Valley Stream Dentist Admits Giving Unnecessary Root Canals To Kids

NEW YORK, NY — A pediatric dental group with offices across New York and New Jersey, including Pediatric Dentistry of Valley Stream, performed unneeded root canals on children.

Pediatric dentist Dr. Barry L. Jacobson and his company HQRC Management Services LLC (HQRC), along with 13 other affiliated pediatric dentistry locations, agreed to pay a $753,457 settlement, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced today.

The dentistry group performed and billed for several medically unnecessary procedures. A whistleblower who exposed the fraud will receive some of the settlement.

This settlement is the result of a joint investigation between the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, 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.

"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."

A pulpotomy is a procedure in which 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 that 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 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.

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.