Re: Senator asks for stop to Govt control of amalgam studies

From: Clinton C Zimmerman (clintonz_at_prodigy.net)
Date: 12/01/04 

Date: 1 Dec 2004 00:26:38 -0800

Steven Bornfeld <dentaltwinnospam@earthlink.net> wrote in message news:<41AD3585.6000300@earthlink.net>...
> Clinton C Zimmerman wrote:
> >
> >
> .
> >
> > By the way I believe this dentist may have also infected his partner
> > John W (or see the obit I posted)sometime in the 80's or early 90's.
> >
> > http://www.aegis.com/news/sc/1997/SC970303.html
> >
> > Would I really want to fight this guy for what remains of his estate?
>
> I have missed previous references to your dentist.
>

My mistake though Joel seemed to have caught it. :)

http://www.camprehoboth.com/issue05_16_03/we_remember.htm

If you read this ,note the name John Westaway which is the
same person in this link:

http://www.aegis.com/news/sc/1997/SC970303.html

Remeber that my dentist- Bob Marko left practice in 1992/1993
after being locked out by his associate and you begin to get
a good understanding of what may have been happening behind the
scenes in the practice and the probable timeline of the illness,
because he fought a "long battle" and his partner was seriously
ill in 1997 (the date of the San Fransisco chronicle story in the
link).

        This is clearly a complicated case, and brings up issues other than
> your alleged poisoning by amalgam at your dentist's hands.
> There is no question that if he was impaired by reason of health or
> otherwise, he had an ethical and legal duty to discontinue his practice.

Interestingly after researching the symptoms of Aids because of this I
learned
that often the very earliest symptoms which may come years before
diagnosis
or other physical symptoms is a kind of mental confusion, caused by a
kind
of fungal brain infection. This may explain why his associate had to
lock
him out. It may also bear on the quality of the work, particualry the
managment of the amalgamator, any defective capsules and the
condensation
of the amalgam itself, especially if he was in a rushed environment.
Also he may have been fearful of contact with patients and taken short
cuts, which had similar effects. In fact I remember a neighbor coming
over to our house in the 80's and asking my Mom if our dentist used
gloves
becasue of the Aids scare. I specifically remeber her saying he didn't
but
she wasn't concernd.

> Interestingly, since (and I had not read this from you before) he
> apparently was infected with HIV, there is an interesting bit of legal
> precedent--one which imposes a double standard upon the profession. In
> many states (New York is one, but probably California is as well) we are
> not permitted to deny normal dental care to any patient based solely on
> HIV status. In fact, I think it is very risky to even ask a patient
> their HIV status. This is not necessarily a bad thing; many (perhaps
> most) HIV positive patients do not know, and many will lie on medical
> history forms, fearing discrimination. However, the legal opinions I
> have read suggest that an HIV-positive healthcare worker must
> immediately disclose his/her HIV status to employers and patients, and
> discontinue any direct patient contact.

Of course if the patient discovers this fact years later statute of
limitations
may kick in, even if this caused a significant deviation in the
standard of
care.

 (This seems patently unfair to
> me. If universal precautions protect the healthcare worker from
> infection from an HIV-positive patient, it should protect patients as
> well--more, in fact, since a patient is obviously less likely to be
> exposed to a healthcare worker's bodily fluids than the reverse).

I agree that it is unfair to dentists. It's a two way street.
 
> understanding of the law is correct, your dentist would have borne
> liability for just being HIV-positive and not disclosing to his patients
> nor limiting his practice to avoid patient contact.

How about the practice owner who allowed his partner to practice
without
inquring about health status? Amazingly he wasn't aware that Bob M had
been HIV positive and was dead until I told him last year. He then
told
me that he was "sure all proper precautions had been taken" even
though
I know he didn't use gloves for years and he said he had no interest
in contacting the family for condolensces since they had left on "bad
terms". I was able to find all this information out myself through the
internet and a $50 people search.

> But there is no
> question that if his illness compromised his ability to function that he
> was negligent.

Exactly. In fact the dentist who his part of the practice was sold
to, kept all the records (though mine and others were missing) and
luckily is a packrat. It would be very interesting to go through those
records
with a fine tooth comb. I don't have the energy too, because I
developed
jaw osteomyletis too above teeth he had worked on, I believe as a
result
of damage to the bone over a long time because of leaky amalgam,
failure
to clean out decay or maybe even a fungus which may have been
spread through the lines if he was treating HiV positive friends in
the
office and not using good hygenie. I may file a preemptive suit
against
his former partner to stop the statute of limitations, then wait a
year or two
to deal with my own health before investigating more fully.
>
> >
> >
> >
> >>
> >
> >
> > Yup, and as I mentioned above, the dentist is actually the
> > manufacturer
> > of the amalgam, after all it wasn't mixed before they received it.
>
> Thats like calling me the manufacturer of my car's coolant because I
> mix it. I have never heard that interpretation, nor anything like that,
> in any legal context.
> However, if you could demonstrate something negligent about the
> dentist's mixture or placement of amalgam, then there is potential
> liability.

The point of that would be that the statute of limitations for
malpractice
passes within 3-5 years, but by treating the dentist as the
manufacturer
of the product (my idea) then the allows for the statute to be frozen
for toxic exposure until the victim becomes aware of it. I'd have to
run all this by a lawyer experienced in this area.

>
>

>
>
> >
> > By the way i have never in my life filed a lawsuit.
>
> You never gave me the impression that was your intent.
>
> Steve

Thanks for your comments. I think that practically speaking it
would be extremely difficult to prove damages but I'll probably
pursue the matter somewhat just to legally force his associate
to give me a clear picture of what was going on in the practice
and maybe collect some statements of former emloyees. It's
also a question of accountability. I have a feeling there is
a lot to the story that I still don't know.

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