Comfort Dental Agrees to Washington State Permanent Cease and Desist

 
By: Michael W Davis, DDS, Guest Contributor
Dr. Michael W. Davis maintains a general dental practice in Santa Fe, NM. He serves as chairperson for Santa Fe District Dental Society Peer-Review. Dr. Davis also provides a fair amount of dental expert legal work for attorneys. 
 
 



Comfort Dental Group, et al, a Colorado corporate dental entity has signed and accepted a Consent Agreement (permanent cease and desist order) with the Washington State Department of Health, on February 28, 2017. Comfort Dental admits engaging in the unlicensed and unlawful practice of dentistry. Comfort Dental was active in the sales and management of so-called sub-franchised dental practices, outside the bounds of Washington statutes.

Unlicensed parties, and not duly licensed dentists of dental practices, were selecting dental laboratories for patients, dental supplies, office supplies, & janitorial services. The dental corporation's restrictive covenant on doctors was deemed overly restrictive and outside the bounds Washington statues. Further, Comfort Dental's restrictions on the ability of a doctor to transfer their practice ownership was also deemed unlawful. The 5% "royalty" fee Comfort Dental charged licensed doctors on gross collections was determined unlawful, as it allowed Comfort Dental an excessive beneficial ownership in dental practices.

Respondents of Comfort Dental agreed to Pay a fine of $340,000, agreed to the permanent cease and desist order to discontinue their unlicensed and unlawful practice of dentistry in Washington, and reform each of their Washington State dentist contracts to comply with state law.
Reporter's note: This outcome in Washington State, in which the dental profession, public and state government stood up for consumer rights, is in stark contrast to Colorado. In Colorado, the dental profession and state legislators capitulated to the interests of corporate dentistry and Comfort Dental.

February 28, 2017 - Comfort Dental Stipulation and Agreed Order with Washington Department of Health

Reporter's note: Here's an interesting facet to this story. If Comfort Dental fully complies w/ their consent agreement w/in an allotted time frame, their $340,000 fine will be reduced to $25,000. However, in public record evidence submitted in the earlier legal action of Drs Carl & Craig Bahr, verus Comfort Dental, et al. (case now settled & sealed), in an email from Comfort Dental founder & president Dr Rick Kushner, he stated that w/out control of the dental lab, Comfort Dental wouldn't be viable as it is today (loss of corporate control & money). It seems the Comfort Dental business model (as it exists today) may collapse, w/out control of the lab & mandatory lab utilization by franchisees (dentists). This is seemingly at distinct odds w/ expressed terms of the settlement w/ WA State.
Evidence of the earlier cited civil case clearly demonstrated problematic issues w/ the mandated dental laboratory, which was operated by Dr Kushner's brother. One might assume doctors would be free to select what dental lab operated in their patients' best interests. However, that's almost NEVER the case w/ corporate dentistry.
So, now it will come down to a serious effort at state enforcement. Is the WA State AG's office a paper tiger, or a true protector of the public interest & enforcer of the rule of law? We'll see..
Related: TOXIC TROIKA FOR DENTAL PATIENTS

Lawyers battle over whether dental procedure was necessary for child who died

By: Jennifer Kendall
Posted:Mar 08 2017 10:28PM CST
Updated:Mar 08 2017 10:28PM CST
Wednesday, lawyers argued in district court about whether a 14-month-old who died after a dental procedure in North Austin actually needed dental work done.
A medical examiner's report said Daisy Lynn Torres died due to complications of anesthesia, but part of the report has led to a defamation lawsuit against a forensic dentist
Read the entire report here

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Dr. Michael Melanson was an employee of Austin Children's Dentistry, whose President is Brian J. Peters.

Searching the address Brian J. Peters has listed returns results for Southern Pecan Plantation Manufactured Housing Community, owned by Peters’ parents, Robert and Carol Peters.

Whistleblower claims Dental Authority used Restrictive Advertising Guidelines to try to Curb Overzealous Cosmetic Training Program

Special Report:

Did a Canadian Dental Authority have serious concerns about a training program that promoted Cosmetic Over-treatment of Patients and look the other way due to a business relationship?

