Who is the most sued dentist in Texas? Who knows, right? But for sure, Dr. Li Skelton must rate pretty high; at least in Bexar County, Texas.
Dr. Li Skelton currently has a total 7 pending lawsuits in Bexar County Texas District Court. Below are the cases filed in 2013 — all pending.
| Date | Cause # | Issue |
| January 2, 2013 | 2013CI00047 | Medical Malpractice |
| April 4, 2013 | 2013CI05704 | Medical Malpractice |
| May 14, 2013 | 2013CI08156 | Medical Malpractice |
| May 23, 2013 | 2013CI08796 | Medical Malpractice |
Related:
AUSTIN, TEXAS, May 26, 2013 - The vice chair of the homeland security committee in the Texas House says there is a direct connection between drug cartels and Medicaid fraud being perpetrated along the South Texas border region.
For this and other reasons, state Rep. Allen Fletcher said he offered an amendment to Senate Bill 8 that will allow the Office of Inspector General (OIG) to hire commissioned peace officers for their investigations into Medicaid fraud. Senate Bill 8 is a major piece of legislation dealing with fraud, waste, and abuse in the Medicaid program.
“There is Medicaid fraud all over the state, Dallas, Houston, you name it. The cartels are in Dallas and Houston. But way along the border, and all along the border, McAllen, Brownsville, Cameron County, Hidalgo County, Starr, all those areas, there is huge cartel influence and I assure you that these individuals that are involved in setting up these bogus clinics and hiring these dentists and doctors to file these fraudulent Medicaid claims, it’s cartels,” Fletcher said.
Fletcher is one of just a few retired police officer serving in the Texas House. He investigated white collar crime for Houston Police Department for many years. Fletcher said he spoke to Jack Stick, deputy inspector general for enforcement for the Office of Inspector General Texas Health and Human Services Commission, about carrying an amendment for Stick to allow OIG to have commissioned peace officers working as investigators.
Smile Starters, formerly known as Medicaid Dental Centers, first made the news in North Carolina in 2003. 10 years later, little that has changed, other than its name and signage.
Reporter, Diane Wilson, with the ABC affiliate in Raleigh-Durham, NC reports on continued fraudulent diagnosing practices Smile Starters Dental Centers in North Carolina. You can contact ABC’s “Troubleshooters” at troubleshooter@abc11mail.com
Listen for the usual Medicaid dental mill “buzz” words and phrases, such as: “Corporate”,“Chief Dental Officer”, “Do Not Allow Parents Back with the Child” and “Lead Dentist”.
End of EyeWittness ABC Channel 11 Report
However unlikely it is for the North Carolina Dental Board to take action, it is still extremely important a complaint is filed and on record, so to speak. To file a complaint with the North Carolina Dental Board click here.
What they couldn’t tell you in the report:
Smile Starters and the dentists who work there, are very much familiar with the North Carolina Dental Board and visa-versa. With the new regulations in North Carolina on how dentists and management companies operate, maybe the dental board could take a look at Smile Starters and Root Dental Management and expose the truth behind the true ownership of Smile Starters Dental Centers.
Smile Starters Dental Centers have operated under Medicaid Dental Centers (MDC), North Carolina Dental Centers and Smile Starters. As reported above, Dr. Ralph Rivera was Smile Starters Chief Dental Officer under the prior ownership of Dr. Michael A. DeRose and Dr. Letitia L. (Tish) Ballance. Although it would be hard to prove outside a legal setting — where documents would have to be produced — I whole heartedly believe Michael A. DeRose sill owns and controls these dental clinics. Being that Michael A. DeRose has had his license revoked and is also listed on the governments LEIE (List of Excluded Individuals and Entities) list, it would be highly illegal for him to own a dental clinic or received monies from Medicaid or Medicare, directly or indirectly. If he maintains any ownership, it would have to be masked by a few layers of corporations, and the DeRose’s are good at that game, or at least think they are.
May 3, 2013
AUSTIN, TEXAS (May 3, 2013) — State Representative Lois W. Kolkhorst (R - Brenham), Chair of the Public Health Committee in the Texas House of Representatives, authored and passed House Bill 3201, a sweeping dental practice reform bill for Texas, calling for parental rights for pediatric dental patient care, additional disclosure information for dental license renewal, and new disciplinary actions by the Texas Dental Board.
“As a mother of two children, I was shocked to learn that in 2010, there were estimated to be over 15,000 Texas children who were given inappropriate dental care, including braces on baby teeth,” said Kolkhorst. “Most of these were Medicaid cases that involved dentists and dental clinics who would not allow parents to observe the dental care given to their children.” Under the bill’s reforms, Texas parents and legal guardians would be given the right to observe most dental services being provided to their children.
Kolkhorst also said her legislation is aimed at cracking down on the millions of dollars in dental and orthodontic Medicaid fraud recently uncovered by both WFAA-TV investigative news reports (in North Texas) and the Texas Attorney General’s office.
Bios of Dr. Joel Berg and Dr. Michael Davis.
Dr. Joel Berg is current president of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and named dean of the University of Washington’s School of Dentistry in 2012. He was previously an executive at Philips Oral Healthcare and 3M’s ESPE Dental. Dr. Berg is an inventor and has authored numerous articles and manuscripts. He is also co-editor of the textbook on early childhood oral health. His latest invention is the Pediatric Bur Block for DVI.
He is a fellow of the American College of Dentists and International College of Dentists, as well as a board director of the American Academy of Esthetic Dentistry. In 2011, he was named the Washington Dental Service Foundation Distinguished Professor for Dentistry.
