Academy Of General Dentists (AGD) and the American Dental Association (ADA) Respond to Scathing Senate Report on Corporate Dentistry

If you read this blog at all I’m sure you haven’t forgotten the Joint Staff Report issued a couple of weeks ago, by Senators Baucus and Grassley, where they told of the abuse and illegal activities of Small Smiles Dental and other corporate dental chains.  With Small Smiles in particular they laid it out for everyone; from the founders to the current CEO and Garrison Group. 

To top it off, they all but call the folks at HHS/OIC who are supposedly “monitoring” this company, incompetent imbeciles.  It for certain shed light on the “pay to play” action going on between HHS/OIG and Small Smiles Dental Centers; sounded more like a game of Cat and Mouse Extortion between the two to me.  If HHS/OIG were actually assessing the fines for this company laid out in the 2010 Corporate Integrity Agreement, I’d say it would add up to $4 Billion by now.  (ok, I’m exaggerating, but it would be HUGE!)  A couple of years ago, I was told by someone I won’t quote (they don’t like being quoted at HHS/OIG) that they…being OIG…take “Quality of Care Corporate Integrity Agreements very seriously.  I say HA! (as I role my eyes) 

Anyway, below are the responses from the AGD and ADA to the Baucus- Grassley Report.  Hard to believe they are housed at the same address in downtown Chicago.

(I may have messed with the picture a little, but I couldn’t help it.  I only have so much control, ya know)

---

The AGD Response

AGD applauds Senate report on corporate dentistry

 

Jul 26, 2013

CHICAGO, Ill., USA: The Academy of General Dentistry (AGD) is applauding a jointly issued U.S. Senate report that criticized large corporate dental practices that engage in deceptive overtreatment of patients. The report, co-released July 23 by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, is titled “Joint Staff Report on the Corporate Practice of Dentistry in the Medicaid Program.”

The report says that the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) “should exclude from participating in the Medicaid program” any other corporate entity that employs a “fundamentally deceptive business model resulting in a sustained pattern of substandard care.”

Dr. Benjamin Lloyd Porter, DMD, receives horrible reviews. Maybe it’s the heroin?

Jun 25th, 2013

This dentist is horrible. He lacks the proper training to take care of his patients. Be very careful when considering him.

http://www.vitals.com/dentists/Dr_Benjamin_Porter/reviews#ixzz2ajBCYVVb

Feb 19th, 2013

Terrible Dentist. Does not follow proper procedures and doesn't care about the welfare of his patients.

http://www.vitals.com/dentists/Dr_Benjamin_Porter/reviews#ixzz2ajBGgUJj

---

Ind. dentist arrested with heroin, police say

July 31, 2013 (LAPORTE, Ind.) (WLS) -- A LaPorte dentist was arrested during a traffic stop on the Indiana toll road after police found heroin.

Officers stopped Dr. Benjamin Porter for speeding on Monday night. Investigators say a police dog alerted them to the presence of drugs in the car.

Officers say they found ten small bags of heroin.

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local/indiana&id=9191370

---

 

LaPorte (IN) dentist arrested for heroin

July 31, 2013|By Stan Maddux | WSBT-TV Correspondent

PORTER COUNTY, INDIANA – A dentist from LaPorte was charged Wednesday after police on the Indiana Toll Road allegedly discovered a large amount of heroin in his vehicle.

Benjamin Porter, 30, told officers in Portage that he had snorted two baggies of heroin prior to being pulled over, police said.

He was charged in Porter County with dealing in a narcotic drug, a Class A felony, and possession of a narcotic drug, a Class C felony.

According to Portage police, an officer observed a 2004 Chevy Impala weaving eastbound through traffic and clocked the car at 62 mph in a 40 mph zone near a toll gate about 7 p.m. Monday.

The driver identified himself as Porter and told the officer he was on his way to LaPorte from Merrillville.

According to police, Porter seemed lethargic, broke out in a sweat, carried an odor of alcohol and avoided eye contact with the officer, who became suspicious enough to call for a K-9 dog to help with a search for drugs.

Porter then revealed heroin was in the car, said police.

According to police, 13 postage stamp-sized bags containing suspected heroin along with two straws containing an alleged heroin residue were among the recovered items.

His practice is Porter Family Dentistry at 1112 Indiana Ave. in LaPorte.

