Unnecessary Root Canals Given To Kids, NY Dentist Practices Admit

NEW YORK — Officials said a pediatric dental group abused the trust of parents by performing unneeded procedures on small children.

A $753,457 agreement with pediatric dentist Dr. Barry L. Jacobson and his company HQRC Management Services LLC (HQRC), along with 13 other affiliated pediatric dentistry locations, has been reached, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced today. The dentistry group admitted performing and billing for medically unnecessary pediatric root canals.

A whistleblower who exposed the alleged fraud will receive a portion of the settlement.

This settlement is the result of a joint investigation between the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU), and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, which is collecting $313,783 for the federal shares of New York and New Jersey Medicaid damages as part of the agreement.

"It is unconscionable that medical professionals were willing to perform unnecessary dental procedures on children simply to make money," U.S. Attorney Sellinger said. "Recovering their ill-gotten gains only begins to undo this damage. Working with Attorney General James and our partners in the New York Attorney General’s Office, we want to make it clear that this behavior is intolerable."

The settlement resolves allegations that some HQRC dentists performed medically unnecessary pulpotomies, often referred to as "baby root canals," on pediatric patients. A pulpotomy is a procedure to restore infected primary teeth in children whereby the dentist removes infected and damaged pulp from the upper part of the tooth and covers the remaining part of the child’s tooth with a filling or a crown.

Dr. Jacobson and HQRC admitted to the investigative findings from MFCU that in some instances between 2011 and 2018, affiliated dentists performed and billed Medicaid for therapeutic pulpotomies not supported by the medical records maintained at the respective dental practices. The defendants in the case also admitted that in some instances between 2011 and 2014, the dental group made "billing errors" on claims submitted to New York and New Jersey Medicaid contractors that resulted in inaccurate servicing provider information on claims for services performed at three of its locations.

"Dr. Jacobson and HQRC allegedly performed unnecessary and invasive dental procedures on children to line their own pockets," James said in a statement released on Thursday. "My office will not tolerate any instance of medically unnecessary procedures performed on vulnerable Medicaid beneficiaries."

According to the AG's office, Dr. Jacobson and HQRC, now doing business as PDS Management Solutions, operate pediatric dental practices in New York, New Jersey, and Vermont. The majority of these practices are in New York, and the following are parties to the agreement:

• Pediatric Dentistry of Valley Stream
• Pediatric Dentistry of Monsey
• Pediatric Dentistry of Kingston
• Pediatric Dentistry of Albany
• Pediatric Dentistry of Flushing
• Pediatric Dentistry of the Bronx
• Pediatric Dentistry of Paterson
• Pediatric Dentistry of Teaneck
• Pediatric Dentistry of Wyckoff
• Pediatric Dentistry of Avenue U
• Pediatric Dentistry of Boro Park
• Pediatric Dentistry of Malone
• North Country Pediatric Dentistry

The case against Dr. Jacobson, HQRC and the affiliated dental practices was initiated by a former employee, who will receive a portion of the settlement. The whistleblower lawsuit was filed under the qui tam provisions of the federal and New York False Claims Acts, which allow people to file civil actions on behalf of the government and share in any recovery.

Reporting Medicaid Provider Fraud:

MFCU is charged with addressing Medicaid provider fraud and protecting nursing home residents from abuse and neglect. Anyone who believes they have information about Medicaid provider fraud or about an incident of abuse or neglect of a nursing home resident, can file a confidential complaint online or call the MFCU hotline at (800) 771-7755. If the situation is an emergency, call 911.