TravelingChris Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 I don't know how to post stories but the case of the oral surgeon in Tulsa is just so revolting and horrifying. How could all those people just let it go on? The investigators found out about it when they were trying to trace why a person with no known practices was suddenly diagnosed with HIV and Hep C. Turned out he got it at this house of horrors dentistry. It shows you how hard it is to find out- I mean this guy was practicing for 30 years and had thousands of patients. He wasn't sterilizing instruments correctly, he was using rusty tools, he had super expired medications- like Morphine with an expiration of 1993 that he was still using, his assistants did procedures they weren't legally allowed to do, and on and on. Lots of kids may have been exposed too. It is just so awful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer3141 Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 I think medical professionals who do stuff like this should be taken out behind the barn and shot in the head. If you are such an &^%$#&^%# that you make it through medical/dental school and you take that oath but you don't actually UNDERSTAND that oath, then we don't need you. Bam. You're done. DH thinks that's a little harsh. I told him if I ever heard of him doing something so heinous, that he'd better start running because I'd take him down myself. :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 It is usually only a few who are this grossly, and cavalierly, neglegent. It is almost always based in greed, and a lack of basic caring about other people. he deserves prison as well as losing everything he owns. I think of the pharmacist who was diluting drugs to increase his profits. including cancer drugs - so that affected the test results oncology patients were getting and the course of treatment by their drs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deannajo Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 I hadn't heard of that - how horrible! I agree, that's just disgusting! oh geez. I had my wisdom teeth removed from a not so nice oral surgeon in Tulsa back in the early 90s - I have no recollection of his name, just that he was pretty short with me - I was on state assistance at the time, and a single mom in tons of pain, and he was the only practitioner that was taking state assistance and would see me - he was pretty rude - and it was a not so great memory in my life - so now you have me freaking out - probably not the same guy, right? RIGHT? :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 This is a horrible story. I can't help but think of his assistants - surely they also knew what was going on. A bunch of sadists, the whole lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 This is a horrible story. I can't help but think of his assistants - surely they also knew what was going on. A bunch of sadists, the whole lot. I think it's less about sadism and more about desperation on the part of his assitants (though they still could have reported him and found another job elsewhere). he's just greedy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelle in MO Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 It is usually only a few who are this grossly, and cavalierly, neglegent. It is almost always based in greed, and a lack of basic caring about other people. he deserves prison as well as losing everything he owns. I think of the pharmacist who was diluting drugs to increase his profits. including cancer drugs - so that affected the test results oncology patients were getting and the course of treatment by their drs. (Temporary hijack) Do you happen to remember any specifics about the pharmacist story? I'd like to try to find it online. I heard through the grapevine that someone I used to know died of cancer because of a pharmacy issue like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 I hadn't heard of that - how horrible! I agree, that's just disgusting! oh geez. I had my wisdom teeth removed from a not so nice oral surgeon in Tulsa back in the early 90s - I have no recollection of his name, just that he was pretty short with me - I was on state assistance at the time, and a single mom in tons of pain, and he was the only practitioner that was taking state assistance and would see me - he was pretty rude - and it was a not so great memory in my life - so now you have me freaking out - probably not the same guy, right? RIGHT? :blink: They're only sending out letters to patients who've seen the guy in the last six years. Those who receive the letter can get free testing. W. Scott Harrington. here it states he was one of a handful of dentists who took medicaid. If it was 20 years ago, you're probably safe, but you can still contact the agency in charge of testing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer3141 Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 They're only sending out letters to patients who've seen the guy in the last six years. Those who receive the letter can get free testing. W. Scott Harrington. here it states he was one of a handful of dentists who took medicaid. If it was 20 years ago, you're probably safe, but you can still contact the agency in charge of testing. From the NPR story, it sounds like this jerk did this mostly to save money. His staff reused needles for crying out loud. I cannot believe this jerk even accepted Medicaid!!. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 (Temporary hijack) Do you happen to remember any specifics about the pharmacist story? I'd like to try to find it online. I heard through the grapevine that someone I used to know died of cancer because of a pharmacy issue like that. pharmacist in missouri. and the defense claimed he was very remorseful. yeah - he had to face the relatives of those people who died because their drugs were wrong. he got the maximum sentence - 30 years. eta: this is particularly abhorrent to me because my dd is in school to become a pharmD. I know something like this would make her absolutely ill. She loves what she does and being able to help people. eta: the fraud was discovered and exposed by a SALES rep for a drug company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelle in MO Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 pharmacist in missouri. and the defense claimed he was very remorseful. yeah - he had to face the relatives of those people who died because their drugs were wrong. he got the maximum sentence - 30 years. eta: this is particularly abhorrent to me because my dd is in school to become a pharmD. I know something like this would make her absolutely ill. She loves what she does and being able to help people. Thank you for the link. What he did is unimaginable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whereneverever Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 That's terrifying. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 Nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 I think it's less about sadism and more about desperation on the part of his assitants (though they still could have reported him and found another job elsewhere). he's just greedy. Hyperbole aside, am I the only one who finds it strange that in all those years, over hundreds of patients, in two clinic locations, none of his staff members thought to speak up or at least report him anonymously before now? I can't get over that. I wonder if he hired unlicensed assistants and put them through some type of in-house on the job training. I suppose as the business owner he may have been in it for the money, I don't see how the staff members could have seen enough payoff in this situation to have gone along. When you say desperate, I'm not sure what you mean - that they needed their jobs so badly that they'd willingly administer such obviously negligent care? I am not trying to be argumentative - tone is hard to read in cyberspace - I just can't understand how it could go on for so long. Personally, I think the doc is more than greedy. I think he's demented. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deannajo Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 They're only sending out letters to patients who've seen the guy in the last six years. Those who receive the letter can get free testing. W. Scott Harrington. here it states he was one of a handful of dentists who took medicaid. If it was 20 years ago, you're probably safe, but you can still contact the agency in charge of testing. Yikes! I'm no longer living in OK - haven't since 1997 - but now that I'm done freaking out, I'm thinking I must be safe, even though I really do think it was the same guy - that office building pictured in the second article looks familiar, and he was the only one taking new medicaid patients at the time, and the whole office really did put out a bad vibe - they strapped me to the chair, left me alone with my fears and being strapped down, didn't explain anything, and when I mentioned being nervous the dr responded with something like I could leave right now then - it was a bad experience - But I've had three babies since then, and granted two were born at home with a midwife, I did have a regular dr with one halfway through, and the first one all the way through, and that one was born in a hospital, and they did all sorts of blood tests - I'm sure something would have shown up at some point - Oh, and I had an HIV test before getting married - which was a couple of years after the wisdom teeth were removed. This man is evil - I'm also in disbelief that in all this time, he didn't have a staff member come forward! They are professionals as well - took similar oaths, know about infectious diseases, and proper care of instruments and medications, and toxic waste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 Medicaid reimbursement rates for dental are so low that most dentists won't take medicaid patients. This leaves someone who needs dental work on medicaid very few choices. While most dentists who take medicaid aren't like this dude, when a low income patient is desperate for the dental care they won't report any of the dubious things they see at their dentists office or may not think to report substandard care. As for the assistants, I wager they needed the employment badly. It's not an excuse for them, but it does explain their inaction. I had some gawd awful dental work done as a child by medicaid dental clinics. Nothing malicious but some truly incompetent work. I lost a molar because of this and I know others who ended up much, much worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 . Personally, I think the doc is more than greedy. I think he's demented. I think he was just plain greedy and had an enormous amount of hubris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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