Porter is also listed as a service provider at LaPorte County Dental Services, a clinic operated by I.U. Health LaPorte Hospital & Physicians that offers dental care free or at a discount to low-income individuals.

According to the Porter County Prosecutor's Office, he was still being held Wednesday afternoon on $16,000 cash bond.

He's expected to be arraigned on the charges Friday.

He could face anywhere from a 20- to 50-year sentence on the Class A felony charge and two to eight years in prison on the Class C felony offense.

---

Currently checking Dr. Porter’s dental license in Indiana shows no “previous actions”, but that doesn’t mean he’s not been there a hundred times.  It’s likely to say the same thing this time next year!

License Number: 12011510A
Issued July 7, 2010
License Type – CSR (Controlled Substance Registered)

---

Laporte Community Health Center
400 Teegarden St
Ste A
La Porte, IN 46350
(219) 326-0043

Porter Family Dentistry (
1112 Indiana Ave
La Porte, IN  46350
219-362-5205

David L. Porter and Benjamin L. Porter
Porter Family Dentistry, La Porte, IN 

Senators Bacus and Grassley Report on Corporate Dentistry and the Failures of HHS/OIG to Protect Children

Corporate dentistry criticized for unethical practices, unnecessary procedures

by Eddie Burkhalter
eburkhalter@annistonstar.com

Jul 28, 2013

When Quintoya Seawright’s 3-year-old daughter, Destiny, chipped a baby tooth in November 2010, the young mother took her to the Small Smiles clinic in Montgomery. Quintoya, 25, would end up taking her daughter to the clinic four times that month.

On the last visit on Nov. 9, her daughter was strapped to a board for an hour while the dentist struggled to place two stainless steel caps on baby teeth while her daughter screamed and struggled, saying she could still feel it, the family said.
But without much money, the young mother had to rely on Medicaid to pay for her daughter’s care. Small Smiles specializes in treating children eligible for Medicaid. The company operates another clinic in Dothan.

The large dental chain is owned by a private equity firm and is managed by Nashville-based CSHM LLC. A report released by the U.S. Senate Finance Committee last week claims Small Smiles and clinics like it are motivated by profit, often performing unnecessary procedures, and should be removed from the Medicaid program.

The report also says the clinics are operating in violation of laws in 22 states, including Alabama, that ban anyone other than a licensed dentist from owning a practice. The report states that CSHM actually owns and operates the clinics, and not the “owner” dentists the company enlists to skirt to get around those state laws.

Quintoya said she was never allowed to go back with her daughter to watch the procedures at Small Smiles, but the 3-year-old girl’s grandmother, Sophia, demanded she be allowed on the girl’s last trip.

Destiny began pulling at her mouth, so workers strapped her arms and legs to the board, then the dentist struggled for an hour to place the two caps on the tiny baby teeth while Destiny “kept saying she still felt it. He said, ‘No. She’s numb. It’s just the noise,’” said Sophia.

“Her heart was just beating so fast,” Sophia said. “The lady was holding her head down and was trying to get her to open her mouth by squeezing her nose.”
Destiny had a total of five stainless steel caps placed on baby teeth over four visits. One cap fell out along with the tooth a couple weeks later. Quintoya said she never heard the dentist say her daughter had cavities in those teeth, but he said the caps would help prevent them from forming.

“I’m not sure if it was a necessity to have all those silver things in her mouth,” Sophia said.

Read more: Anniston Star - Corporate dentistry criticized for unethical practices unnecessary procedures

Anniston Star reports on Small Smiles and Aspen Dental Operating in Alabama

Don’t miss this is an in-depth report. Mr. Burkhalter asks some hard questions, the answers didn’t surprise me.  Standard responses expected. 
“We didn’t do it” 
“We didn’t know it” 
“It’s not our problem”

Alabama dental clinics operating illegally, Senate report says

by Eddie Burkhalter
eburkhalter@annistonstar.com

07.25.13 - 08:04 am

Several Alabama dental clinics are operating in violation of state law, and are putting profits before patient care, according to a report released this week by the U.S. Senate Finance Committee.

Those clinics are performing unnecessary procedures to pay the corporate investors that own the clinics, the report states. The report recommends that state and federal agencies end that practice by enforcing existing laws.
The 1,500-page report, put out by Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Max Baucus, D-Mont., marks the end of a two-year investigation into the practice of corporate dentistry by the staff of the Senate’s Committee on Finance.

