Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor ,
I write to you and the membership in the area of malpractice , something we loathe but unfortunately have to recognize as a real issue . One has to look no further than a recent issue of the Pennsylvania Dental Journal that reports on the demand for all Pennsylvania Dentists to maintain a $ 1-million /$ 3-million-dollar malpractice policy . First to explain what that means , is that the practitioner has financial protection for an individual claim of to one million dollars and up to three claims a year .
Currently Pennsylvania laws on malpractice were revised about 20 years ago and were focused more on our physician colleagues , rather than on dentistry . What happened at that time was establishing the definition of who can participate as an expert witness . The law defines an expert in a malpractice case for the plaintiff , as an individual who is board certified in the same medical specialty as the defendant . The definition provided in the law made no mention of dental specialty . Having reviewed this bill when it was in committee , I contacted the PDA and requested that we petition to have the bill amended to include dental specialties as well ; I was told at that time , that it was understood to include Dental Specialties . Unfortunately , having been a defense expert since 1983 , I have been witness to misdirected testimony in numerous cases , that allowed nonspecialist dentists to testify in dental malpractice cases .
The problems I have encountered are mostly those of false and misleading testimony , by the plaintiff experts , allowing cases moving forward to court . Why is this important ? It ’ s important because it effects all dental practitioners ; approximately 10 % of dentists in Pennsylvania are members of bono fide specialties . Those dental specialties are the ones recognized by the ADA , AMA , and the American Hospital Association ; in addition , in general dentistry we have the Academy of General Dentistry , which has a certification process as well . In addition , if cases are allowed to proceed to court because of testimony , the costs of defense go up , and as a result so do premiums .
In light of the current demand for mandatory malpractice insurance for all Pennsylvania dentists , legal guidelines for expert witnesses in dental malpractice cases needs to be updated , to include that those providing testimony be board certified in their respective recognized specialty , or in the case of general practitioners , those individuals must be recognized as well ; either at the AGD Mastership or Fellowship level .
The court room or a state board hearing is never a place you would like to find yourself , but if the worst comes to the worst , you want the playing field to be as level as possible . Being a defendant in a case where one is accused of maiming another human being is never pleasant , and when placed in that situation and the facts are otherwise , you do not want to leave a pathway for the plaintiff to receive economic benefit for a misdeed that is not based on truth .
Sincerely , Kenneth G . Miller DDS
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SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023 | PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL JOURNAL 7