Red Deer, Alberta, Canada- Former dental council member dentist-author Michael Zuk DDS is asking the Health Minister to look into concerns with connections between a harmful 'cosmetic dentist' training program in the USA, a Canadian dental lab and the Alberta dental authority. According to the general dentist, Canadian and American dentists were brainwashed into flying their patients to Las Vegas for irreversible and sometimes harmful cosmetic veneer makeovers where the professionals were unlicensed and unlikely to be covered by malpractice insurance. He claims the local authority looked the other way due to a close business relationship with the primary dental lab that profited from the additional porcelain work. The dentist was contacted by a victim who had complications after aesthetic treatment within this training program sharing that her complaint was ignored by the authority and this inspired him to speak out about the problem. The dental authority retaliated after Zuk published his book Confessions of a Former Cosmetic Dentist in 2010 with fears the truth would ‘harm the reputation of the dental profession.’

The dentist claims the dental authority decided to make an example of one dentist who had been a known attendee of the cosmetic training program in spite of the fact that she did the right thing in recommending a less aggressive treatment alternative of orthodontics instead of ‘instant ortho’ with veneers. The known risk of more aggressive crown/veneer preparations to straighten teeth is root canal complications, and when this occurred after the patient refused traditional orthodontics, the dental authority had the opportunity to indirectly address the concern. Dr. Zuk suggests the dental authority should known patients have the right to accept treatment alternatives with higher risks after they have been provided with the choices. No treatment is without risks and even orthodontics can result in damage to teeth so a exhaustive war against one ‘cosmetic dentist’ was unwarranted and an honest discussion within and outside the profession should have been made. 

A second indirect action against the wave of cosmetic dental mania was against the use of the term ‘cosmetic dentist’ and office trade names containing the words ‘cosmetic dentistry’. Another dentist was selected to be disciplined for this concern, which is usually considered a practice preference or area of interest and not professional misconduct. Again the dentist was found guilty and suspended.

The third attack related to cosmetic dentistry was against Dr. Zuk’s book claiming the authority did not protect the public from over-treatment and his promotion of a more conservative cosmetic treatment called ‘shorter term orthodontics’. The dentist was found guilty of professional misconduct and the complaint director who was also suing the dentist for $3M for criticism of her performance recommended a suspension of 5 years and costs of $270,000 even though no patient complaint was involved. While the council and appeal committee reduce the actual term to 12 months and approximately $176,000 CAN this was still an amount that would lead the author to appeal to the court system.

The problem with sponsored training courses was not isolated to the dental profession, and as an example physicians realized their treatment recommendations were affected by educational programs backed by certain pharmaceutical companies. Bias is a common problem with programs and research that supports the information may be tainted by financial interests. Besides cosmetic dentistry, most dental services are affected in some way by the promotions of the products and services within the dental industry including lasers and less exotic gizmos that may or may not make treatment safer, more affordable, faster or better.

So to summarize, the dental authority had a concern with a particular cosmetic training program, then suspended a dentist whose patient had a few non-life-threatening complications that were known to be relatively common with the treatment provided, then suspended a dentist who named his practice a ‘cosmetic’ dental office and then suspended a dentist who wrote about problems with cosmetic dentistry and promoted less aggressive alternatives that are used across the globe. The authority had published an internal document written by Dr. Gordon Christensen titled ‘I Have Had Enough’ which profiles the US prosthodontists concerns about the cosmetic dentistry becoming ‘a monster, promoting irreversible treatment on patients’ but the dental authority refused to admit that the public interest was more important than the integrity of the profession. 

In his latest e-book ‘The Ugly Truth about Cosmetic Dentistry’ currently available at no cost through a link on the website AlbertaDentalAssociationProblems.com, Dr. Zuk shares the connection between the dental authority and the suspect dental training program which, according to a malpractice lawyer in San Francisco and an expert witness, was associated with numerous cases of gross over-treatment of unsuspecting dental patients.

The dentist claims dental authorities had misgivings about this specific cosmetic training program but did not take any steps to warn the public, and this according to Dr. Zuk, has been confirmed in writing by a former high level executive from the dental authority. “Instead of taking this problem public, the dental authority addressed the concerns about aggressive promotion of veneer treatment with an elaborate mess of advertising guidelines that banned dentists from discussing the courses attended, use of the terms like ‘smile makeover’ and forbidding dentists from using before & after photos of dental treatment. The authority was clearly were more worried about harming the relationship with the dental lab owner who they awarded with an honorary membership in the dental association than they were with the harm caused to dental patients. The financial support of this large Canadian lab allowed the training program to reach out to dentists and patients across North America. While many patients were likely pleased with their new smiles, many could have been treated with less expensive and less risky alternatives with comparable results. Many cosmetic dentists are not treating patients with bleaching, bonding and braces rather than veneers. Veneer treatment can be the best or worst treatment choice, but the training program at the time was pushing porcelain as a cure-all and many patients were harmed physically and financially in the process,” says Zuk.

