ANyone actually win a dental malpractice suit

[antoni]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone has actually WON a dental malpractice lawsuit out there?

I have been speaking with attorneys about filing a suit, but there are so few attorneys that do it.

Also the one place I spoke to works on retainer and I would have to pay expenses plus 30% if I win.

I mean it sounds like if the suit goes back and forth between me and the dentists attorney I will end up with alot of expenses at the end.

Thank you.

A

[Carlu]

I am not looking for a lawyer right now, I am looking whether to contact the state dental association or the chain that my previous dentist works for, where he is a member, to see whether there is any way that he will cover the costs to fix the problems he created in my mouth, but I am not really looking after a lawsuit.

Anyway, I suggest you research "victim of dental malpractice"; good luck!

[zahnschmerzen]

Dear Antoni,

Sorry to hear that your struggle is continuing. Are you thinking of suing the guy who did the AA, or the prostho who did the onlays?
On my side, things are not improving either: I have started peer review, and it's not going well - the mediator is rude and only calls weeks after he promises (the first time he said he was going to call in 2 days - I did not hear from him for 4 wekks; then he was going to call in a week, but I haven't heard from him in almost 3 weeks). Hmm...That doesn't quite increase my confidence in "peer" review.
I have thought about a small claims court lawsuit as well, but haven't actually talked to any lawyer. If you lose, do you still have to pay the lawyer you talked to? I think you would have to pay the DDS' lawyer. Would you also have to pay the DDS for the time lost from work?
Also, what about an expert witness? Were you able to find anyone willing to testify against another DDS?
Is your dentist aware of how dissatisfied you are? Has he suggested doing anything to help you out? What have you done about your bite? Not that the options are that great.
Sometimes, I am thinking that it may be best to pay to have the work redone to move on, but I am reluctant to let my prostho think he "won".

[zahnschmerzen]

Upps Antoni, I forgot to ask: If you win, won't the dentist actually have to pay for your lawyer's expenses (albeit not the 30%)? I mean, you usually sue for damages plus costs, right?

[antoni]

Hi Zach,

There's so much to this -- no wonder noone does it. FIrstly, I finally got the lowdown on my condition. I went to the TMJD clinic in Buffalo and had the whole shot of testing done on my jaw. The jaw is fine. The TMJD specialist identified the problem very easily-- the bite off from the AA and the onlays. I had models and guess what the prostho did --"opened" the bite instead of reshaping the teeth so they "fit" together properly, he just added another layer of material to the back molars, then the front ones shift to match the back and you get an "open bite" where hardly anything touches anymore. Very scary... SO the good news is I don't have TMJD(no more posting on that board). It was just temporary pain right after the bad dental on the molars. But the two new prosthos I saw said not much can be done at this point -- maybe braces to straighten the front teeth, then redoing the onlays but still it won't work.... Like they said "I was not Broke" and was made "broken" by unnecessary dental. I would want to sue on principal because they all know the Air Abrasion is a scam.

How are your gold onlays by the way and your bite...????

The lawyer I met with yesterday stated "peer" review doesn't do much good because guess what---- They take the side of the dentist and you end up with just getting maybe reimbursed for what you paid. Here in New York city, where people pay like $50,000 for dental -- lawsuits are brought but again very hard to prove. Once you start a lawsuit(in my case it would be with the AA dentist and the prostho together so they could go after each other) the dentist's insurance company appoints an insurance company lawyer to oppose the claim(you as the patient are essentially filing a claim againts the dentist and his insurance company). My lawyer said it goes back and forth until a deposition date is set with the court and you meet with the dentists' lawyer to tell your story. There's alot of back and forth and the patient trys to push for a jury trial and the defendant trys to postpone until someone crys uncle to settle or drop it. The dentist's DO NOT Want it to go to a jury trial for the expense and the lost work.

My lawyer never heard of Air Abrasion -- he has an "expert" prosthodontist who would give his expert opinion that I would pay for -- $2,000.00 plus another $1,000.00 to get my dental records from all dentists(and I saw alot) plus filing the lawsuit in court -- like $600.00. This I would pay at the end after the case is settled. BUt you get examined by the expert and the dental experts that the dentist's lawyers assign. Also, what I don't like is that the lawyer will BILL me his expenses at THE END. I have to ask him if he would send me some type of quarterly statement on what the expenses would be. I don't know -- this sounds Very Risky because if I am in the dark till the end the lose and get hit with a huge bill(like you said imagine being hit with the dentist's lawyers fees). Also, let's face it these insurance company lawyers that the dentists have are probably top notch. They have been getting out of these cases for years. My lawyer said, dentists also conveniently claim that they give patients their X-rays so as to mnot show proof with the X-rays -- they get out of things this way too. SO He said to expect alot of lying to go on..

SO I don't know at this point, if it's worth the aggravation of pursuing. I want to do it based on principle but let's face it the reality is these big bucks insurance companies having the upper hand, that's why I think noone sues and people are just stuck witht the bad treatment they receive.

BUt I'll keep you posted. Also what is happening with your bite -- can the gold be replaced or are you just trying to get money back at this point???
From what I know about these crowns/onlays they can only get it precise around 1 millimeter. If it's a good dentist that does it, the fit will be right on. But if you get someone who is bad forget it, it won't fit then it's not worth trying to get it properly fitted again because it could be off by another millimeter and the bite just gets more screwed up.

Let me know how things go with you
A