Dr. Michael W. Davis has achieved national recognition as an expert dental lecturer and author. His current private practice, SMILES OF SANTA FE, has successfully helped hundreds of patients achieve and maintain spectacular smiles and optimal oral health since 2003. Dr. Davis holds membership in the Academy of General Dentistry, the American Dental Association, and the New Mexico Dental Association. His presentations include speaking for the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, Association of Cosmetic Practices, Cruise and Learn Alaska Seminar, and the International AACD in San Antonio. As an author, Dr. Davis' articles have appeared in many respected publications, including Dental Economics, Dentistry Today, Journal of Cosmetic Dentistry, and Journal of the American Dental Association. He also serves on the editorial review board for the Journal of Cosmetic Dentistry.
Interview of American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry President, Dr. Joel Berg
Dr. Davis: We continue to see a disturbing degree of misrepresentations in dental marketing and advertising, in which general dentists attempt to represent themselves as specialists. Sometimes, this is seen with individual practitioners, and sometimes we see these misrepresentations from larger interstate dental providers. We can’t expect the public to have our degree of sophistication and professional knowledge, to read fact from fiction. How can the public best be protected from these unprofessional charlatans?
Dr. Berg: A big part of the answer is for state dental boards to enforce the laws and regulations that are currently on the books concerning the criteria for specialty advertising (namely, that a dentist cannot state or imply specialization absent appropriate training in one of the nine recognized dental specialties). The AAPD provides guidance on advertising to our affiliate (general dentist) members and we have also shared this with state dental boards. We applaud those general dentists who take care of children and do so in accordance with AAPD’s clinical guidelines. For purposes of advertising, the AAPD believes the following terms are acceptable by a general dentist: Family Dentistry, General Dentistry for Children or General Dentistry for Children and Families. However, the AAPD believes the following phrases are confusing to the public and contrary to the membership obligations of the Affiliate category: Child Dentistry, Children’s Dentistry, Dentistry for Children, Dentistry for Kids or Pediatric Dentistry. Affiliate members using such terms are subject to disciplinary action by the AAPD. We are aware that some corporate chains have names that are misleading, and we believe that state dental boards should appropriately regulate such advertising.
Texas legislators are attempting to regulate the operation of Dental Service Organizations (DSO’s), currently operating secretly in the state. At the very least lawmakers want them to register as doing business in their state.
At public hearings in March 2012 lawmakers were shocked to hear members of the TSBDE say they didn’t have a clue how many dental clinics were operating in the state. The TSBDE also admitted they were oblivious as to who owned any dental clinics in Texas. That’s right, the same clinics where licensed (or not) dentists perform medical procedures on Texas citizens, the TSBDE didn’t know who owned any of them – be it an actual dentist, a group greedy investors or a teacher’s union in Canada, i.e. Heartland. Further, no one seemed to care until it was pointed out the hundreds of millions of dollars being stolen from the Medicaid program.
HB 151 attempts to change that, but HB 151 hasn’t moved since February 21, 2013 – has rigor mortis set in?
During at least 2 hearings since last March – the last earlier this month - the DSO’s have sent stooges to testify. Under oath, they have declared there is nothing shady going on. The most laughable happened last Fall, when Diane Earle of NCDR/Kool Smiles was nearly laughed out of the chamber. Ok, few actually laughed out loud, but she did receive a “bless her heart” type dismissal. NCDR/Kool Smiles Dental is owned by FFL Partners in San Francisco. see video.
In an attempt to keep the bones buried, NCDR/Kool Smiles seldom misses the opportunity to remind employees (past and present) of confidentiality agreements they signed when they began their employment with the company. i.e. letters of intimidation and threats of lawsuits.
The DSO’s are fighting back. They don’t want any government agency to know they are doing business in any state, let alone the degree of shadiness.
Wonder why that is, exactly? I’ll tell you why, because they know they are operating multi-million dollar illegal businesses. When you have nothing to hide, you hide nothing, right?
The latest report of DSO’s fighting back is Heartland Dental “requesting” their dentist send letters to lawmakers opposing any regulations requiring DSO’s to register with any government body. So lawmakers – in any state or in Washington - if you are suddenly receiving letters from dentists opposing DSO registration, take their name and address, they work for one!
Anyone realizing the “patients” are little children? Anyone realizing the intravenous sedated patients are at risk because the needle was probably in the dentist’s arm then in child’s? Or are people realizing it, just not saying it? Anyone asking why this has been known for so long and patients are just now being alerted? Someone besides me should be asking. I’m getting tired of being the only one asking the hard questions! I’ve been asking for well over 5 years!!
Patients were treated with the intravenous painkiller meperidine -- known as Demoral -- between Nov. 20, 2011 and Feb. 20, 2012. Stewart committed suicide on Feb. 29, 2012 at age 40 shortly after he lost his job, according to his father.
"Anybody around him would tell you he was a great dentist," Stewart's father, Larry, told ABC News. "He just had a problem with drugs. That's mainly what caused all this."
Stewart had issues with substance abuse in the 1990s when he was living and practicing dentistry in Louisiana, and he eventually surrendered his dentistry license there, said Arkansas Board of Dentistry attorney Bill Trice.
After completing a rehabilitation program in 2000, Stewart asked for a dentistry license in Arkansas. It was granted on the condition that he complete a five-year program with daily drug testing.
Stewart was drug-free for the full five years, but he relapsed and had to complete the five-year program again, Trice said. In 2010, Stewart completed the program a second time. For the next two years, the dentistry board didn't hear about any problems.
