$35 Million Awarded to Dental Patients Who Received Unnecessary Dental Treatments
A former dentist was recently prosecuted for administering unnecessary dental treatments to 29 of his patients.
The man in question, Henri Duyzend, performed thousands of needless root canal treatments on over 500 patients over the years, before finally retiring in 2007.
Washington’s Department of Health received 76 complaints regarding his negligence as thousands of patients were receiving several root canals, typically a person should only receive two in their whole lifetime.
Duyzend failed to communicate consent with his patients and fraudulently carried out the dental work. According to the verdict, this is one of the largest cases of dental negligence the state has ever seen.
Laurel Stuart, one of Duyzend’s patients, said he lured her in with his friendliness and always made her feel comfortable as she was one of his first patients since he began practicing in 1977. Laurel is set to receive a lump sum of $98,000 because every time she visited Duyzend he suggested she required root canal treatment and crown work, when her teeth were perfectly healthy.
She then went on to say that she can’t erase the feelings of being betrayed by Duyzend over the years and has to use her money to pay for the other dental bills she received following his botched treatments.
Laurel stresses the importance of seeking second opinions if a patient is ever unsure about any dental work their receiving. She said she wasn’t an expert and trusted her dentist, which landed her with a number of painful dental visits and costly bills.
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