Among the companies investigated was Aspen Dental, a nationwide chain of dental clinics that is opening an office in Oxford this year.
Small Smiles dental clinic — one of the largest dental chains in the U.S. — operates clinics in Dothan and Montgomery, and is the center of much of the Senate investigation and report.

According to the report, Small Smiles, managed by Nashville-based Church Street Health Management, skirts laws in states — including Alabama’s Dental Practice Act — that ban dental clinics from being owned by anyone other than a licensed dentist.

The company does that by entering into contracts with “owner” dentists licensed in the state in which the clinic operates, according to the report. CSHM claims to only manage the clinics, the report’s authors write.

But the company retains control of daily operation, according to the report, from hiring, firing and training staff to controlling the bank account and setting production goals that require dentists to treat large numbers of mostly low-income children eligible for Medicaid.

Read the rest of this in-depth report here.  Don’t forget to make your comments.

http://annistonstar.com/view/full_story/23212853/article-Alabama-dental-clinics-operating-illegally--Senate-report-says?instance=top_center_featured

WTAE Pittsburgh Reports on Senate Investigation of Small Smiles Dental Clinics and Reachout Healthcare America

Senate report says Small Smiles dental clinics wasting taxpayer money
Report: No more Medicaid for Small Smiles

Jul 24, 2013

PITTSBURGH —A blistering report says taxpayer dollars are being wasted at a national chain of dental clinics, including one in Pittsburgh

The Senate began its probe following a Channel 4 Action News investigation into the Small Smiles dental clinic.

The clinics have been accused of performing unnecessary procedures on children to get more taxpayer money from Medicaid.

In its report, the Senate Finance Committee says that is still going on and so Small Smiles should not get more money from Medicaid.

None of the families interviewed outside the Small Smiles clinic in East Liberty were aware of the Senate report.

After learning of the report, the Bagley family had second thoughts about the surgery being planned for 5-year-old Christopher.

 

Read more and see video report, along with other investigations of Small Smiles by WATE  here: http://www.wtae.com/news/local/investigations/senate-report-says-small-smiles-dental-clinics-wasting-taxpayer-money/-/12023024/21150480/-/n6efhkz/-/index.html#ixzz2a4MbwQOF

Another WFAA – Byron Harris report on All Smiles Dental Centers and Dr. Richard Malouf

July 23, 2013

by BYRON HARRIS

Bio | Email

WFAA

Posted on July 23, 2013 at 10:10 PM

Updated today at 2:46 AM

DALLAS –– An unprecedented release of documents by the Dallas County District Attorney’s office tracks the investigation of All Smiles Dental Centers (ASDC) for eight years and illustrates how local, state and federal officials responded to information and complaints about the clinics.

Dr. Richard Malouf and his wife Leann displayed the trappings of wealth as owners of ASDC,  as their clinics treated children under the Texas Medicaid dental program. D Magazine named their mansion as one of the city’s 40 largest. A private water park and pair of corporate jets were theirs to enjoy as well. 

News 8 obtained hundreds of pages of documents in the investigation of Malouf and his former company, All Smiles Dental Centers, under the Texas Public Information Act.

Read the entire story at WFAA Website Here

Senators’ Report Reveals Oxon Hill Maryland Small Smiles As Bad Today As It Was In The Beginning.

Despite signing a Corporate Integrity Agreement with the US Government in 2010 Small Smiles Dental Centers continue with their fraud and abuse of children as reported in The Joint Staff Report On The Corporate Practice of Dentistry In The Medicaid Program issued by Committee on Finance United States Senate, Max Bacus,Chairman and Committee On The Judiciary United States Senate, Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member, July 2013.

(Despite the 1,500 pages in the report only pages 1-33 (5-37 of the pdf file) are the findings and recommendations, the rest are exhibits

Oxon Hill Maryland

Oxon Hill, Maryland was one of the dental centers reported on in 2007 which brought Small Smiles Dental Centers to the public’s attention.  It’s been 6 years and appears nothing has changed much.  Here is just some of what the Joint Senate report says about the Oxon Hill Small Smiles Clinic:

Senators Max Baucus and Chuck Grassley issue 1,500 page joint report calling for corporate Medicaid dental clinics to be ousted from the program

Today, Senators Baucus and Grassley issued a 1,500 – 1517 pages to be exact — page report on claims I’ve been making here on Dentist The Menace for nearly 6 years. The report includes 66 exhibits.
The story accompanying the release of the Joint Staff Report On The Corporate Practice of Dentistry In The Medicaid Program can be found at The Center for Public Integrity, here.  In David Heath’s story, he reports the new owners Small Smiles Dental Centers state the following:

“only five of the 20 inspection reports mentioned in the Senate report fell under its watch.”

and

…"We've taken action to help CSHM improve its quality of care and management,"

and

…“The new team immediately initiated an aggressive turnaround effort premised on patient care, clinical excellence and regulatory compliance,” the company said.