Ocean Dental, which owned several clinics where Stewart worked, asked Stewart to take a drug test on Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, after he appeared to be impaired during Sunday communications with Ocean Dental employees. He was told he would be fired immediately if he refused, but he refused anyway, according to a statement from Ocean Dental.
The dental board did not know why Stewart was fired, Trice said.
Then, Stewart committed suicide by overdosing on drugs on Feb. 29, 2012, according to Pulaski County Coroner Gerone Hobbs.
Six months later, in August, the Drug Enforcement Agency got a complaint from a former employee of the dental clinic where Stewart worked, prompting the agency to visit the clinic, Trice said. Investigators found evidence that two vials were tampered with, but they didn't find evidence of any disease.
Trice, who has been a prosecutor on behalf of the dentistry board since the early 1980s, said he's not convinced Stewart contaminated any drugs.
"They've got all these isolated facts out there, but I'm not sure the dots connect," Trice said.
DEA spokesman William Bryant said two separate sources called to say the single doses of these drugs were compromised. The second call came in as late as last week, he said.
Stewart's former patients were advised to seek tests for blood borne diseases like HIV and hepatitis b, but Larry Stewart said his son was tested and the results were negative. Given the length of time between the death and the announcement, he said he felt his son's name was "truly smeared."
"We feel like we've been violated," Larry Stewart said. "These things would have already come to light if there had been any diseases, yet they took it upon themselves to put it out to the public nationwide 13 months after the fact."
The Arkansas Department of Health was notified eight days ago, but it needed the time to determine how best to inform patients and convey the low level of risk, according to state epidemiologist Dr. Dirk Haselow.
"We definitely believe that people needed to be notified," Haselow said. "No one else in those facilities had sedation privileges, therefore no one else had access to those medications."
According to a release on the department's website, Stewart worked at six different Ocean Dental locations in the state from Nov. 20, 2011, to Feb. 20, 2012. It is suspected that some of the drugs Stewart administered intravenously to patients may have been contaminated. Patients who received medicine orally are not thought to be at risk at this time.
ABC News notes that Dr. Stewart, who reportedly had a history of substance abuse, died just nine days after the three-month period that health officials are concerned about. In a statement obtained by ABC, Ocean Clinics said the following about the scare:
Although Ocean Dental is not aware of any information indicating that Dr. Stewart had any infectious disease, and no reports have been received about any of these patients contracting any infectious disease, the Arkansas Department of Health is recommending that these patients be tested as a precaution.
The cause of Stewart's death has not yet been revealed, but a health department official told the Associated Press that it was not from an infectious disease.
"We have no reason to believe that anyone is at risk of a particular illness," state epidemiologist Dirk Haselow told the AP. "We are just notifying people because this situation is highly unusual and we don't know what we don't know."
The AP also reports that authorities discovered after Stewart's death that medicine under his license had been tampered with. Patients who saw Dr. Stewart will be tested for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV and syphilis as a precaution.
Though the spread of disease in dental offices is considered rare, the news of Stewart follows a highly publicized case that surfaced just a few weeks ago in Oklahoma, where a dentist may have exposed as many as 7,000 patients to HIV and hepatitis by not using properly sterilized tools.
Last summer, a dentist in Colorado was found to have been reusing needles on different patients.
Worried about your next visit to the dentist? CNN offers a guide for patients who want to protect their health and check up on their dentists' office sanitation habits.
An Amarillo orthodontist has been sentenced to more than four years in prison for health care fraud.
Dr. Michael David Goodwin was sentenced Tuesday to 50 months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $1.8 million in restitution.
The 63-year-old Goodwin pleaded guilty in December 2012 to one count of health care fraud related to the Texas Medicaid program.
Court documents show that Goodwin devised a scheme to defraud the Texas Medicaid program by billing the program for more than $2.6 million for services which he claimed to provide, but were either not medically necessary, or were provided by dental assistants.
Well, this story is finally getting some media attention. However, the story being told is not necessarily they story I’ve heard. Dr. Stewart committed suicide last February, the day after being fired by Ocean Dental. He may have been fired, but Ocean knew full well of his problems. I’m hearing Ocean has been wiping hard drives and shredding documents trying to cover up how much they know and how long they knew it. At issue, as I’m told, is Dr. Stewart’s heavy drug use that was commonly known by Ocean Dental and co-workers. He did most of the sedations for Ocean Dental, however, the patients might not have been getting the drugs…know what I mean?
I also am told the DEA has been on this case for some time..like well over a year!
Posted on: 12:22 pm, April 9, 2013, by Larry Henry and Shain Bergan, updated on: 03:58pm, April 9, 2013
In a news release on Tuesday (April 9), the Arkansas Department of Health said it is contacting about 100 patients from ages 14 to 22 treated by Dr. William Jarrod Stewart at six dental clinics around the state between Nov. 20, 2011, and Feb. 20, 2012.
Stewart, 40, died February 2012, officials said.
By letter and telephone, the state is contacting patients who received IV medication delivered into a vein at these clinics: Ocean Dental clinics in Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Hot Springs, Jonesboro and Little Rock, and Bevans Pediatric Dentistry in Little Rock.
No one treated at the Fort Smith clinic has been identified as being at risk, the news release states.
The state, seeking the blood tests based on information from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, “has concluded that some of the drugs used by Dr. Stewart may have been contaminated with infectious material,” according to the news release.
Ocean Dental released a statement later in the day, saying state representatives are contacting 84 patients, including 68 Ocean Dental patients, who received IV sedation drugs from Stewart and may have been exposed to infectious diseases.
