Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in Illinois

I am having problems with my old dentist. After having multiple fillings filled and re-filled and a bad root canal, I went on to a new dentist. My old dentist would not give me my dental records. I provided him with all of my past dental records when I first saw him in 2006. Then I have a credit remaining on my account and now they tell me they audited my account and that I owe them. These are for filling touch-ups which were done within the six months that he covers. He would re-bill insurance for these fillings to see what he could get then write off the rest. Why I owe anything is beyond me? In the beginning he and he staff pressured me to enroll in CareCredit so that I could pay for these numerous procedures and in no time I had over a $3000 bill. The root canal that went recently went bad resulted in an infection causing me to have an apicoectomy. My old dentist sent me to an oral surgeon conveniently located in his building. I still have sensitivity at the site and when my new dentist checked it out, it was still infected and had pus coming out. After feeling so frustrated, I googled him to see what I could find out and saw that he was reprimanded by the IL Dept of Professional Regulation in 1998. I am wondering if I have any sort of case. I was recommended to this dentist by 1-800-DENTIST and I also think they should know a little about who they are referring.


Asked on 8/04/09, 11:13 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Burton Padove Indiana and Illinois Lawyer, Burton A. Padove

Medical malpractice cases are very expensive as it is necessary to hire another dental professional to state that the prior dentist failed to provide medical care that other dentits would have provided. Unless there is serious nerve damage and the likelihood of a recovery in excess of several hundred thousand dollars you are not likely to find an attorney willing to take a dental malpractice case on.

Your issues concerning billing and your records are different. You might try filing a complaint with the Dept. of Professional Regulation and also sending a complaint to 1-800 dentist.

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Answered on 8/10/09, 7:46 pm


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