The outspoken dentist who appeared on an investigative television program CBC Marketplace- Money Where Your Mouth Is -where a 15 year-old girl was told by a different dental professional that she needed most of her health teeth ‘capped’ due to some sensitivity that was later treated successfully by Dr. Zuk with Sensodyne toothpastes. Zuk notified the provincial Health Minister and the Competition Bureau of Canada with numerous concerns with about the dental authority’s mismanagement, excessive advertising regulation that limits competition and lack of whistleblower protection. Dr. Zuk is planning a documentary on the subject and is interviewing patients who were flown to Las Vegas for cosmetic dental treatment during the 1990’s and dentists who attended the program and now regret some of the treatment that was promoted.

For more information contact Dr. Michael Zuk directly at 403-347-8008.

Significance of Criminal Indictment to Dr. Edward R. Hills

Significance of Criminal Indictment to Dr. Edward R. Hills

By: Michael W. Davis, DDS, Guest Contributor

Dr. Michael W. Davis maintains a private general practice in Santa Fe, NM. He also advocates for disadvantaged citizens, and provides expert legal work for numbers of attorney clients. His publications and lectures are on ethical and whistleblower issues within the dental profession, as well as numbers of clinical research papers. 
 
 
 

Dr. Edward R. Hills was formally indicted on October, 19, 2016, by the US Justice Department for a variety of alleged criminal violations, in US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio (Eastern Division). Co-defendants included three other dentists, Drs. Sari Alqsous, Yazan B. Al-Madani, and Tariq Sayegh. The government contends Dr. Hills and other defendants engaged in a variety of actions inclusive of Medicaid fraud, bribery, extortion, interference in a federal investigation, witness tampering, tax fraud, defrauding of a non-profit hospital, an interstate kickback scheme, and racketeering. The government also invoked claims of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO Act) violations. The indictment was laid out similarly to an action against an organized crime figure and their subordinate mob crew. [Click here to read 93-page, 33-count indictment: https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3178765/MetroHealth-Indictment.pdf ]
 
Dr. Hills formerly served as chief operations officer (COO) for Cleveland’s MetroHealth Hospitals from 2010-2014. During that tenure, his salary ranged from over $400,000 to just under $3/4 Mil per year. He also served for 6-months as interim chief executive officer (CEO), following a previous scandal and resignation by Mark Moran at MetroHealth. In this capacity, Dr. Hills had direct supervisory control of the dental residency post-graduate program (which the three other defendants directly ran). Dr. Hills also served on the Ohio State Dental Board from 1999-2008. From 2001-2004, Dr. Hills was the president of the state dental board.

Alleged Extortion of Dental Residents
The government contends foreign national doctors were shaken down (extorted) for cash to apply to the dental residency program at MetroHealth. They were further extorted for additional cash to maintain their dental residency positions. Residents were also forced to work for no compensation, at two private clinics owned and operated by two of the defendants (Noble Dental Clinic & Buckeye Family Dental).

Many of the dental resident doctors were Jordanian citizens, and required an H1B (green card) work visa to obtain an Ohio dental license. Without a green card visa sponsored by an employer (Dr. Hills and/or his crew), these doctors were not eligible for licensure, as they were not US citizens. Obviously, these dental resident doctors were in a particularly vulnerable position.

Double Dipping
Two dentists of Dr. Hills’ crew were allegedly accepting full-time incomes from MetroHealth, as preceptors of the dental residency program, and at the same time running two large scale private dental practices. These were the same private dental clinics were resident doctors were allegedly required to deliver patient dental care, without compensation. These same two crew members allegedly benefited unlawfully, by having MetroHealth fully pay their malpractice insurance premiums.

Dr. Hills allegedly authorized substantial bonuses from accounts at MetroHealth for these two alleged dentist conspirators, in their frequently no-show supervisor jobs (under $93,000 in 4 years). In exchange, payoffs were allegedly afforded Dr. Hills. Kickbacks allegedly included a lap-top and an apartment to entertain Dr. Hills’ girlfriend, bedroom furniture, cash (hundreds of thousands of dollars), a Louis Vuitton briefcase, airplane tickets for the lovers, a flat screen TV, and controlled prescription medications (exact medication name redacted from indictment).

