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.