Well, that’s nothing to be crowing about, since the “new management”  only legally acquired the company 13 months ago putting a guy by the name of David R. Wilson in charge. That was in June of 2012, (13 months ago) so 1/4 of the inspections mentioned in Bacus/Grassley report took place under their watch. This is not a good record in my opinion — heck it’s as bad if not worse than the Michael Lindley/Al Smith or DeRose Family regimes.  Nor it does it demonstrate anything close to “an aggressive turnaround effort on patient care”.  What it does demonstrate, however, is “business as usual”. 
CPI also reports twice last year the OIG threatened to shut Small Smiles out of the Medicaid program.

“Twice last year the HHS inspector general threatened to exclude Small Smiles from the Medicaid program. But in a letter to Grassley and Baucus, Inspector General Daniel R. Levinson said Small Smiles fixed the problems by selling the Manassas clinic, paying a $100,000 penalty and addressing other concerns.”

Now, did CSHM actually “sell” the Manassas, Virginia clinic?  That is highly suspect!  A guy out of Idaho left his own practice and moved his entire family to Virginia and slapped his name on the place, calling it Kids and Family Dentistry.  Coincidently, at the exact same time, the Small Smiles flagship clinic in Pueblo, Colorado changed it’s name to Family and Kids Dentistry, making the “owner” the same guy who was  the lead dentist working for Small Smiles at the time.  (Logos have a odd resemblance about them, don’t they?)  Anyone taking bets on whether the DeRose family — founders of Small Smiles —are somehow still involved with these two clinics?
As for the $100,000 penalty, that didn’t even cover 1/2 of the amount scammed in the x-ray scam in just one Colorado Small Smiles.  What would add insult to injury is it was probably on a payment plan, like the $24 million settlement in 2010.
The Bacus/Grassley report includes independent monitor reports on Small Smiles Phoenix, Arizona, Manassas, Virginia, Oxon Hill, Maryland and Youngstown, Ohio and others.  Small Smiles signed a Corporate Integrity Agreement with OIG in January 2010 agreeing to 63 pages of terms and conditions, including self-reporting.  Of course the “independent monitor” can only report on what they find.  But what about what they don’t find? 
I’ve not come close to reading the entire report just yet, but so far I’ve not read anything about the $200K x-ray scam in one of Colorado clinic that was NEVER self-reported, or the fact that a corporate staffer took the necessary Continuing Education courses to get the lead dentist in Mishawaka, Indiana credentialed in Indiana, making her effectively non-licensed to practice in Indiana to this very day or a host of other illegal activities going on behind the closed doors at Small Smiles Dental Centers and Church Street Health Management (CSHM). I doubt I find these things in the report, but you can find them here if you look.
It’s scary to think state dental boards and state Medicaid programs have not only turned a blind eye to the child abuse, but promoted and encouraged it.  Those of us following this industry also know this is just the tip of the iceberg. 
More on this eye opening report in the coming days.  In the meantime, I encourage everyone to read The Joint Staff Report On The Corporate Practice of Dentistry In The Medicaid Program and evidence attached by clicking here .

So a man poses as a dentist, corporations do it, so why not?

Unlicensed Boca Raton dentist claims 6,000 patients, deputies say

A dentist who isn't licensed in Florida told an undercover sheriff's deputy that his underground Boca Raton practice has 6,000 patients, deputies said.
Ubaldo Bittencourt, 62, only sees fellow Brazilians who speak Portuguese, according to a Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office arrest report.
As a rule, the "very cautious" Bittencourt, a dentist in his native Brazil, doesn't answer his phone, preferring instead to return voice mails within 24 hours.
So when an undercover deputy called him on May 29 as part of an investigation, leaving a message in Portuguese, the unlicensed dentist called back, deputies said.
On Thursday, the dentist was arrested, his capture the culmination of a probe that began when the Sheriff's Office received a complaint about him on March 1.
Read the rest with video here