Dentist in HIV probe is taking allegations seriously, his attorney says
Tulsa World
"His previous record with the dental board is impeccable. He is taking the recent allegations very seriously and is fully cooperating with the Oklahoma Dental Board. At this time, out of respect for his patients and the sensitivity of the issues, Dr ...
Former Patient Wants Apology From Tulsa Dentist Under Investigation
News On 6
The Tulsa dentist accused of potentially exposing thousands of patients to HIV and hepatitis spoke out through his attorney Thursday. In a statement, Dr. W. Scott Harrington's attorney said, "his previous record with the dental board is impeccable. He ...
Witnesses needed to build case against Tulsa dentist in HIV, hepatitis scare
Tulsa World
Dentist's attorney puts out brief statement. "His previous record with the dental board is impeccable. He is taking the recent allegations very seriously and is fully cooperating with the Oklahoma Dental Board." ...
APRIL 4, 2013 – Plainview, NY - A Plainview dentist with a practice in Brooklyn has been sentenced to 1-3 years in jail after a joint state audit revealed he had engaged in a fraudulent Medicaid practices.
Lawrence J. Bruckner, 63, of Plainview, will also have to pay some $700,000 in restitution, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced Thursday.
DiNapoli's joint investigation with Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman revealed that Bruckner's worked with five affiliated dentists who took in nearly $7 million in Medicaid payments from 2007 to 2011, at least $2.3 million of which was likely fraudulent. The practice was based largely on the illegal recruiting of Medicaid recipients and billings for services never rendered, DiNapoli's office said.
“Medicaid fraud exploits our most vulnerable citizens at taxpayer expense,” DiNapoli said. “By driving out cheaters, we can reduce burgeoning health care costs and ensure proper treatment for those in need."
7000 dental patients may be at risk for Hepatitis and HIV
Examiner.com
The Tulsa, Oklahoma oral surgeon is now under investigation by the state dental board, the state bureau of narcotics and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency because one of his patients recently tested positive for hepatitis C and HIV without known risk ...
Dentist's office a 'perfect storm' for HIV, hepatitis exposure, health ...
CNN
An official complaint filed before the state dental board described the violations, including "multiple sterilization issues, multiple cross-contamination issues, (and) the drug cabinet was unlocked and unattended." There were no logs of inventory for ...
AP Top Stories March 29 p
USA TODAY
Here's the latest news for Friday, March 29: Oklahoma dental board may institute routine inspection; UPS pays $40M to end online pharmacies probe; Conn. officials seek info from Newtown charities; Man jumps onto subway tracks to rescue stranger.
Oklahoma Dentist Could Face Criminal Charges
East Idaho News
Rogers said investigations by the state dental board, the state health department, the state bureau of narcotics and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency are just getting underway. Although she has not yet submitted documents to the Tulsa District ...
Dentist Offices Not Routinely Inspected, Oklahoma Official Says
News On 6
That's why the idea of an assistant administering IV drugs to patients is so outrageous to the Dental Board. "Allowing an assistant who's never been to school or training is unheard of and is completely unacceptable," executive director of the Oklahoma ...
OSDH: Testing Important, but HIV, Hep B & C Spreading in Offices Rare
KGOU
Oklahoma's dental board says it may start promoting routine inspections of dental and oral surgeon clinics. Health officials in Tulsa are setting up free testing clinics for 7,000 dental patients who may have been exposed to the virus that causes AIDS ...
State Board Says Tulsa Dentist's Practice Was Unsafe Unsanitary ...
Until now, state health officials say the dentist has never had a complaint, and say the allegations against him now are unheard of.
Posted: 03/28/2013
TULSA - Officials with the Tulsa Health Department and the Oklahoma State Department of Health are in the process of notifying around 7,000 patients of a local dental practice they may have been exposed to blood-borne viruses.
During a press conference Thursday, local and state health officials as well as the Oklahoma Board of Dentistry released details surrounding the investigation, which revealed inappropriate infection control practices at the dental offices of W. Scott Harrington, D.M.D. and officials say Harrington put patients at risk for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV.
Investigators were first tipped off to Harrington's office after one of his patients contracted HIV and hepatitis C It was ultimately traced back to the dentist.
Further inspection revealed a lack of sterilization, illegal administering of IVs by dental assistants, even a vial believed to have expired 20 years ago in an unlocked drug cabinet.
Despite health officials' discovery, Susan Rogers, executive director of the Oklahoma State Board of Dentistry, emphasized the importance of remaining calm while maintaining the gravity of the accusations.
"I don't believe he had any idea there was anything bad happening," she said. " ... (It's) absolutely one of the most serious cases we've ever had."
Tulsa City-County Health Department Director Bruce Smart echoed Rogers following the announcement.
"We know it's very, very rare. It doesn't happen easily, but the fact that there has been unsafe practices, we never know if transmission could occur," he said.
Patients who were treated at either of Harrington's dental practices -- located at 2111 S. Atlanta Pl. in Tulsa and 12806 E. 86th Pl. N. in Owasso -- since 2007 will receive letters from health officials and are encouraged to undergo testing for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV.
The Tulsa Health Department's North Regional Health and Wellness Center at 5635 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is performing free tests on a walk-in basis Saturday, March 30 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Monday, April 1 from 8 a.m. to 6 pm. The health department has also set up a hotline at (918) 595-4500 for people with questions.
Officials say patient information was only available for the past seven years: therefore, patients seen by Harrington before 2007 may not receive letters. Anyone with additional questions may call the hotline.