Lawsuit Filed Against Dr. Michael Melanson et. al. Over Death of 14 Month Old Daisy Lynn Torres

 

 

 

Thursday, March 02, 2017 09:26AM

AUSTIN, TX (KTRK) --

The family of the 14-month-old girl who died after a visit to the dentist has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Austin Children's Dentistry.

The toddler died while under anesthesia for multiple baby root canals and crowns on four of her teeth.

Her parents believe it was part of a Medicaid scam and are suing the dentist and the anesthesiologist who worked on her.
The cause of death of Daisy Lynn Torres, who died on March 29, 2016, was determined to be the result of anesthesia administered for the treatment of tooth decay, according to the Medical Examiner's Office.

"We haven't heard much, so we are kind of just taking action here, getting some answers so we can get some justice going on," said Elizandro Torres, Daisy Lynn's father. "We want this to be heard so that it doesn't happen again." …

 

…The lawsuit claims the girl's death was part of a corporate scheme to bill Medicaid for unnecessary dental procedures. Her parents are now suing for $1 million. Their attorney, Sean Breen, told us Tuesday night they hope this lawsuit will protect other children from the dangers of pediatric predators and their money-making schemes.

"A big component of people that use Medicaid happens to be people who are low income and sometimes not as formally educated as others and they make for very good targets because they are trusting," said Breen, with Howry Breen & Herman.

Breen says other families have come forward saying their children were also underwent unnecessary dental work at Austin Children's Dentistry…

Read the entire ABC 13 story here.

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More on Dr. Michael Melanson

Dr. Melanson was the fake owner dentist for non-dentist Brian Lynne Walker who owns North End Healthcare, LLC. North End owns and operates 3 ambulatory surgery centers (ASC): Houston Children’s Dental Center, San Antonio Children’s Surgical, and DFW Children’s Surgery Center. All designed exclusively for sedation dental procedures. In fact the website of these clinics list their “privileged” providers and they are only dentists, oral surgeons and endodontists. April 29, 2016, exactly 30 days of the death of Daisy Torres, North End Healthcare began to change its name to Blue Cloud Pediatric Surgery Centers and scrub Dr. Michael Melanson’s name from their website;, replacing Melanson with Dr. Ketan Sukkawala as “owner”.

Being Melanson works for a group that owns surgery centers one must wonder why he didn’t use one of those facilities. Or at the very least understand the need to sedate babies somewhere other than his office!

Corporate Healthcare: Important Contracts

January 1, 2017 Written by Michael W. Davis, DDS

There exist 3 common contracts doctors sign with corporate dentistry. These include employment contracts, purchase sales agreements, and business service agreements (BSAs). Each of these contracts may be peppered with legal landmines. It is imperative that doctors accept that their expertise is patient care, and not swimming with the sharks of corporate healthcare. Nothing in corporate business negotiation can be taken at face value. This is not a relationship based on mutual trust and respect, as in the doctor-patient relationship, or when working with a specialist colleague. Corporate interest is almost exclusively directed at the financial welfare of investors. By contrast, a doctor’s focus should be his or her patients’ best welfare. The conflict of interest is self-evident.

It is advisable for dentists to secure the services of highly capable legal counsel before entering into such agreements. The attorney should have a solid background in corporate healthcare employment and contract law, especially in the dental service organization (DSO) industry. These are not well-intended local attorneys who may also spread their time between divorce law and personal injury cases. The DSO industry retains the best legal counsel that money can buy. You need to be on a somewhat equal footing.

EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS
Legal counsel advice is invaluable with employment contracts. Attorneys may tell you from the onset their personal knowledge of the reputation of a corporate employer, saving you headaches later. Some employers are quite hostile toward employee doctors, as contracts may be routinely dishonored, and workplace abuses abound. In this case, you need to immediately walk away.

Read the entire article here

Put dental patients’ care ahead of corporate profits

By Jennifer King  Jan 30, 2017

Debate in Olympia regarding operation of corporate dental chains might seem to matter only to those directly involved, with little impact on the public in Yakima.

That’s not the case. The outcome will have a dramatic impact on the quality of care received by dental patients here and across the state.

Corporate chains, or Dental Service Organizations (DSOs), operate in Washington under names like Aspen Dental, Modern Dental, Bright Now, and Gentle Dental. But they do so in a gray area outside of the oversight of the state regulators.

