NYC sues two Brooklyn dental practices over alleged medical debt scheme
“I realize that they are all crooks!” said Lola Parchment, a 77-year-old Brooklyn resident, identified in the lawsuit as an alleged victim.
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The Mamdani administration is suing two Brooklyn dental practices, accusing them of misleading vulnerable patients, pressuring them into unnecessary procedures and leaving them with thousands of dollars in medical debt.
The New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection filed the lawsuit against New York Family Dentistry and Canarsie Family Dentistry. The agency alleges the practices misrepresented pricing and insurance coverage, prevented some patients from using their insurance and enrolled patients in high-interest medical loans without their knowledge or consent.
“I realize that they are all crooks!” said Lola Parchment, a 77-year-old Brooklyn resident, identified in the lawsuit as an alleged victim.
Parchment said she went to Canarsie Family Dentistry for what she believed would be a routine cleaning.
Parchment said staff initially told her that her teeth looked good but later claimed she needed thousands of dollars in dental work, despite her Medicare and Medicaid coverage.
“Poor people like me," Parchment said. "I felt really, really bad because I work hard for my money."
She said a staff member then asked whether someone in her family could help pay for the treatment.
“So, when Kenny asks me if I have anybody who could come up with $5,500, he said, call your granddaughter and I call my granddaughter," she recalled.
Parchment refused the treatment. Months later, she said, a debt collector sued her for more than $5,000.
“Oh, God, I was going crazy," said Parchment. "I said, ‘What is this?’”
Parchment claims she never knowingly agreed to take out a loan and believed the paperwork she signed was only for X-rays and a cleaning.
The lawsuit alleges the two dental practices advertised affordable treatment and insurance acceptance before pressuring patients into more expensive procedures. The city claims some patients were signed up for medical financing products without being told that they were loans carrying potentially high interest rates.
The complaint also describes a woman who sought dentures but was allegedly told that all of her remaining teeth needed to be removed. The city says she was left thousands of dollars in debt and remained unable to eat solid food a year later.
“Her situation is really tragic and it is exactly the kind of conduct that our department, this agency, is here to protect New Yorkers from and hold the bad actors accountable for,” said Melissa Iachai, deputy general counsel for the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.
Staff at Canarsie Family Dentistry said the owner was not at the office when approached for a response.
At New York Family Dentistry, a staff member declined to address the allegations.
Parchment said she wants the practices held accountable.
“I hope they close them down and put them out of business," she said. "The city and the state, whoever is in charge, need to check up on these dentists. They are all thieves."
The city is asking a judge to stop the alleged practices, order restitution for affected patients and impose civil penalties.
People who believe they may have been affected can file a complaint with the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.