Harrington, who the state says has been practicing dentistry since 1977, has voluntarily closed his doors while officials conduct the investigation. A hearing is scheduled for April to determine his dental future.
The Tulsa Health Department will continue to provide updated information on their website at www.tulsa-health.org (http://bit.ly/TulsaHealth).
Related:
Ohio Veteran Administration Clinic – 9 test positive for hepatitis – March 2, 2011
Colorado dentist may have infected patients with HIV – July 13, 2012
Oklahoma authorities say there may be as many as 100 victims in dental scam - September 5, 2012
At the end of their story are consent form examples.
Arizona bill would increase oversight of mobile dental services
By Donna Domino, Features Editor
March 25, 2013 -- Arizona is considering a bill designed to provide more oversight of mobile dental service providers who provide prophys, irreversible procedures, and other dental treatment for children at the kids' schools.
State Rep. Doris Goodale (R-District 5) has introduced HB 2426,which would require double parental notification before a mobile dental unit can provide treatment to children: one for routine cleanings and sealants, and a second for irreversible procedures such as restorations or extractions.
Lee Weinstein, DMD, a Scottsdale pediatric dentist and a member of the Arizona Dental Association who helped write the new legislation, said efforts to increase oversight of mobile dental providers gained momentum following complaints by the parents of Isaac and Joel Gagnon, who received dental treatment at their school in 2011. Four-year-old Isaac was given two pulpotomies and two stainless steel crowns, and his brother Joel received an "excessive" number of x-rays.
A pandemic in dentistry has broken out here in the US. Now reported in Indiana, it has also broken out in several other states including Oklahoma and Texas. By no means is this pandemic an accident; personnel in some dental offices are having weekend hoedown type events designed specifically to maximize its effectiveness. Who are the victims? You and I! Is there a test for it, you bet! Is there a cure? That is yet to be seen.
What is MDDR
You have probably never heard of MDDR. Not wanting to wait for some official someone or media personality to give it a catchy name and acronym, I did it myself. Today I proclaim MDDR is Mass Destruction of Dental Records. (I don’t think I have to have some type of official ceremony so I’ll check on that later.)
Officials in states, such as Texas, who are searching for evidence of this pandemic might want read this story out of Indianapolis concerning a breakout of MDDR.
Posted: Mar 18, 2013 7:06 PM CDT Updated: Mar 20, 2013 10:09 AM CDT
By Bob Segall - bio
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - Thousands of patient records found by our 13 Investigates team are now in the hands of state investigators.
Late Tuesday afternoon, special agents with the attorney general's office picked up boxes loaded with thousands of sensitive, personal documents. We found the sensitive information dumped at an Indianapolis church parking lot.
Recycling is a great idea, except when it's private patient information being recycled in a public recycling bin. 13 Investigates got a call to a recycling dumpster in the parking lot of a south side church after the church secretary noticed something strange inside.
What we discovered inside the dumpsters were thousands of patient files all containing names, addresses, phone numbers, birthdates, Social Security numbers, X-rays, medical histories, dental information, credit card numbers and more.
13 Investigates loaded up the files - nearly 7,000 of them - and brought them back to our studio to figure out where they came from. It turns out all of the records are from two dental clinics - Comfort Dental offices in Kokomo and Marion.
The Comfort Dental offices in Marion and in Kokomo are now closed. The dentist who ran these offices lost his dental license because of fraudulent billing. Now, a year and half later, more bad news for his patients.
Janet Christie is shocked to learn her family's dental records and private information were just dumped instead of being destroyed.
"That's us. Wow," she said, shaking her head in disbelief. "I'm disappointed. I'm angry. This is just very upsetting. I can't believe it. I wouldn't think it would ever happen to me."
Ben Moses feels the same way after we found all of his family's dental records inside the dumpster.
"This was a shock to say the least," he said. "It seems like anybody could have walked by, seen what was in there and walked off with my personal information. I would expect information like this to be shredded, to be disposed of properly," said Moses.
32-1299.25. Informed consent; information for patients
A. The permit holder of a mobile dental facility or portable dental unit must obtain appropriate informed consent, in writing or by verbal communication, that is recorded by an electronic or digital device from the patient or the parent or guardian of the patient authorizing specific treatment before it is performed. The signed consent form or verbal communication shall be maintained as part of the patient's record as required in section 32-1264.
DALLAS — It's no secret that a Dallas Judge has cited District Attorney Craig Watkins for contempt in a case involving one of his biggest campaign donors.
But News 8 has learned the FBI began investigating Watkins 20 months ago in an investigation that included another campaign donation.
It was July 13, 2011. FBI agents came to Craig Watkins' 11th floor courthouse office with subpoenas and questions.
Part of the investigation: A $10,000 campaign donation from the wife of Dallas dentist Richard Malouf.
"They did come, and they asked to see all the files involved," assistant DA Rocky Jones told News 8.
The DA's office had previously conducted an investigation of Malouf which ended in a $46,000 settlement.
"They did take copies of several things," Jones said. "We didn't know what they took copies of."
News 8 has learned that in December 2009, Richard Malouf's attorney Gregory Shamoun presented Watkins with three campaign checks.
The largest — $10,000 — was from Leanne Malouf, Dr. Malouf's wife. After receiving the donation, Watkins was asked to come to Shamoun's office for a meeting.
Malouf was there, asking to talk about a criminal investigation in which he was the target. Watkins left the meeting immediately, his office saod.
