Here’s a horror story straight out of your weirdest Mountain Dew-fueled nightmare: An Alaskan dentist recently charged with Medicaid fraud is also accused of pulling out an unconscious patient’s tooth while on a hoverboard. Radical!
Advertisement
On Monday, Seth Lookhart was charged with 17 counts of Medicaid fraud and “unlawful dental acts” after he allegedly billed $1.8 million in IV sedation for procedures that didn’t require it. Investigators say they also found a video on Lookhart’s phone of him extracting a patient’s tooth while riding a self-balancing scooter.
The indictment claims that Lookhart texted the video to his office manager, joking that the procedure represented a “new standard of care.” When interviewed by authorities, the patient reportedly said she did not know about Lookhart’s behavior.
Advertisement
The office manager, Shauna Cranford, is facing her own set of 16 charges, 10 of which are felonies. In another colorful moment from the indictment, Lookhart allegedly allowed his office manager remove two teeth despite the fact that she did not have a medical license. The prosecutors allege that Cranford was the person who first convinced Lookhart to use IV sedation more frequently than it was required.
If Lookhart is convicted, he will face up to 10 years in jail, up to $100,000 in fines, and be ordered to repay Medicaid and affected defendants as much as $2.5 million in fees, according to KTUU.
We’ve reached out to Lookhart’s attorney Michael Moberly for comment, and will update if we hear back.
Sponsored
Leave a Reply
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
