Oklahoma dentist does not use infection control practices

[MillCreek]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/18/health/oklahoma-dentist-investigation/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn

This is absolutely terrible, and I wonder if there is any sort of criminal charges that can be brought against this dentist. 

[BlueStarLizzard]

 

[RoadKingLarry]

That's been kind of a big deal around here the last seveal weeks. I suspect he's going to get wiped out with civil suits then hit with some kind of criminal charges.
The local health dept has been testing thousands of his patients at no charge and any that test positive will get free testing for spouses/partners/family members.
My wife's sister is a dental assistant at a different practice and in the dentist community it is quite the scandal.

[MillCreek]

^^^ Speaking as someone who does risk management for dentists, I am flabbergasted by what I have read in the media.  You just almost never see such reckless behavior like this.  And not only with infection control, but with medication management and patient anesthesia and sedation. 

He probably has $ 1 million per incident and $ 3 million per aggregate in terms of malpractice insurance.  The smart patients will sue immediately, before the insurance money is exhausted.  I am sure he probably doesn't have a whole lot in attachable assets, so those that sue later may not recover anything.

[RoadKingLarry]

He has a very nice place in the Tulsa area and another home in the Phoenix (I think) area. Surprisingly enough it seems he has taken up residence in the out of state house.

[MillCreek]

Were I him, I would be very concerned about my personal safety and an angry patient looking for me.

[Sergeant Bob]

I think he deserves to die.

[BobR]

He probably has $ 1 million per incident and $ 3 million per aggregate in terms of malpractice insurance.

That isn't much malpractice. I carry more than that as a nurse as far as an aggregate. 


I cannot believe in this day and age some one would be a as careless with sterilization as this guy was. I think the rest of his life in jail would be a better option, rather than flat out death.

bob

[MillCreek]

That isn't much malpractice. I carry more than that as a nurse as far as an aggregate. 

bob

Oral surgeons typically carry $ 1 million, especially in the Midwest, which is a lower impact area for malpractice.  If the only nursing you do is through your employment at the VA, you are generally wasting your money in buying your own malpractice insurance.  You will note that the policy (probably through CNA) provides it is excess coverage through any insurance available through your employer.  This means that it would only kick in once your employer's insurance is exhausted or would not cover you.  And since the VA is vicariously liable for your actions done within the scope of your employment, and is covered by the Federal Tort Claims Act, which is the blank checkbook of the US Government, there is no practical chance that any claim arising out of your employment at the VA will not be covered such that your own insurance will kick in.

If you work as an independent contractor or provide nursing services in a setting that does not have liability insurance (I would doubt this), then your own insurance may be of value.

I charge $ 200/hour for this sort of advice, but you can buy me a beer if I am ever between Spokane and CDA.  A nice IPA would be good.

[BobR]

Right now I am required to carry malpractice as part of my Masters practicum. I also carried it as a traveler. Once I am done with school, that will be another 100 dollars I can put back in my wallet, so I would be able to buy you a beer. 

bob

[Azrael256]

There's some bizarre laws regarding this sort of thing, but if I'm not horribly mistaken, this actually rises to one of the attempted 'homicide' (don't recall if its murder or just manslaughter) charges because of the presence of HIV.  I may be remembering a different state, but I want to say OK covers any knowing or negligent transmission.

Let's not go into how I know this, and I'll go look for a citation if anybody's curious.

I also carry more liability insurance than that just for walkin' around.

[Boomhauer]

Nice.

Bet this will be covered in the next infectious control class Dad and I have to attend for his dental technician license (we have to attend one every couple of years)

Stupid ahole...just wonderful.


As a side note, Dad and his clients saw some of the first cases of AIDS patients in this area come through dental offices and oral surgeons back in the '80s. That was back when they didn't wear gloves during exams and so on.

[MillCreek]

There's some bizarre laws regarding this sort of thing, but if I'm not horribly mistaken, this actually rises to one of the attempted 'homicide' (don't recall if its murder or just manslaughter) charges because of the presence of HIV.  I may be remembering a different state, but I want to say OK covers any knowing or negligent transmission.

Those laws are pretty common these days, but they are usually written from the standpoint of deliberate or negligent transmission by sexual contact or other deliberate means.  The classic charge is you know you have HIV but had unprotected sex with someone and did not inform them of your HIV status.  There are also laws that deal with stabbing someone with a syringe or sharps contaminated with HIV.  

Some of these laws first came about after the famous case of Dr. David Acer, the Florida dentist who died of HIV in 1990.  Six of his patients contracted the same strain of HIV that Dr. Acer had, and there is some suspicion that he deliberately infected patients by some unknown means.

It has been a while since I made a detailed study of these laws, but I suspect that they are not designed to criminalize sloppy sterilization practices or even gross negligence.  Courts and legislatures are generally reluctant to criminalize poor results from medical treatment.  If you could be charged with murder by having a sick patient die on the OR table, surgeons are going to be pretty reluctant to take those cases.  

However, if it can be proven that the dentist knew that the instruments were contaminated with HIV or other pathogens, criminal charges can be a possibility.