SCHENECTADY Colonie dental practice accused in lawsuit of doing unnecessary work BY DAVID LOMBARDO Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter David Lombardo at 395-3134 or dlombardo@dailygazette.net.
A national dental chain’s office in Colonie is being sued by 10 former patients from Schenectady who allege they endured unnecessary, traumatic and improper procedures so that the dentists could meet company quotas. A suit filed Monday in the state Supreme Court for Schenectady County accuses Access Dentistry, at 1839 Central Ave., of subjecting children “to an emotional and physical nightmare” between the years of 2005 and 2009. The 10 plaintiffs in the suit were aged of 1 and 8 when they are alleged to have suffered from unlawful restraints and undergone gratuitous surgeries. Patrick Higgins, a lawyer who represents the families bringing the suit, said that the local offi ce in Colonie was taking part in a larger profit scheme orchestrated by its parent company, Small Smiles, to make money off the Medicaid system. Higgins said Access Dentistry improperly restrained children, operated without anesthesia in some cases and provided extra, unneeded services to meet corporate quotas. He detailed a history of incidents with Small Smiles, which in January 2010 was fi ned by the U.S. Department of Justice. Also as a result of that investigation, the company was required to reimburse Medicaid for $24.5 million in fraudulent costs. Higgins added that last year the company also repaid about $2 million to New York state. The allegations detailed in the suit include performing root canals after X-rays demonstrated they were unnecessary, or doing the X-rays so poorly that they would be useless for diagnostic purposes, or simply not doing X-rays. Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that certain preventive treatments were ignored. Among the claims in the lawsuit: A boy received 10 root canals and crowns, four fillings, three extractions and was restrained at least four times from age 4 to 7. A 4-year-old girl had eight fi llings, four extractions and two root canals and crowns during one visit, which she was restrained for. A 1-year-old boy was restrained so that the dentist could perform four root canals and crowns and four extractions. ...........................>>>>....................>>>>.....................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00802&AppName=1
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