Dentist License Defense Lawyer in New Orleans, Louisiana
Dental practice in New Orleans, Louisiana is regulated by the Louisiana Board of Dentistry and laid down in the Dental Practice Act. Dental malpractice cases are not infrequent in New Orleans, despite the clarity of the legal framework establishing the standard for dental care. It is the responsibility of the Louisiana Board of Dentistry to ensure that all licensed dental professionals abide by the standards set by the Board and perform their duties to the best of their ability. However, sometimes a dentist can be negligent, and the patient or patients who suffer from this negligence may file a complaint with the Louisiana Board of Dentistry against that dentist. If you are a practicing dentist in New Orleans, Louisiana and a complaint have been filed against you; you need to talk to a dentist license defense lawyer as soon as possible. You need to speak to a dental license defense lawyer so that you can learn about dental license defense in case an allegation has been filed against you.
How to obtain the dental practice license in New Orleans, Louisiana?
Obtaining the dental practice license is like in any other area of medicine, a lengthy and thorough process that dentists and dental hygienists must go through not only from a legal perspective but also from a practical one, which involves continued education and keeping up to date with the current standards of practice and new technologies. The goal of this comprehensive process is to ensure dental professionals are completely aware of their job requirements and know the ins and outs of dentistry and dental practices. The safety of patients is of primary importance for all health professionals, and dentists are no different. When a dentist strives to obtain a dental practice license, they also get a pretty good idea of what they are expected to do. If they fail to live up to the standards set by the Louisiana Board of Dentistry, they can lose their license. Talk to a dentist license defense lawyer if you think there is a risk of this happening to you.
Specifically, in order to be able to practice dentistry in New Orleans, the applicant must prove that they have graduated from a dental school that, at the time of their graduation, was accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association. Additionally, the future dentist must have passed the clinical licensing examination approved by the Louisiana State Board of Dentistry within 3 years immediately prior to applying for the dental license. Also, the applicant must successfully complete Part I and Part II of the National Board Dental Examination and hold a valid certificate in cardiopulmonary resuscitation basic life support for healthcare providers and be a United States citizen, a permanent resident of or be legally authorized to live and work in the country. Other pre-requisites of dental practice licensing include completing the Louisiana State jurisprudence examination, submitting a fingerprint background check and the notarized copy of the entire dental license by examination.
While this is a very thorough process that involves equal preparation, dental care practitioners may sometimes deviate from what is considered the ‘standard of care,’ which results in patient injury. If this happens, the victim or their family can file a complaint with the Board against the dentist. If there are valid grounds, the Board may decide to investigate further. If you are a dentist in New Orleans, Louisiana and if you have been notified that a complaint has been filed against you, you should speak to a dentist license defense lawyer.
What can be considered a dental practice license defense case in New Orleans?
There are many reasons why a patient, their family members, a colleague or a subordinate may file a complaint against a dentist. Typically, cases of dental malpractice involving dental practice license defense in New Orleans, Louisiana include:
- Improper teeth extraction where the patient feels that the dentist failed to skillfully perform the extraction and did not fulfill the duty of care or deliver the standard of care that was expected of them.
- Under-diagnosing critical conditions such as TMJ (temporomandibular joint disorders) or oral cancer. There is no issue if the dentist is unable to diagnose because they don’t have the relevant information but any dentist who fails to properly assess a patient or does not give importance or time to the information that is available and because of this negligence underdiagnosed a patient, that patient has the right to file a complaint against the dentist.
- Sub-standard care or failure to properly treat various complications or infections. Again, this falls under the realm of negligence if it is evident that the dentist did not treat the patient properly.
- Nerve injury which results from a procedure performed by the dentist or any treatment recommended by the dentist. A patient can file a complaint against a dentist if this happens.
- Root canal injuries that are the result of a dentist’s negligence or failure to exercise proper caution when performing the procedure or failure to demonstrate the necessary skills that are expected from a dentist who has had sufficient training and who has received a license after demonstrating their skill and knowledge in dentistry.
- A surgical injury that occurs after a dentist performs a dental procedure on the patient. If the injury is not due to the dentist’s negligence, the complaint may not result in disciplinary action but if the injury is caused because a dentist failed to deliver proper care, a complaint can be filed, and action can be taken.
- An injury caused by dental lasers that occur either due to substandard equipment or lack of knowledge on the part of the dentist as to the use of these dental lasers.
- Sub-standard management of anesthesia or wrongful administration of anesthetics. This is a serious act of negligence and one that patients should not have to accept or go through. Any dental professional has the necessary knowledge and training to know the right dose of anesthesia. A dental professional who fails to do right by their patient and who gives the wrong dose of anesthesia can be held accountable.
- Poor to no supervision of the actions of other professionals working in the same team (i.e., dental hygienists). A senior dentist is expected to monitor how their team performs and whether their team has the necessary skills and knowledge to ensure optimum patient care. If they fail to closely monitor their staff, they can be held accountable if an error occurs or if a patient is harmed.
- Failure to refer to a specialist, in case of suspicion about the presence of other complications (i.e., heart conditions). There are some dental conditions that are considered risk factors for heart disease. There may be situations where a particular dental issue may be a symptom of another medical condition. If a dentist is aware that this might be so and they fail to refer the patient to the relevant specialist and if the patient becomes sick because the dentist did not take action at the right time, the patient and their family can file a complaint against the dentist.
- Lack of informed consent which is a must before any dental procedure is performed on a patient. Failure to obtain this consent can land the dentist into a great deal of trouble if a complaint is filed against them with the Board.
- Treatment by an unlicensed dentist which is not only a cause for disciplinary action by the Board but also an illegal act that could result in negative consequences for the dentist in question.
