The breadth and depth of ruthlessness and greed apparently knows no bounds with the Louisiana State Board of Dentistry.
And it’s time, past time, that Gov. John Bel Edwards stepped in and brought an end to the destructive force that the board has become.
LouisianaVoice has documented numerous instances of abuses by the board:
And these are just a few of the stories we and others have done about the gestapo-like tactics of this board established to protect consumers but which has become nothing other than a means for raising funds to support the salaries of board executives, staff, attorneys and investigators, not to mention rent in luxurious office spaces.
Because it receives no funding from the state General Fund, the board, like the State Board of Medical Examiners, relies on back-breaking fines that are completely out of proportion to the offenses for which doctors and dentists are fined by a board that acts simultaneously as accuser, investigator, prosecutor and judge.
In short, there can be no semblance of due process with kangaroo courts like these.
There have been efforts in the legislature to rein in the runaway boards, but those efforts have met with little success.
In the case of Dr. Ken Starling of Slidell (see Examples 3 and 18), the arrogance of the board and the ineptness of the Office of Inspector General have to be particularly galling.
Starling did everything the board asked of him, including entering and completing a rehab program at a costly facility in Rayville. But that apparently was not enough, for when Starling petitioned the board, sitting in god-like judgment of him, for reconsideration of adverse sanctions assessed against him, he only met with more maddening bureaucracy compounded by the ineptitude of the Office of Inspector General, which appears to have less justification for existence than just about any other state agency.
The PROCEDURES for reconsideration of an adverse disciplinary decision by the board says nothing at all about referring a dentist’s petition to the Office of Inspector General. Yet, that’s precisely what the board did, punting its responsibilities to another equally-bumbling agency.
LouisianaVoice has tracked some of the performance claims of the OIG and found that its claims of recovery of millions of dollars in restitution from felonious state employees were misleading because they basically piggy-backed federal prosecutors who actually led all the leg work.
As tor the OIG itself, it has provided little evidence of being an effective investigative or enforcement agency. In other words, taxpayer dollars wasted on useless inertia.
At any rate, the dentistry board, relying of all things, on the results of an OIG “investigation,” rejected Starling’s petition. Inspector Clouseau would have been a better choice.
The board, in a classic case of the blind leading the blind, noted that the OIG “reported to the Board that it found no irregularities or improper conduct associated with the investigation in 2009-2010 or the Consent Decree of March 5, 2010.”
Of course not. The OIG could not find its posterior with both hands, so it was a safe call by the dentistry board to refer the matter to OIG. You might say it was a classic Catch-22 that would do Joseph Heller proud while sealing Starling’s fate.
The board didn’t even extend the courtesy of sending a letter to Starling notifying him of its decision, relying instead on an email:
From: Rachel Daniel
Date: May 21, 2019 at 2:25:58 PM CDT
To: Kenneth Starling
Cc: Arthur Hickham <ahickham@lsbd.org>
Subject: Request for Reconsideration of Adverse Sanctions
Dear Dr. Starling:
Your petition for reconsideration of adverse sanctions was addressed by the members of the Disciplinary Oversight Committee and by the full board on March 15, 2019 in accordance with LAC 46:XXXIII.116. While the committee found that your petition should be presented to the full board, the board voted unanimously to refer your case and your concerns to the Office of the State Inspector General of Louisiana (OIG).
After the OIG’s investigation, the OIG reported to the Board that it found no irregularities or improper conduct associated with the investigation in 2009-2010 or the Consent Decree of March 5, 2010. Therefore, your petition of adverse sanctions was addressed again by the members of the Disciplinary Oversight Committee on May 7, 2019 in accordance with LAC 46:XXXIII.116.
Please be advised that the committee found that your request for reconsideration of adverse sanctions on May 7, 2019 lacked substantial merit and was denied. Attached please find board rule .116 which outlines the time delay before which you can seek further relief.
Should you have any questions regarding this correspondence, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Arthur F. Hickham, Jr.
Executive Director
Louisiana State Board of Dentistry
P.O. Box 5256
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70821-5256
225.219.7334 Phone
225.219.0707 Fax
Great Article Tom, The OIG with its limited law enforcement authority provides investigative services already provided by Mr. Purpera at LLA, and State Police. Eleminate the OIG to save tax payers dollars.
That’s funny. The OIG sat in Starling’s living room and had a whole conversation about the investigator illegally accessing the DEA database. There are numerous examples of him doing this to illegally solicit complaints. And the dental board admitted in a meeting (recorded in the minutes) there was merit for reversal.
Thankfully the days of “show me the man, and I can fabricate his crime” are over. But when are these 2 agencies going to start being transparent? Stephen Street is worthless, and it’s time to close his office.
Tom:
You are REALLY going to incur the wrath of the Dentistry Board now!!
Right after the litany of examples you cited, you state that the Board engaged in “gestapo-like tactics.”
All you must do is advance this video to the 48:18 mark, and you’ll see one Dentistry Board Member and the Administrative Law Judge BOTH take Dr. Starling to task for using the word “gestapo.”:
Both you and Dr. Starling have some nerve believing you have the right of free speech when it comes to making criticisms of the esteemed Louisiana State Board of Dentistry!!
Well, Robert, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a 🦆.