Dr. Edward Dove - Bakersfield Dentist gets high-profile attention

If your child was hurt, injured, over treated or mistreated by Dr. Edward Dove, Email Me for more information about this dentist.

High-profile attorney enters fray over controversial dentist
BY KELLIE SCHMITT Californian staff writer
kschmitt@bakersfield.com | Saturday, Dec 03 2011 09:00 PM

Photo details at end of article

As the California Dental Board investigates claims that a Bakersfield dentist mistreated his young patients, some families are seeking representation from a high-profile Colorado attorney.

In August, dozens of local parents formed a Facebook group alleging Dr. Edward Dove improperly cared for their children, including scratching and hitting them while they were not sufficiently numb and restrained with Velcro straps.

This week, a representative from Dove's office said the dentist had no comment, and that office staff had been instructed not to discuss the matter, either. In a previous interview, Dove, who currently has a clean disciplinary record, told The Californian that he gave excellent care and that the parents were inventing the allegations.

Attorney Jim Moriarty, who said he's ready to sign with the parents, has been involved in several national healthcare matters -- including a case against Tenet Healthcare for unnecessary heart procedures at a Redding facility. That case that resulted in a $430 million settlement for the plaintiffs and a $24 million payout to the government.

More recently, Moriarty is representing hundreds of plaintiffs in a case unrelated to Dove against Small Smiles dental centers, a chain of clinics that serves low-income families throughout the nation.  (Moriarty contract information in the right had column-Jim Moriarty)

Moriarty alleges the chain makes money "by exploiting the Medicaid system," and doing unnecessary procedures that "traumatize" children. In that case, Moriarty has investigated what he describes as routine over-treatment and extremely fast care that "can't be done without emotionally and physically traumatizing children."

Moriarty, who met with some Bakersfield parents in October, said he was drawn to the local case in part because of its extraordinary mobilization effort. Parent Chris Cook, who was angry about his son's care, created a Facebook site that ultimately attracted hundreds of fellow parents, supporters and observers. The site drew patients from both Dove's Bakersfield and Chatsworth offices, who did not know each other previously.

"What Cook and these parents have done is sheer brilliance," Moriarty said. "They've done more to shine the light on this issue than any other parents in the country."

Dentist accused of Medicaid fraud–Utica, NY

Dentist accused of Medicaid fraud, pleads not-guilty

By WKTV News

Story Created: Dec 6, 2011 EST  

UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - A local dentist is facing charges, accused of Medicaid fraud.

Dr. James Deyulio was doing work out of a local nursing home where the alleged fraud took place. According to the New York State Attorney General's Office, Deyulio is now charged with grand larceny.

He pleaded not-guilty to those charges in Oneida County Court on Tuesday, where the Oneida County District Attorney's Office offered him a plea deal.
Deyulio will return to Oneida County Court on January 6 to let the judge know whether he will accept or reject the plea offer.

The charges stem from work he did at a local nursing home, but authorities will not say which nursing home he was working at.

Child in braces for 9 years!–More Texas Medicaid Fraud Exposed

by BYRON HARRIS

Bio | Email

WFAA

Posted on December 6, 2011 at 10:41 PM

DALLAS - When you don't have much money, and receive medical and dental care at state expense, it's rare to complain.

Texas received only 712 complaints from Medicaid patients in the last year. But sometimes the quality of care becomes so questionable, patients speak up.
The case of a Garland girl points to some weaknesses in Medicaid Orthodontics, a program that's paid out hundreds of millions of dollars to Texas dentists in the last three years.

You can actually watch Anntornett Taylor grow up through her dental records, in the still photos taken of her when she visited her orthodontist. Medicaid paid for her first set of braces when she was 12 years old. Now she is 21. She has had braces for nine years. And they are still on.

"It would be extremely unusual for a patient to be in braces for nine years," said Dr. Larry Tadlock, Associate Clinical Professor at Baylor College of Dentistry.
That fact is lost neither on Anntornett, or her mother. Her records show her treatment was to have been completed several times in the last six years - in 2006, in 2008, and 2010. But inexplicably to the Taylors, the braces have not been removed.

"Every time they told me they'd be through in a couple of months," Antornette said. "Then a couple of months come, we'll be through in a couple of months. There's always something."

