Allcare Dental & Dentures president Robert Bates, DDS, has agreed to surrender his Indiana dental license after abruptly closing six offices in 2011, leaving hundreds of patients stranded.
The Indiana State Board of Dentistry accepted the agreement reached between Dr. Bates and the state Attorney General (AG) Greg Zoeller; the agreement also removes his ability to reapply for a license, according to a statement issued August 2 by the AG's office.
Last year, the AG's office filed an administrative complaint against Dr. Bates for closing his businesses and abandoning hundreds of patients.
In July, the AG received a consent judgment against Dr. Bates and Allcare that called for more than $1.3 million in restitution to be paid to 443 consumers who filed complaints.
In December 2010, Dr. Bates gave a two-day notice to his employees that offices would close for two weeks beginning December 18, 2010, the AG said. Days before the offices were set to reopen, Dr. Bates notified his workers that the offices would be permanently closed.
Allcare Dental & Dentures, a former national chain, closed its offices in Avon, Evansville, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Mishawaka, and Muncie.
Dr. Bates' violations included failure to reimburse patients who paid upfront for services that were not completed, not completing dental procedures in progress, and failure to provide dentures that were already fabricated, according to the AG's complaint.
Zoeller said that although Allcare's prior bankruptcy petition was granted, he will use a consumer fund to pay a portion of the restitution still owed to consumers.
Consumers included in the consent judgment are eligible to receive reimbursement and should have received a copy of the claim form. The AG's office will begin paying a portion of the restitution to consumers once the August 26 claim form deadline has passed. The amounts to be paid to eligible consumers will be determined upon receipt of all claim forms.
Dr. Bates has also faced licensing actions for similar violations in Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia.
In May 2012, Dr. Bates surrendered his New Hampshire dental license to resolve allegations of professional misconduct by the state dental board.
