Reopening their practices amid the pandemic isn't the only thing creating a tumultuous summer for dentists. Below are 31 of the most notable instances of illegal or allegedly illegal behavior regarding dentists, dental companies and patients Becker's covered this summer.
- Denver Tackett, DMD, owner and operator of McDowell, Ky.-based Tackett Family Dentistry, pleaded guilty to healthcare fraud.
- Paul Marshall, DMD, a Hyannis, Mass.-based cosmetic dentist, filed a federal class-action lawsuit against Safety Insurance Co., claiming it should have covered the income losses he incurred during his practice's mandated period of closure.
- Virginia dentist Matthew Mower, DDS, faced multiple charges stemming from an alleged assault and driving while intoxicated allegation.
- Jeffrey Mathews, DDS, a Nashville, Tenn.-based dentist, pleaded guilty to violating public health orders after throwing a large house party during the pandemic.
- Illinois dentist Yun Sup Kim, DDS, was ordered to serve 12 months and one day in federal prison for defrauding Illinois Medicaid via a yearslong false reimbursement scheme.
- Pranathi V. Reddy, DMD, a traveling oral surgeon living in Pennsylvania, faced multiple charges after allegedly altering patient medical records of drug usage to conceal her own drug use.
- The state of Texas ordered Dallas dentist Richard Malouf, DDS, to pay roughly $16.5 million for violating the Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act.
- A Connecticut dentist was ordered to pay $149,000 in a settlement related to claims he submitted to the state's Medicaid program for administering anesthesia to patients after his permit had expired.
- Waco, Texas-based Stonehaven Dental and Orthodontics was sued for $200,000 to $1 million by a local couple who claim the practice deceived them about insurance coverage for tooth extraction and replacement procedures.
- Utah dentist Blake Matthews, DDS, was charged with child abuse after witnesses told police he forced a child to have dental X-rays without parental consent.
- Shirley Dunn, a former office manager at a Minnesota dental practice was accused of stealing as much as $800,000 from her employer for trips, concerts, her children's school fees and other luxuries.
- California dental employee Karla Morales was arrested for failure to pay restitution from a fraud scheme she committed while working at Delano Family Dentistry.
- Washington dentist Sam Wise, DDS, faced a lawsuit from a former employee who claimed she lost wages due to wrongfully modified time sheets, unpaid work during breaks and a reduced final paycheck.
- Maryland dentist Edward Buford III, DDS, along with two others, allegedly paid kickbacks to recruit patients and obtained millions in Medicaid payments for services that weren't always delivered.
- A lawsuit linked to a January 2019 ransomware incident at Boaz, Ala.-based Sarrell Regional Dental Center for Public Health was dismissed by a federal judge due to lack of evidence that data was misused.
- Virginia man Juan Ramos Jacobe, who was charged in March with the sexual assault of a minor and practicing unlicensed dentistry, faced 11 new charges related to his illegitimate dental practice.
- Tulsa, Okla.-based dentist Timothy Aldrich, DDS, and two employees were arrested for allegedly obtaining prescription drugs for personal use.
- Shannon Raye Wilson, an office manager at an Oregon dental practice, was arrested for allegedly embezzling more than $140,000 between 2013 and 2020.
- Melissa Evans, a woman who worked as a bookkeeper for a West Virginia dentist, pleaded guilty to stealing from her former employer.
- Buffalo, N.Y.-based dentist Robert Herzog, DDS, faced a Child Victims Act lawsuit after a woman claimed he abused her when she was a child.
- Alma Almendariz and Maria Urandy, two California dental assistants, faced multiple charges of identity theft, insurance fraud and grand theft.
- A $2.5 million verdict againstThomas O'Keeffe, DDS, a dentist who drilled into a woman's tongue, was upheld by a Missouri appeals court.
- Seven parents and one dental assistant have filed police reports against Ohio dentist Ronald Griffin, DDS, for allegedly assaulting children in his care.
- Mississippi dentist Jon Germany, DMD, filed a $10 million lawsuit against the state dental board, alleging he is being disciplined because he advertises his dental service on television.
- SmileDirectClub filed lawsuits against three Delta Dental entities, accused of denying their customers teledentistry benefits.
- A handful of dental practices in Southern California received legal claims for not using an accessible website design.
- Rhode Island dental employee Kris Magbag was arrested on charges of second-degree sexual assault of a teenage patient who was under anesthesia.
- Three Virginia Beach, Va.-based dentists agreed to pay $30,000 to settle allegations that they violated the Controlled Substances Act.
- Nevada dentist Timothy Wilson, DDS, was indicted on tax charges by a federal grand jury.
- Adam Slatniske, DDS, a former family dentist in Maryland, pleaded guilty to promoting and/or distributing child pornography at his practice.
- Pittsburgh-based Smile Savers Dentistry filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against Chicago-based CNA insurance, seeking coverage for pandemic-induced losses and expenses.
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