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$35M To Be Repaid By Dentist For Unnecessary Root Canals

Posted: Thursday, August 1st, 2013 at 11:59 am

There’s a dentist in Washington that’s about to be $35 million poorer after a judge ordered him to pay that amount to a number of plaintiffs in a recent lawsuit. The dentist is Dr. Henry Duyzend, and he was found to have ordered unnecessary root canals and other dental procedures on at least a dozen patients.
More than 200 patients joined in the suit, arguing that the dentist had ordered painful root canals for no medical reason while charging them very high rates to complete the procedures. One construction worker went through 20 surgeries, while a similarly situated woman was put through 13 of her own. They’ve sued the retired dentist for malpractice, and once all the facts were known, they won a large settlement.
The massive malpractice was uncovered after Duyzend retired and sold his practice six years ago. The dentist who purchased his practice started to notice paperwork and the physical results of unnecessary dental procedures. It was around that time that patients started to put things together, and they followed up with a lawsuit that pushed the dentist into professional hiding. The vast majority of patients reached settlements to resolve their cases. Almost three dozen pushed on, though, and they’ve been rewarded with a large judgment.
The dentist’s damage was two-fold, as his shoddy work left patients with more problems, and his high billing left them in dire financial straits. One state official found that the doctor intentionally performed poor, negligent work so that he could lure the same patients back for follow-up procedures. For many of the patients, the results were devastating. One woman, originally on welfare when she first started seeing the dentist, took out a new home loan to pay for the huge expenses associated with many procedures.
The case went to arbitration, where a panel ordered payouts of between $400,000 and just more than two million to each patient. The construction worker who underwent 20 root canals took home the largest reward, as the panel ordered the dentist to pay him over two million bucks for his significant trouble.

There’s a dentist in Washington that’s about to be $35 million poorer after a judge ordered him to pay that amount to a number of plaintiffs in a recent lawsuit. The dentist is Dr. Henry Duyzend, and he was found to have ordered unnecessary root canals and other dental procedures on at least a dozen patients.

More than 200 patients joined in the suit, arguing that the dentist had ordered painful root canals for no medical reason while charging them very high rates to complete the procedures. One construction worker went through 20 surgeries, while a similarly situated woman was put through 13 of her own. They’ve sued the retired dentist for malpractice, and once all the facts were known, they won a large settlement.

The massive malpractice was uncovered after Duyzend retired and sold his practice six years ago. The dentist who purchased his practice started to notice paperwork and the physical results of unnecessary dental procedures. It was around that time that patients started to put things together, and they followed up with a lawsuit that pushed the dentist into professional hiding. The vast majority of patients reached settlements to resolve their cases. Almost three dozen pushed on, though, and they’ve been rewarded with a large judgment.

The dentist’s damage was two-fold, as his shoddy work left patients with more problems, and his high billing left them in dire financial straits. One state official found that the doctor intentionally performed poor, negligent work so that he could lure the same patients back for follow-up procedures. For many of the patients, the results were devastating. One woman, originally on welfare when she first started seeing the dentist, took out a new home loan to pay for the huge expenses associated with many procedures.

The case went to arbitration, where a panel ordered payouts of between $400,000 and just more than two million to each patient. The construction worker who underwent 20 root canals took home the largest reward, as the panel ordered the dentist to pay him over two million bucks for his significant trouble.

 

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