A 10-year-old girl in Houston named Nevaeh Hall cannot see, speak, walk or eat on her own and requires 24-hour medical care from her parents. All of this happened when was 4 and visiting a dentist who improperly sedated and restrained her during a dental procedure.
As a result, the family was awarded 95.5 million after a 3-day trial that found former dentist Bethaniel Jefferson guilty of negligence. The child’s parents Courissa Clark and Derrick Hall also stated in the suit that the dentist prevented them from coming to the aid or their child while suffered seizures after the procedure failed at the office.
The dentist was found negligent but paid a pittance for the damages which means even though the family won the lawsuit, they may never see one penny of the $95 Million and they are challenged as to how they will be able to care for their severely disabled child
In this situation, the dentist was committing fraud and not only did lose her license but is now also up for criminal charges for Medicaid fraud.
Unrelated to the story: Dentistry has been on the radar lately as an industry that is severely struggling and many dentists are at odds with insurance companies that refuse to pay for many procedures leaving patients responsible. Many dentists offer credit card solutions for patients to pay for services where the low-interest credit card is exclusive for paying for dental care but it leaves patients wondering if they are still being overcharged for services.