They’re now pushing legislation to give themselves virtually unlimited authority to continue operating here, with no regulatory oversight.

As a practicing dentist, this worries me. Not because corporate chains represent new competition, and not because there’s anything inherently wrong with a dentist contracting for administrative support. As dentists, we should be open to models than deliver better patient care.

But that’s not the case with DSOs. Based on my 18 years of practice, the best care results when decisions are made solely by the patient and his or her dentist. Interference in the doctor-patient relationship by third party, for-profit corporations can lead to inferior care or overtreatment, or both, and should not be allowed.

Read the entire article by Dr. Jennifer King here

WTH! DentaQuest Texas Offer’s $10 Walmart Gift Cards

DentaQuest Texas, yes the same one that ran for the hills just two years ago is back and offering $10 WalMart card to patients! Besides being an MCO don’t they also own some clinics? Didn’t MB2 just get nailed for this same practice? What am I missing? They aren’t offering it in NM, or TN or CO, or any other place I can find. Only Texas.

In 2011 the MB2 Dental Solution clinics brought in roughly $50,000,000.00 seeing roughly 350,000 patients.

Maybe they just didn’t have this sign up at the time.  The hotline number could be the direct line to payroll to request a bonus check too, I suppose.

Excluded and Unlicensed New Jersey Dentist Who Assumed Identity of Another Dentist Agrees to Settlement of $1.1 Million and 50-Year Exclusion to Resolve Civil Monetary Penalty Case

January 23, 2017

Contact: HHS OIG Media Communications
Media@OIG.HHS.GOV

Washington, DC - Unlicensed New Jersey dentist Roben Brookhim agreed to pay $1.1 million and accept a 50-year exclusion from participating in Federal health care programs as part of a settlement to resolve his administrative liability for presenting false claims to Medicaid, billing for services furnished by an excluded person, and owning and controlling a Medicaid-participating entity while he was excluded, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today.

"Fifty years is one of the longest exclusion periods ever imposed by our office," said Gregory E. Demske, Chief Counsel to the HHS Inspector General. "This period of exclusion, coupled with the significant monetary recovery, is an appropriate resolution for an individual who went to such great lengths to defraud a Federal health care program and put patients at risk," said Demske.

OIG alleged that from November 2005 through October 2012, Brookhim owned, controlled, and managed Associated Dental NP, LLC (ADNP), a New Jersey dental practice with multiple locations, in violation of his exclusion from Federal health care program participation in August 2000.

3rd Grader’s Teeth Removed at School by Mobile Dental Clinic; Then Had to Walk Home!

Outrageous? Indeed it is! Sadly I still hear these stories about children, in essence, tortured by unexpectedly having teeth removed by these school dental programs.  This time it’s in Baltimore. Although it’s unclear, in my opinion it’s very likely Reachout Healthcare’s Smile America Partners that is owned by Morgan Stanley investments.  I would love to see the permission slips sent home to parents. If anyone has one, please email to cckaddie@yahoo.com

Other websites include:

mobiledentists.com
smileamericapartners.com

From Smiles Programs website:

Smile Programs is currently active in 24 states and has ongoing strategic partnerships with Detroit Public Schools, Chicago Public Schools, the School District of Philadelphia, Boston Public Schools, Baltimore City Public Schools, Indianapolis Public Schools, Cleveland Public Schools, LA Unified Schools, Prince George's County Public Schools, Washington DC Public Charter Schools, Phoenix Area Public Schools, and St. Louis Pubic Schools as well as many others.

 

 

Mom Outraged, School Dental Program Removes Child’s Teeth Without Her Knowing

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — A mother is outraged after her third grader came home from school with three of his teeth missing. She says his elementary school performed a dental procedure she never knew about.

A Baltimore City mom is looking for answers: Why did the school allow serious dental work — without making a single phone call to parents.

9-year-old Michael is still brought to tears by the pain. He’s now missing three teeth — pulled out by a dental program visiting his school. His mother, Shanda Flemming, tells WJZ she never was notified that the procedure was happening.

“And then two on this side. One top and one bottom,” says Flemming.

Baltimore City Schools says Flemming signed a permission slip, but Flemming thought it was for routine cleanings.

“I’m angry about this. I don’t think that it should have happened like that,” says Flemming.

She says she was blindsided when Michael came home with a swollen mouth.

“They just said they was gonna clean my teeth,” says Michael.

Read Entire Story Here