Lawyer wins braces for kids — and catches flak

 

Lawyer wins braces for kids — and catches flak

A week or two vacation to Texas would have gotten these kids braces.

Heartland Dental, ReachOut America, Dental One, and others...

I notice a lot of folks visit this blog looking for information on Heartland dental; complaints, fraud and lawsuits.  Same with this rogue Reachout Healthcare America mobile dental setup.  If you've got something you would like to share, email here.  

Thor:  

Don't go nuts, this has nothing whatsoever to do with CSHM!

IS INDIVIDUAL DENTAL COVERAGE A GOOD IDEA?

By Dr. Henry Kim D.M.D.
December 4, 2011

Your friends that work for big business have dental plans. You hear them talk about it paying for so much of their dental needs: crowns to make their front teeth pretty, and braces for their kids. You are self-employed, or work for a small family-owned business. It’s only natural to want the same great deal your friends have. Then you see a poster on a telephone pole, advertising a great family dental plan. It will cost only $20 a month, but supposedly save you 30, 40 or even 50 percent on the cost of dentistry. Should you bite?

First, it is interesting to note that dental “insurance” (a misnomer if there ever was one) was not invented as a cost-efficient way to make dental care more affordable. It was an animal birthed by labor unions in the late 1950s. They correctly saw that high progressive tax rates of the era would wipe out a lot of any wage increases they negotiated. So instead, they pushed for dental insurance, which let them shield wages from taxes.So corporate dental plans were really a clumsy and inefficient idea that were not well conceived. At least 30%, and sometimes up to 50%, of dental premium dollars is eaten up by claims administration. Not a good deal at all!

Once instituted, dental insurance became a sought-after employee benefit in the non-union sector as well. It offered the same tax-shielding benefits for non-union employees. Unfortunately, no one ever examined the efficiency or wisdom of the convoluted claims administration process employed by dental “insurance” carriers.

Blogging dentist unloads her real feelings. Maybe she picked the wrong profession.

This 36 year old dentist’s name is Lora, she is a dentist in…drum roll please…. Colorado!

← The Big Reveal

10 Reasons Your Dentist Probably Hates You Too

Posted on November 28, 2011 by lolabees

Now that I’ve left my career and cut some dead weight out of my life, I feel ready to look back and have a laugh– or just finally be able openly bitch about it.  So here’s my confession: I am a dentist who really didn’t love the dentist either being a dentist.  A few months ago I came across a funny post titled, “10 Reasons I Hate The Dentist.“  It appeared right when I was in the thick of my career transition.  It inspired me to write this, so, RedHead Chronicles, thank you for the inspiration.

10 Reasons Your Dentist Probably Hates You Too

1.  The first thing you say when you sit down in my chair is, “I hate the dentist.”  Really?!?  Did your parents teach you any manners?  Did they ever teach you that it is impolite to tell someone you hate them the moment you greet them?  What I really want to say back is, “aww, I hate you too.”

2.  You come to your appointment, and it’s obvious you haven’t brushed your teeth in days.  I’ve had some people with great hygiene come in and apologize because they’ve just eaten lunch and couldn’t brush.  This is not what I’m talking about.  I mean food and thick plaque everywhere.  After 10 years of seeing blood and rotten teeth and some really nasty things, this is still the 1 thing that makes me dry heave.  You know when you come to us that we have to be in your mouth.  Would you clean your home before having company?  Additionally, I have spent hours literally bending over backwards repairing your teeth.  Could you at least pretend that you are caring for the work that I have struggled to complete for you?

Dr. Wendell A. Racetter–Multiple offender finally goes on trial

  Late update Wednesday 11-30-2011

Lansing Michigan Journal

LSJ.com  -  November 28, 2011 - Jury selection is underway in the trial of a 65-year-old dentist accused of sexually assaulting a child patient more than a decade ago.

Wendell Alan Racette, 65, of Delta Township, faces multiple counts of first- and second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Authorities have said that the assaults happened between 1996 and 2000 at Racette's former office on East Saginaw Street in Lansing, when the former male patient, now 21, was between the ages of 5 and 10. The Lansing State Journal does not identify alleged victims of sexual crimes.

The alleged victim contacted Lansing police in December 2010 and made the accusations. Charges were filed in January of this year.

