California court revives fraud claim against dentist

A California court has revived a fraud claim against an Anaheim dentist who advertised herself as a USC Clinical Associate Professor five years after she left an unpaid, part-time teaching position with the school, according to a news story in the Metropolitan News-Enterprise.

This ruling reversed an earlier decision by Orange Superior Court Judge James P. Gray, who had granted a nonsuit, which is considered a dismissal, in favor of the dentist.

According to court documents, Karen Kinses consulted Mitra Bolbolan MacMillan, D.D.S., in 2005 when she was searching for a new dentist. The front window of Dr. MacMillan's office listed her name and specialty, along with "USC Clinical Associate Professor."

Dr.MacMillan diagnosed Kinses with periodontal disease and proposed removing 28 teeth and installing dentures.

"Kinses did not seek a second opinion, believing from the window legend that MacMillan was a professor at the USC School of Dentistry," according to court documents. "She thought the affiliation meant MacMillan was teaching at the school, which showed she was reputable and knowledgeable in the most current procedures and techniques."

But Dr. MacMillan was not teaching at the school at that point, having been a part-time, unpaid clinical associate professor from 1998 to 2000, the documents note.

Kinses was unhappy with the dental services provided by Dr. MacMillan. After the dentures were fitted, she found them painful and returned numerous times for adjustments over a period of eight months. In the court documents, Kinses accuses Dr. MacMillan of becoming increasingly hostile and abusive over time. The dental malpractice suit accuses Dr. MacMillan of fraud and emotional distress.

When Judge Gray originally granted the nonsuit, he noted that there was no evidence that Dr. MacMillan’s representation of an affiliation with USC was false, according to the Metropolitan News-Enterprise story.

However, Justice William W. Bedsworth disagreed with the grant of nonsuit and reversed the decision, noting that the matter of Dr. MacMillan's use of the USC affiliation was for a jury to decide.

The justice reasoned that a jury could have found the dentist committed fraud since Dr. MacMillan was not a USC clinical professor at the time Kinses consulted her and had not taught at the school since 2000, according to the news story.

"That was enough evidence for a fact finder to conclude the legend on MacMillan’s office door was false, and MacMillan knew it to be so," Bedsworth wrote in his decision.