Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  06/13/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Dates of service 5/8/24, 5/28/24, 5/29/24 and 6/12/24 Billing deception: I had an evaluation of dental concerns on 5/8 to which I was given a treatment plan and expected to sign it without explanation of the services. I inquired as to why the bridge would not be claimed in the insurance and was told that I had already exceeded the amount my insurance allowed for the first 3 services. I did not notice the upcharges for the crowns or the bridge and no one mentioned them to me. I was not told that the crowns and bridge would be replaced with a higher grade of porcelain than what I originally had by the dentist or any of his associates. I was led to believe that all the services on the treatment plan would be submitted to my insurance except for the bridge by the office manager. The office manager is denying this, the dentist is also denying this and stating I was fully informed of all of the charges just because I signed the treatment plan. I only discovered the up charge for the crowns which was $125 per 2 teeth when I received the explanation of benefits from my insurance and saw that the charge was not a part of the claim. When I confronted the office manager about the discrepancy she stated that I had been fully informed and that she was not even present at the time of this visit. To which I proved to her that she was with my documentation. The dentist also put my health in jeopardy by prescribing to me a medication that I am allergic to. I told him in my paper work and verbally that I was allergic to it and could not take the other antibiotic he wished to give to me because of adverse reactions. He became irate and insisted that that is the only antibiotic he could prescribe. He takes no accountability for his actions and refuses to refund my money and accept the insurance payments for the services only. His response to the emergency of my taking 4 doses of medicine I was allergic to was 6 1/2 hours delayed leaving me very stressed. Allergic to penicillin

  Business response

  07/24/2024

  To Whoever it may concern,

  This response I will have to divide in different topics due to the fact that patient complaint was a compound one.

  First let me start by addressing the penicillin concern. We as a practice made an honest error on sending the amoxicillin medication having her marked the allergy to penicillin on her history. Now let start by saying amoxicillin is not penicillin which it was the medication she did mention as allergic to it. Second, the pharmacy should have been alerted as well and not follow through with the medication. And third, and most important, she is CLEARLY not allergic to amoxicillin. She called the practice 3 days after starting that medication, she had no adverse reaction to it at the time of the call and we took care of her necrotic tooth infection which was her and our goal as dental providers. Amoxicillin and Augmentin are our drugs of preference when it comes to necrotic infections. Perhaps I would recommend the patient to go to an allergy clinic and take a test to know exactly what she is allergic or not allergic to. We did change her medication to Clindamycin which is our second preferred medication for this kind of infection, and she did give us a hard time as reporting some weird secondary effects leaving us with not many options of treatment. 

   

  Secondly, as a response for her complaint about fees. We in the practice take high pride in our work and we do not mislead any patient that is willing to listen to us. We did provide a quote for the work she needed before the day of treatment. She did not question our fees until after the procedure was done. We do charge a warranty fee on prosthetic that covers any fracture crown for his lifetime. This fee is not part of her contract with her insurance and is an out-of-pocket expense. Attached please find the original quote given to the patient on 05/08/2024. Treatment was not performed until 05/28/24, which gave her ample time to clarify any doubts on her behalf. 

   

  Please feel free to contact us with any further concerns,

   

  Truly yours,

   

  ****************************, DMD

  New Age Dentistry

  ****************

  ********, FL 34711

   

  ************

  Customer response

  07/31/2024

   
  Complaint: 21848733
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  The excuses and pawning off of responsibility is appalling! The sole responsibility of dispensing of medication to me is on him. Not his office staff, not the pharmacy, not anyone!  He is the doctor and he was told of my allergy, but he was too busy to care about making sure he read my file and ordered the correct prescription that I am not allergic to.  He TOOK MY LIFE INTO HIS HANDS IN A NEGLIGENT MANNER and should be held accountable for it.  He is extremely lucky that it worked out that I did not have a reaction, however as I stated before, I am not out of the *****. He refuses to acknowledge that I have delayed reactions to medication called DRESS as addressed in the following article ******************************************************************** . 

  I have had such sever reactions to both aspirin and penicillin that I was advised to not take any NSAIDs due to the fact that I could have the same reaction.  I had a reaction so sever as a child that I had to have a tracheotomy in order to save my life due to the fact that my entire throat swelled up cutting off my airway.  I still have a large scar on my throat to prove it.  Yet, this arrogant man thinks it is wonderful that I now know that I am no longer allergic to penicillin.  BUT I DO NOT KNOW THIS! I immediately took ******** after taking 4 doses of the Penicillin which was one day's dosage not 3 days that he said I waited to call him, which I attribute to keeping me from having a bad reaction.  He was too busy to answer my call to give me advice and told me he didn't want me to become drowsy from taking Benadryl and that is why he did not suggest it. Instead I had to call the pharmacist for advise and he said I should take it for at least 3 days!  I'd rather be drowsy than dead!

  Also, he stated I said I had some weird secondary affects to Erythromycin.  Well, please tell that to the surgeons I have had in the past that agreed that I should not take the medications due to the fact that I had had these adverse affects. They said there are plenty of other antibiotics I can take that would work just as well.  I told this to him and suggested an antibiotic that I have taken in the past, but this dentist insisted that they were wrong and that this antibiotic is the only thing I can take, which I have since then found out that the Zpack would have been appropriate as I suggested. He gave me another form called Clindamycin which I also had adverse affects from.  It is my body and if don't want to take a medicine that makes be very sick, then why should I have to take it because this doctor is so arrogant???  

  As far as the extra charges on the crown, when I spoke with his office manager and also the dental assistant, they stated that the upcharge was for the materials of the crown.  That the company they use, uses a higher grade of materials than what my insurance allows for and they do not offer the lower grade option.  So, they do this upgrade which HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH A WARRANTY!!  Yet again another blatant lie! 

  I still stand on the fact that money should be refunded to me for his negligence! Best practices state that when anyone makes a mistake they should own up to it and make reparations.  The fact that he continues to pass the blame on to me, his staff, and the pharmacy is proof enough that he should not be given the privilege of medically treating anyone!  I just hope that this will keep others from making the same mistake I did by not walking out on him the first time I sought services when he was rude to me about the medications.  I was fool to come back!

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

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