Watkins' campaign returned the Malouf donation with a check drawn from his campaign funds.
What might surprise many voters is how much money goes to judges and district attorneys at Texas courthouses, and how often it happens.
"You have in Texas judges [who] routinely accept campaign contributions from people who are going to appear before them the next day," said assistant Dallas County DA Heath Harris.
Harris says it's up to judges and district attorneys not to let the donations sway their judgement.
"You have judges who take campaign contributions from lawyers. Lawyers are representing Joe Blow," Harris said.
"Joe Blow," Harris says, may have a case in the judge's court.
Shamoun, Dr. Malouf's attorney, was not available for comment.
The FBI doesn't talk about investigations.
According to The Dallas Morning News and the Associated Press, the FBI is investigating Watkins again for donations from another attorney.
Although there is nothing illegal about attorneys making donations to judges or district attorneys, some lawyers say the system itself needs to be investigated.
E-mail bharris@wfaa.com
DentalWorks, a national dental-care chain, is facing two lawsuits in North Carolina claiming that it unlawfully practiced dentistry and deceptive practices.
A lawsuit filed by the state dental board alleges that the company lied about its operations. A second lawsuit, filed by dentists who worked for the chain, alleges that it pushed staff to inappropriately diagnose patients in order to bill them for more costly procedures.
DentalWorks is one of several dental-care companies facing scrutiny of its practices recently.
In last June’s Dollars and Dentists, FRONTLINE and the Center for Public Integrity reported that Kool Smiles, which serves children covered by Medicaid, has been accused in several states of providing unnecessary treatment for children in order to bill more money. Kool Smiles has denied the allegations in an extensive response.
Last July, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said his office was probing Kool Smiles, Small Smiles and ReachOut HealthCare America, which all serve poor children on Medicaid.
And Aspen Dental, one of the nation’s largest corporate dental chains, was accused in a class-action lawsuit in October of deceiving patients and illegally owning dental practices. Aspen Dental, which denies the allegations, filed a motion to dismiss the case. Attorneys representing former patients in January filed an amended complaint (pdf) in January that added 13 more pages of allegations, which Aspen Dental has since filed to dismiss.
DentalWorks is the trade name of DentalOne Partners, Inc., a national dental company operating in 14 states. The suit filed by the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners accuses (pdf) DentalOne Partners of influencing clinical policies, including pushing for inappropriate diagnoses in order to bill for unnecessary treatment.
Who owns these Dental Service Organizations (DSO’s)?
Dental One Partners, is in the news in North Carolina; lawsuits from dentists and the North Carolina Dental Board. Today let’s look at Wal-Mart’s dip into dentistry. For years have I reported that a majority of DSO’s are owned by private equity and unlicensed corporate interests in direct violations of the Dental Practice Acts. It is a façade to bypass the law! Even if a genuine dentist wanted to own and operate a DSO in a legal and ethical fashion, is it hard or hardly possible?
A recent case filed in California against a dental service organization is a classic example on how these management front organizations are formed or owned to bypass the laws:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/3/prweb9217698.htm
This lawsuit I posted alleges all sorts of misconduct, but the one that is most interesting to me, is the structural setups of the Wal-Mart dental offices.
http://blog.dentistthemenace.com/2013/02/conspiracy-lawsuit-files-against-wal.html
In this particular case, Wal-Mart was obviously not allowed to own dental offices due to Stark, Dental Practice Acts, and Federal Anti-Kickback Statues. So what did Wal-Mart do to get in on the lucrative business of dentistry and maintain full control? Under the guise of compliance, they decided to setup a management (DSO) entity in Delaware and locate the home offices in Nevada while setting up dental offices in California and Arizona, with their own crew. Heck, even Smile Brands has hopping into bed with Wal-Mart.
http://www.brightnow.com/pressroom/news/bright-now-dental-opens-new-dental-office-mesa-az
It is alleged that Kent Reeves was the former VP of New Business Development for Wal-Mart, now an executive of the fake dental management company. It is further alleged that Ken Antos owns a restaurant chain inside of Wal-Marts and is a private equity man, now another executive of this fake management company. The lawsuit states that after the idea was presented to Wal-Mart by Dr. Kianor Shah, a California Dentist, it was business as usual.
Since neither of their two “de facto owners” are licensed dentists nor have any dental office management history at all, they needed a dentist to register all of the entities with those states in order to open the doors.
It appears as they approached a politician, whom happens to be a dentist, to serve as their front man:
http://www.nevadanewsbureau.com/2010/03/30/state-gop-chair-resigns/
Does this story sound familiar to the private equity backed cases of Forba, Dental One, Aspen, Heartland, ReachOut, KoolSmiles, and others alike?
The FTC says that it has not seen any cases where there was an issue with competition for other dentists. Well how many more private equity backed dental scandals need to be uncovered before the federal government steps in and protects the public from harm and allow fair competition to dentists? The result is usually the same when these DSO’s enjoy immunity. Dentists are coerced to push for production and patient care becomes a second priority.
If you wanted to take the time, all of these trace back to a few “not so Good Men” and the DGPA’s president Edward Meckler; also top dog at Dental One Partners.
Dentist charged with inadequate care to be monitoredBy Rachel Pritchett
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
EAST BREMERTON, Washington — Dentist Seok W. Nichols, charged by a state panel for faulty work on two patients, has reached a settlement that will allow him to continue his practice with oversight.
Dr. Nichols runs Agape Dental Care, a Christian-themed practice in the Fred Meyer shopping plaza on Highway 303. He received his credential to practice in Washington in 2005.
