Jan Kippax, DMD, claims the Maine Board of Dental Practice "has pursued a relentless course to publicly tarnish" his reputation for years, according to an Aug. 4 court filing cited by the Sun Journal.
The dental panel's written decision to reprimand Dr. Kippax details the case of a patient whose lip was allegedly disfigured in 2016 during what she thought would be a minor procedure. Dr. Kippax's attorney, James Belleau, asked the court to throw out the reprimand filed in March, expunge records related to the complaints the board examined and provide monetary relief to his client. The state hasn't responded to the request yet.
Dr. Kippax's attorney claimed that the board has failed to apply the law properly to complaints brought against the dentist. Dr. Kippax was reprimanded in 2002 and again in 2017, when 18 complaints against him were made public and his license was briefly suspended. Ultimately, the board cleared him on all charges, but only after it "successfully destroyed his reputation," according to Mr. Belleau.
Mr. Belleau argued that the board's "single-minded prosecution" has "resulted in a veritable hydra of new complaints," against Dr. Kippax, including the one that led to the most recent reprimand.