As the San Antonio Express-News reported December 3, 2013, Dr. Stephen Simpton, owner and operator of The Smile Center, with 6 clinics in the San Antonio, TX area settled the malpractice lawsuit involving 253 patients. Details still about the dollar amount of the settlement have not been released.
Shorty after the law suit was filed in 2011, Dr. Stephen Simpton filed a defamation lawsuit against the law firm representing the parents of the children, as well as the television station and reporter, Brian Collister.
Protecting First Amendment rights in Texas, District Judge David Berchelmann’s ruling in July 2012, threw out the lawsuit against the attorney representing the parents, and ordered Simpton’s Smile Center to pay $108,000 in attorney fees and sanctions. The following month Dr. Simpton was sanctioned for his attempt to silence WOAI-TV, and ordered to pay $70,000.
Simpton further tried to escape the spot light on his misdeeds, having his attorney, Mr. Jon Michael Smith, send “Cease and Desist” letters to anyone else who reported about the abuse taking place in his dental clinics, including Flap’s Dental Blog and this one. This one actually received two, after the first one didn’t seem to phase me.
The Smile Center was one of the clinics featured in an Inside Edition—Are Some Dentists Drilling for Dollars— which aired November 14, 2013.
Dental chain settles lawsuits
December 3, 2013
The Smile Center, a San Antonio-based chain of six dental clinics, has settled lawsuits that accused it of performing “excessive” treatments on minors to “bilk” millions of dollars from Medicaid.
Terms of the settlement, which involved 253 patients, were not revealed.
The settlement was reached about a month ago but wasn't announced until a Monday hearing before state District Court Judge John Gabriel.
Smile Center owner Stephen Simpton, who also settled with the plaintiffs, didn't respond to a request for comment. Henry B. Gonzalez III, a lawyer for the Smile Center, declined to comment.