The agreed order between the dentist and Dental Quality Assurance Commission, dated Feb. 1, requires Nichols’ work as a dentist to be monitored for two years. He must allow a state Department of Health investigator to conduct 10 unannounced office reviews. The commission is part of the Department of Health.
The dentist must pay a $15,000 fine to the commission, along with another $5,784 for his part in the cost of bringing the charges against him.
Nichols must complete continuing education and pay back two patients whose work on them was detailed in the charges.
In the case of one patient in 2008, the commission charged that Nichols found decay in six teeth, but X-rays indicated decay in another seven teeth that he missed.
And between 2008 and 2010, Nichols saw another patient many times, extracting teeth, placing crowns and installing a partial denture. The crowns failed repeatedly and the denture didn’t fit well.
Nichols’ records and treatment of both patients showed “a lack of understanding of dental diagnosis, treatment and terminology,” the charges stated.
An office staff person said he was not available for comment Tuesday.
This Agape group is HIGHLY suspicious group of folks, that’s for sure. In South Carolina they are buying up urgent care centers and putting the previous owner doctors under employment contracts. (we know how this works) They have their hands in everything from dental care to funeral care, including senior living and pharmacies.
They are to senior living what Heartland Dental and Dental One Partners are to dental care. They swoop in, fire the long time office employees, replace them with their own stooges. While they operate under the guise of “faith-based”, it’s odd to me they carry out their employment interviews in the local nightclubs.
Indianapolis dentist, Dr. Arnel J. Gallanosa, DDS, faced charges of Medicaid fraud in January 2012
While on probation for stealing Vicodin prescription, Marion County Prosecuting Attorney charged Dr. Gallanona on 10 counts of Medicaid fraud, five counts of theft and three counts of conspiracy to commit Medicaid fraud.
A court affidavit claimed that Gallanosa offered patients money for accepting free dental work, then billed Indiana's Medicaid program.
In one instance, Gallanosa paid a man who recruited three dental patients from an Indianapolis mental health facility, the Marion County Prosecutor's Office said.
Prosecutors said in one day, he removed 33 teeth from the three patients.
Dr. Gallanosa worked for ImmediaDent, owned by James Ferrell of Ferrell Gas – Blu Rhio Propane
So what happened to Dr. Gallanosa, was he taken off the streets? Nope! He went right back to work. It’s my understand he was not to treat Medicaid patients but he worked in a clinic that did…so…. It’s possible, just possible he saw Medicaid patients and it was billed under another dentists name, know what I mean?
Dr. Gallanosa was before the Indiana Dental Board at it’s February 1, 2013 meeting, and asked just these questions. After some tough questions, Dr. G finally admitted he was working in Evansville, Indiana and was indeed treating Medicaid patients. One board member was furious and wanted his license revoked. The rest, well… they wanted to investigate it further!! What’s to investigate?!
An administrative meeting was held on February 13, 2013 to address Dr. Gallanosa’s misdeeds, the outcome is unknown.
Arnel J. Gallanosa, D.D.S., License No. 12009962A
Administrative Cause No. 2012 ISBD 0004
Merrill Matthews, Contributor
March 7, 2013
“White House Tours will be canceled effective Saturday, March 9, 2013 until further notice,” according to a White House email. Meanwhile, billions of dollars pour out of Medicare and Medicaid because of waste and fraud. Indeed, eliminating Medicare and Medicaid fraud, rather than White House tours, would offset the sequester cuts for the next decade.
I don’t know how much money President Obama thinks it saves by canceling White House tours, though I’ll bet it’s a lot less than one of his golfing trips on Air Force One, which costs about $180,000 an hour to fly.
But we do have several estimates of how much Medicare and Medicaid fraud cost. Typical estimates, which have been echoed by the Obama administration, put the figure in the $60 billion a year range for each program.
A study by the Rand Corporation pegged Medicare and Medicaid fraud at about $98 billion in 2011, roughly equal to the future annual budget cuts (actually, reductions in the rate of growth) imposed by the sequester.
The Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) most recent estimate for Medicare, released in February, claimed there was a total of $44 billion in improper payments in 2012. That figure is a little lower than the $48 billion for 2010.
Not all of the GAO calculation is fraud. It includes overpayments and underpayments, unnecessary services, coding errors and other problems. And there is fraud that isn’t detected by the GAO report. But you get the idea; it’s a big problem and getting bigger as criminals and the mob get more brazen in their efforts. For example:
On March 6, 2013 Dr. Paul Casamassimo published an article on Dr. Bicuspid - “Second Opinion: Gorillas in the dental operatory”
I know thousands of children who have seen dentists in clinics of which he was closely associated who would damn well agree! Big Ole Gorillas! Big – Mean – Nasty - Cruel - Gorillas!
The whole article was a lot of mumbo jumbo BS. Leaving the mind wondering exactly what “state” his was in. But mostly it was about “more”, as usual. “More” is always the theme.
“Medicaid expansion without reimbursement increases may simply just put more people in cars and on the phone searching for dental care.”
Well, that’s where we’ve been the last umpteen times it’s expanded, right? It should give you more PPP – Production Per Patient opportunities!
“The proposed increase in dental schools and new workforce models carry with them the specter of educational debt and the likelihood that these providers will be reluctant to serve the poor.”
More schools, more student debt, more dentists, …I can only see more whining, crying, boo hoo’ing and bellowing There aren’t enough mouths to keep dentists financially secure now, to hear many tell it. On the other hand others live quite nicely…
As it is, dentists are fighting over who can get the reimbursement for a tooth first; Medicaid or private. A virgin tooth is on the endangered species list and worth a small fortune.