Although dental malpractice lawsuits are arguably easier, taking a dental case to court requires time and preparation, which often starts in the office of another dental care practitioner, who needs to carefully evaluate the patient’s record before referring it to the Louisiana Board of Dentistry. Talk to a dentist license defense lawyer if you are facing charges or if a complaint has been filed against you with the Board.
The Role of Negligence
Whenever a complaint is filed against a dentist, the primary complaint in a large majority of cases revolves around negligence. This means that the patient or the person filing the complaint feels that the dentist owed a duty of care to the patient but that duty of care was breached, resulting in the patient’s injury. The goal is to communicate to the Board that the dentist failed to abide by the standards set by the Board and did not provide the quality of care that was expected from them. The patient can thus demand compensation and can also contend that the dentist should not be allowed to practice anymore since their lack of skills and/or level of negligence is risky for other patients as well. If you are facing a similar situation and if somebody has filed a complaint against you on the grounds that you were negligent, you need to speak to a dental license defense lawyer today.
If a complaint is filed against a dentist, the dental Board will evaluate the complaint and will take action if they feel that the complaint is justified. The validity of a complaint is generally based on the Board members’ evaluation that the error or the injury caused by a dentist would not have occurred if the dentist had been more careful. Generally, in most cases involving dental license defense, a dentist is held responsible if the error that happened would not have happened if another ‘reasonable and diligent’ dentist would have been present. This means that the dentist in question was unable to demonstrate the level of care that a reasonably qualified and diligent dentist would have demonstrated in a similar situation. Many times, another dentist is brought in to provide expert testimony to state that a prudent and reasonable dentist would have exercised due care and diligence, which the defendant had failed to exercise. The Board may consider this a valid argument and may decide to take disciplinary action against the dentist. Talk to your dentist license defense lawyer if you are dealing with a complaint based on negligence.
However, as with any other legal case, documentation is key, and it is the main driver of success in dental license defense lawsuits. Most people who file complaints against healthcare professionals tend to keep a record of all events as they occur, including overall dental care provided, injuries suffered (if any), persisting symptoms, diagnostics, and therapy recommended for those symptoms and injuries. Your dentist license defense lawyer will also go through this documentation thoroughly and may be able to prove that the allegations against you may be wrong or misunderstood. Talk to your dental license defense lawyer in this regard.
When building a case involving dental care malpractice and dental practice license defense, your dental license defense lawyer and the lawyer hired by the person filing the complaint will have to prove the following facts:
- The existence of a dentist-patient relationship
- The appropriate medical standard of care expected under the circumstances
- In what way was that standard of care breached, leading to the patient’s injury, and
- The nature and extent of the patient’s injury.
Keep in mind that anybody can file a complaint, but the Board will only take action against the dentist if there is sufficient evidence to prove the allegation. If you are facing this situation and if a complaint has been filed against you, your dental license defense lawyer will gather the necessary evidence to prove that the allegations are wrong. If they fail to do so, the Board may decide to take disciplinary action against the dentist.
While some dental malpractice cases are settled amicably, without even being escalated to court, others, which involve serious negligence like for instance, if the dentist was under the influence of alcohol or hallucinogens while performing a root canal procedure or a tooth extraction, could lead to the revocation of the dentist’s practice license. It is completely dependent on the circumstances of the case and the resultant damage or harm to the patient in question. Sometimes, patients misunderstand or misread situations, and their wrongful perception may cause them to file a complaint. Such a complaint is easily handled by a dentist license defense lawyer as most of these cases do not have enough grounds for suspension or revocation of a dental license. However, if there is enough evidence, the Board can then suspend or revoke a dentist’s license to practice.
This leads us to the careful evaluation of the second element by the dental license defense lawyer, who needs to prove the degree to which the standard of care has been breached, with the aid of a similarly-skilled dental care practitioner who needs to provide the expert opinion for that given situation. The professional providing the expert opinion or in legal terms, acting as an expert witness, is a dentist who is experienced in the kind of procedure in dispute. If the expert testimony indicates that the dentist did indeed demonstrate a lack of care and was negligent, the Board can take disciplinary action against the dentist.
In the state of Louisiana, around 20 percent of the population is not covered by healthcare insurance. Furthermore, with only a little bit above 10,000 licensed physicians for the entire state’s population of 4.6 million, it is no surprise at all that cases of malpractice do occur across all fields of practice, including dentistry. However, not every complaint filed with the Board of Dentistry is an authentic complaint. Patients can often overreact. Patients can also often misunderstand. Our legal system is designed to ensure that everybody is given a chance to defend themselves. A dentist who is facing allegations of negligence and lack of proper care has the right to present their side of the story. That is where the services of dentist license defense lawyer can help.
Retain an Experienced Dentist License Defense Lawyer
At Bart Bernard, we have a team of dentist license defense lawyers who understand the difficult situation professionals can face if their license is at risk. It is not always necessary that a complaint filed against a dentist is true. Every dentist has a right to a strong defense, and it is our commitment that we will provide you the best legal presentation possible. Our goal is to ensure that your hard work and your years of education and practical training don’t go to waste on the basis of a false complaint. Call our dentist license defense lawyer today so that we can help you defend yourself in front of the Board. We understand that this is a challenging situation and every dentist is not aware of the legal system and how the Board works and how their disciplinary hearing is conducted. An experienced dentist license defense lawyer can help you understand the system so that you can defend yourself more effectively. If the patient is genuinely hurt, but if it was not your fault, we are here to present your argument. If the patient misunderstood and you did not mean to hurt them, our dentist license defense lawyer is here to communicate that to the Board. Call a dentist license defense lawyer today, and we will be happy to assist you.