Monday, March 12, 2012

The Morning Drill: March 12, 2012



Raul Rodriguez (not a dentist) was arrested in Reno, Nevada for practicing dentistry out of his trailer

Good Monday morning!

On to today's dentistry and health headlines:

Indianapolis Man Dies After Trip To Dentist


For a 62-year-old man with a history of heart attacks, William Cage’s doctors said he was doing pretty well.

"They said he was doing okay as far as his heart," said widow Shelley Cage after her husband's most recent doctor's appointment. "The only thing he complained about was the pain in his jaw."

For more than two years Cage's jaw had pained him. Cage recently qualified for Medicaid benefits and that's what sent him to Affordable Dental at 3800 North Post Road last Thursday. Shelley Cage helped her husband fill out his medical history form for the dentist.

"He listed that he had two stents put in as well as five heart attacks. He had high blood pressure and what medications were."

Cage had been prescribed an antibiotic, Cephalexin, three times a day to fight the infection in his bad tooth.

Shelley Cage said her husband was fine though the first half of his appointment. It was only after his tooth was extracted that his condition took a turn for the worse.

"And he starts talking slow...'I don't know,' and I said, 'You're walking stiff like a zombie,' and then he says, 'I don't know.'"

Cage said foam was coming out of her husband's mouth as he collapsed in the dental office's restroom. Within an hour he was dead.

Cage asked the dentist what drugs he had given her husband.

"He says something about Lanocaine or whatever it is to numb the tooth that was extracted."

Increased demand to change Calif. kids' dental plan


California politicians are stepping up their efforts to improve a failed children's dental program that was supposed to control costs and make it easier for underserved children to see a dentist.

State officials promised new accountability after elected representatives, county supervisors, and advocates demanded better care for the more than 110,000 Sacramento County children who receive dental coverage through Medi-Cal, according to a story by the California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF).

The county operates the state's only mandatory managed care model, which has one of the state's worst records of care. Last year, less than one-third of Sacramento children with Medi-Cal saw a dentist, compared with nearly half of children on Medi-Cal statewide.

Reno Man Arrested for Performing Dentistry Out of a Trailer

A Reno man has been arrested for performing illegal dentistry out of a trailer after one of his patients ended up in intensive care.

Reno Police Department responded to a local hospital Monday to meet with medical staff regarding a subject in Intensive Care due to an airway blockage after receiving improper dental care.
Click here to find out more!

Further investigation revealed 56-year-old Raul Rodriguez was performing dentistry out of a nondescript mobile home on Gentry Way and he was not a licensed dentist.

RPD detectives issued a search warrant at the mobile home and located numerous items indicating dental work had in fact been occurring at that location. Detectives also recovered numerous items from Rodriguez's home, all used in various aspects of dentistry.

Rodriguez's only dental training was reportedly received in a foreign country at the level of "dental assistant," however, this could not be confirmed. He has prior convictions for practicing dentistry without a license according to police.

Metuchen dentist denies fraud that delayed ID of kids who died in raging South Plainfield fire



Paresh Patel, the dentist who treated three children killed in a South Plainfield house fire, appears in a Middlesex County courtroom in front of Superior Court Judge Joseph Paone on charges of Medicaid fraud
Photo Credit: John Munson/The Star-Ledger

A 46-year-old Metuchen dentist pleaded not guilty Friday to charges he falsified the dental records of three children killed in a South Plainfield fire two weeks ago, making it more difficult for authorities to identify the victims.

Paresh Patel appeared briefly before Superior Court Judge Joseph Paone in New Brunswick and also pleaded not guilty to charges he submitted five or more false claims to Medicaid for dental work for the children and was paid more than $1,000.

Patel’s attorney, Lawrence Bitterman, asked the judge to release the dentist on his own recognizance, noting he is married with two young children, lives in Edison and has "no inclination to flee."

BiBitterman said Patel came to the United States from India in 1980 and became a naturalized citizen in 1987.

But Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Mannion said the state’s case against Patel "is very strong."

Enjoy your morning!

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