That term he used, “new workforce models” was scary! Wished he had elaborated more other than just using such a catchy term.
“The dental profession may be ill-prepared to take on additional newly insured children under the ACA, not only because of the financial inadequacies in reimbursement, but because of social factors that tend to permeate many health-related behaviors, not just oral health. Repeated surveys of dentists caring for Medicaid clients include "patient characteristics" in the top three reasons provided for lack of their participation. Despite that, reimbursement for care-management costs related to oral health to agencies or providers remains spotty at best.”
Huh?
I take it when the day comes every American is on government funded healthcare we will all be seen as misfits, we will all be “the poor”. Hell, 99% are, right? We will all have those much despised “patient characteristic” he speaks about, right? Whether we actually are or not seems to not matter, as long as someone like Dr. C says it’s so, it must be true.
Does everyone hate the poor? We hear it a lot from the dental community.
“The poor are this… and the poor are that… and they break appointments… and they don’t smell good…despite hating every fiber of your being we want you guys as patients in a bad way, so come on in…new patients welcome”
Is care of the patient the real desire or the tax dollars those nasty poor people can make available?
A big ole “ATTITUDE AJUSTMENT” on the part those with DDS slapped on their last name is what I say is needed!
I guarantee you there are more teeth destroyed in this nation every day from misfit, greedy, unethical dentists, than are damaged by diet, lack of hygiene or fist fights.
What a jerk!
Appears Dental One Partners has been doing a bit of “up selling” or should it be put “up diagnosis”. Court Pleadings at the end of article.
Published: 10:38 PM, Tue 
Staff writer
State officials allege in a lawsuit that the DentalWorks dentistry chain pressured dentists and dental workers at its North Carolina locations to give patients expensive, unnecessary treatments.
The claim is part of a lawsuit the state Board of Dental Examiners filed in Wake County Superior Court on Feb. 18. It says DentalWorks illegally owns dental practices in this state - by law, only a dentist licensed in North Carolina may own a dental practice here - and therefore is illegally practicing dentistry.
A related lawsuit was filed Feb. 18 against DentalWorks by 14 dentists with DentalWorks offices, including two dentists from Cumberland County.
The allegations in both lawsuits paint a picture of patients being taken advantage of to boost profits.
They say DentalWorks used financial incentives, protocols, internal recommendations, warnings of malpractice lawsuits and other pressures to push dentists and hygienists to make diagnoses that patients had gum disease when they did not.
The patients were given unnecessary treatments, leading to excessive billing, the Dental Board says in its lawsuit and in other documents.
The dentists' lawsuit also accuses DentalWorks of pushing them to give patients unneeded veneers and ceramic crowns in order to boost revenues.
Sweethearts?
A good example of why you can’t count on local DA’s to enforce the laws!
WFAA
Posted on March 5, 2013 at 10:05 PM
Updated today at 9:54 PM
Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins accepted — then returned — a 2009 campaign donation from the wife of Medicaid dentist Dr. Richard Malouf, who was under investigation at the time by Watkins' office for allegations of Medicaid fraud.
The Texas Attorney General’s Office says Watkins’ settlement of the case was a "sweetheart deal."
For the past five years, federal, state and local officials have been investigating Malouf for Medicaid fraud.
The Dallas County DA's office was one of those doing the investigating. Watkins' office received a criminal referral from the AG about Malouf.
In 2009, Malouf's wife, Leanne, wrote Craig Watkins — who was running for re-election as Dallas County DA — a $10,000 campaign donation, News 8 has learned.
Soon after, Watkins was asked to attend a meeting at the office of one of Malouf's attorneys, according to Heath Harris, the first assistant in the DA's office. News 8 wanted to talk to Watkins himself about the sequence of events. His office said he was ill and unavailable. Heath Harris spoke on behalf of Watkins.
Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins Letter to Stephanie Leanne Lott Malouf Jan 5 2010 Redacted
At the meeting at the attorney's office, Heath Harris said, Watkins was introduced to Malouf.
Malouf wanted to talk to Watkins about his criminal case, Heath Harris said.
"This Malouf person is trying to talk to him about a criminal matter," Heath Harris told News 8. "It's my understanding he [Watkins] immediately shuts him down. And he leaves."
Watkins returned $10,000 to Leanne Malouf with a cashier's check in January, 2010.
March 4, 2013
Affidavit of Martin McGahan - Doc 11 - February 20, 2012 – page 14 paragraph 38
“Since January 2010, approximately 11 lawsuits on behalf of over one hundred plaintiffs have been filed against the Company and certain of the Dental Centers, in primarily three states, Ohio, New York and Oklahoma.”
“Subsequent to the Debtors’ settlement with the DOJ and the various states, a number of lawsuits were filed throughout the country by or on behalf of the Dental Center patients against certain of the Debtors, Dental Centers and Dentists, alleging claims for damages based upon treatment received at the Dental Centers. In addition to the Patient Litigation, the Debtors contend that “at least approximately 1100 additional patients or former patients” have retained counsel to assert similar claims against the Debtors, the Dental Centers and the Dentists.”
Dentists and auxiliary employee of Small Smiles Dental Centers (current or former) are not likely to be able to exhale for a very long time.
For a list of the 600 plus pleadings and filing of this case see in United States Bankruptcy Court – Middle District of Tennessee, see:In other Small Smiles Dental Centers news. I’m told the morning huddles continue and production numbers remain a major topic of discussion.
