this is to you:

Will you stop the barbaric child abuse and torture by greedy dentists today?

Will you please end this nightmarish treatment that is emotionally crippling our most vulnerable – our children, our grandchildren?

The millions of children who have been permanently scared by abusive dentistry can’t enjoy “Kodak moments”, as above. Their  minds, emotions, as well as their mouths are forever damaged. We as parents and grandparents can’t give them enough loving memories to erase these horrors from their minds.

Do something today?