Racette was accused of sexual abuse twice in the 1990s, officials have said, but no charges were filed.

In the late-1990s, a state attorney general’s investigation found Racette performed shoddy work on four children. He was charged with misdemeanor child abuse based on allegations he harmed children's teeth, including allowing fillings to decay. Those charges eventually were dropped.

He also has been convicted of Medicaid fraud twice, dating back to the early 1980s, and had his license suspended and then revoked by the state in 2001. He sued to have it reinstated, and in 2009 was issued a limited license, state records show.

The trial is in Ingham County Circuit Court before Judge William Collette.

Update: Wednesday November 30,  2011

MASON - A 21-year-old man who says his pediatric dentist sexually assaulted him multiple times more than a decade ago gave graphic descriptions Tuesday of some of the alleged assaults.

The man described being raped on a couch in the dentist's private office on one occasion as the dentist twisted one arm behind his back and pushed his face into a cushion.

"I still remember what that couch tasted like," the alleged victim testified on the second day of the trial of Wendell Alan Racette.

The alleged victim further testified he passed out on the couch, where he had been taken to "sleep off" the effects of nitrous oxide. When he woke up, in extreme pain, he testified, Racette was getting dressed.

Racette had a warning, the man said: "He told me if I told anybody, he'd kill me and do it to my sister."

Racette, 65, of Delta Township, is charged with four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving penetration and 11 counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, involving touching.

Prosecutors say the assaults happened between 1996 and 2000 at Racette's former office on East Saginaw Street in Lansing, when the alleged victim was between the ages of 5 and 10. The Lansing State Journal does not identify alleged victims of sexual crimes.

The case is in Ingham County Circuit Court before Judge William Collette.

The alleged victim contacted Lansing police in December 2010 and made the accusations. Charges were filed in January.

Racette's attorney, Chris Bergstrom, began questioning the alleged victim late Tuesday afternoon. Bergstrom will continue his cross-examination when the trial continues Thursday.

In opening statements Monday, Bergstrom said testimony would show patients were never led to Racette's private office after being administered nitrous oxide.

The effects of the gas, he said, typically wear off in minutes.

He said the alleged victim's accusations were, in many cases, not physically possible.

Also Tuesday, the alleged victim testified the most terrifying moments happened in a treatment room, where he said Racette would belittle him in front of office assistants, hold him down and intentionally inflict pain when drilling.

"The more you would fight, the more painful it would be," he said.

Intentionally inflicting pain on young children was common at the practice, according to the testimony of former employee Joyce Sample-Franco. So was screaming, she said.

"I saw him drill without anaesthesia down to the nerve," she said, adding that Racette regularly yelled at the children.

Sample-Franco testified that she once asked Racette why he was doing that. He responded that it was faster, she said.

Racette - who has been convicted of Medicaid fraud twice and once was charged with misdemeanor child abuse - had his license suspended and then revoked by the state in 2001.

He sued to have it reinstated, and in 2009 was issued a limited license, state records show.

Church Street Health Management and FORBA Services new address

Well, it’s not really new, only the suite number has changed, but still…

It’s now:

Church Street Health Management – Small Smiles Dental Centers

618 Church Street
Suite 130  (used to be 520)
Nashville, TN  37219

Wonder if the top 4 floors blew off down there recently!  lol  Sorry, but it was funny.   

California Dental Association sues the state Medicaid Association

CDA sues government over Medicaid cutbacks

By DrBicuspid Staff

November 22, 2011 -- The California Dental Association (CDA) has joined forces with the California Medical Association (CMA), the California Pharmacists Association (CPhA), and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores in a federal lawsuit against the California Department of Healthcare Services (DHCS) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services protesting proposed cutbacks to the state's Medicaid reimbursement system.

Read the rest of the story at Dr. Biscupid

Wonder why the CDA hasn’t sued because of the waste and fraud?  Why has the CDA not taken action in house to bring an end to the waste and fraud?  Surely is it not because they are the problem and crying for a bigger piece of the pie!  Who is really behind the lawsuit?   

I’ll say it again, for the millionth time, and I’ll keep saying it, stop the abuse and fraud and there is plenty money to pay for treatment to those who need treatment.  But to stop it, dentists and dental associations have to get involved and quit leaving it to the public to fix the mess!  We can only do so much out here!!