A chain of dental clinics here in San Antonio is hit with a massive lawsuit filed by parents who took their children to The Smile Center.
The court action is more fallout from my investigation into the clinics and allegations it did unnecessary work at taxpayers expense.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday on behalf of 23 children alleges the Smile center would routinely recommend unnecessary and excessive dental services.
The lawyer filing the suit says this is the first of many to come as they prepare to file on behalf of one-hundred children.
“The lawsuit alleges and we intend to prove with substantial evidence that a lot of the dental care received by these children was unnecessary and improper”, says Attorney Tom Crosley.
The lawsuit was filed against The Smile Center, owner Dr. Stephen Simpton and former Smile Center dentist Dr Mark Hong.
It alleges Smile Center and its dentists would – “recommend unnecessary and excessive dental services, most commonly consisting of pulpotomies (baby root canals) and stainless steel crowns".
I saw plenty of those silver crowns during my investigation last February when I first uncovered parents complaining about what they say the clinics did to their children.
Many parents told me some of those crowns had fallen out and in some cases their kids got infections after the work was done and paid with tax dollars from Medicaid.
The lawsuit goes on to allege “The smile center subjected these children to its production machine for one primary reason -- to bilk Medicaid for its financial gain".
The suit also alleges the clinics made $55 Million from Medicaid from 2008 to 2010.
That's more than twice what I reported earlier this year.
“We will ask a Bexar County jury to access responsibility for this conduct to prevent continuing harm to children and to the Medicaid system we all pay into,” said Crosley.
The lawsuit makes lots of other allegations, including that The Smile Center routinely restrained children during dental work in a way it describes as “barbaric”.
It goes on to allege The Smile Center threatened to report some patients to Medicaid who did not show up for their appointments. And the lawsuit claims clinics did work without proper consent from parents.
The Smile Center is already the target of a civil and criminal investigation by the Texas Attorney General's Office. Although the attorney for the clinics claims the investigation is just a routine audit.
We tried to reach Dr. Stephen Simpton's attorney late this afternoon and left a voicemail, but have not heard back for comment on today's lawsuit.
