Dean of Dental School Files Lawsuit Alleges Theft of Gold Crowns

The dean of a major university dental school has filed a lawsuit after being terminated as dean and in his complaint alleges, among other things, the stealing of gold crowns from the dental school and accusing officials of retaliating against him for reporting problems at the College of Dentistry. As an Atlanta lawyer who specializes in dental malpractice, this is an interesting development since many of the experts that we use in our cases in Georgia are deans of colleges of dentistry in other states. In Georgia, with limited exceptions, a dental malpractice lawsuit must contain an affidavit by an expert alleging at least one count of malpractice against the dentist being sued in the lawsuit. In most cases, the affiant will be the dean or former dean of a dental school and have extensive experience performing the procedure at issue in the malpractice lawsuit.

The Dean’s lawsuit cites numerous other problems that the dean allegedly uncovered. They include:

• A departmental deficit of almost $2 million because clinical faculty (dentists) at the dental school were being paid salary supplements based on gross revenue from clinical services, not net revenue. The lawsuit alleges that officials did nothing to address the dean’s concerns;
• Last summer, the lawsuit says, the Dean forwarded allegations that College of Dentistry employees were stealing gold crowns and selling them, or converting them to gold coins. An internal investigation confirmed the theft, the lawsuit says, but the provost’s office did nothing further to address it, according to the allegations in the lawsuit;
• The ousted Dean also contends that he was retaliated against because he supported a group of minority students who alleged discrimination at the dental school.

Clearly, these allegation, are troubling, if true, and could potentially shed some light on the inner workings of a major dental school in the southern U.S. Dental schools are turning out many qualified and ethical dentists and news of something like this must be fully investigated. Surely, if there has been a theft of dental crowns to harbor the gold from such crowns, this must be addressed and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Anything less would amount to turning a blind eye to such an atrocious act of theft. Late last year, Interestingly, the university settled a lawsuit with a dental professor prior to demoting the dean. The dental professor was a long-time employee of the university who accused the Dean of the School of Dentistry of firing him after he criticized proposed changes to Medicaid.

For almost 25 years, Attorney Robert J. Fleming has been handling wrongful death cases, personal injury, dental malpractice and medical malpractice lawsuits for individuals and families who have been injured or died as a result of the negligence of others in and around the Atlanta, Georgia area, including Alpharetta, Brookhaven, Chamblee, College Park, Duluth, Decatur, Doraville, Hapeville, Johns Creek, Jonesboro, Lawrenceville, Norcross, Peachtree City, Riverdale, Roswell, Sandy Springs, Stone Mountain, and Smyrna. If you or someone you know has been seriously injured or died as a result of dental malpractice or negligence and would like quality legal representation or if you would just like to consult about a potential case, contact Robert J. Fleming directly on (404) 525-5150 or contact us online.