Open letter to Dr. Shankland’s patients:
From Dr. Wesley Shankland:
....................
In an effort to provide you a history of this situation, I am sharing
this timeline of events leading to my required sabbatical. I believe
this information will expand your insight into what has truly transpired
over the years. Hopefully you will agree the accusations against me are
driven by an outside entity.
I have been treating patients with various forms of ischemic bone
disease (e.g., osteomyelitis, osteonecrosis) since 1986. In 1998, I met
Mr. Bob Jones of Aurora, Colorado. Mr. Jones, a former captain for
American Airlines and an engineer had recently recovered from the
devastating effects of jaw bone lesions which had painfully consumed
years of his life. As a result of his own debilitating experience, and
his passion to bring hope and help to others, he and his son (an
acoustic engineer) invented an ultrasonic device called the Cavitat.
This non-invasive imaging device was designed to effectively locate bony
lesions (termed cavitations) in human jaws. The development of the
Cavitat greatly improved our ability to diagnose and effectively treat
these painful problems. I began using the Cavitat in the late 1990s.
In addition to using this wonderful ultrasonic device, I also conducted
research, which was used in a study designed to demonstrate to the FDA
that this device should be approved for use by dentists to aid in
diagnosing jaw bone cavitations. I also lectured and testified to an FDA
scientific panel, which was comprised of PhDs, MDs and two DDSs.
Although the FDA approved the sale and use of the Cavitat, Aetna
Insurance Company contacted other insurance companies and reported that
jaw bone cavitations did not exist. Aetna Insurance Company also
informed others that the Cavitat was inaccurate and those who used this
device were “quacks.†Such negative and inaccurate publicity
literally ruined Cavitat’s sales. With no other recourse, Cavitat
Medical Technologies made a decision to file a federal law suit, in
Denver, against Aetna Insurance Company. I was asked to testify in
federal court on behalf of Cavitat Medical Technologies, which I agreed
to do.
Almost immediately Aetna Insurance Company filed a federal law suit
against me in an effort to intimidate me not to testify on behalf of
Cavitat Medical Technologies. The lawsuit was dismissed by a federal
judge as having no merit. This lawsuit certainly had no merit, but I did
incur sizable legal expenses to defend myself.
On the advice of my attorney, I declined to testify personally in the
Cavitat case, but I did write an extensive scientific report concerning
cavitations and the accuracy of the Cavitat device in diagnosing jaw
bone lesions. This report was critical in the outcome of Cavitat lawsuit
against Aetna Insurance Company. Ultimately, Aetna Insurance Company
LOST the lawsuit!
Following the loss, one of Aetna Insurance Company’s attorneys bragged
in a federal courtroom that they would “get those guys,me being one of
the two people targeted by Aetna. Thus the intimidation attempt has
continued.
At this time, to the best of our knowledge, Aetna Insurance Company has
yet to pay the “undisclosed amount”(speculated to be around $100
million) of this settlement, even though ordered to do so by a federal
judge.
A belief held by some individuals close to this case would suggest that
it is the intention of Aetna Insurance Company to discredit key
witnesses who were involved or presented reports used as evidence in the
litigation between Aetna and Cavitat Medical Technologies. Based on the
fact that the scientific information I provided was critical to the
outcome of the case, it is believed that Aetna Insurance Company is
making diligent attempts to discredit me in the eyes of the federal
court, my colleagues, patients and friends. Remember, to our knowledge,
Aetna Insurance Company has not yet paid their large settlement.
Wouldn’t it look good for them to file for an appeal, then try to
persuade the court that a doctor whose report was used by the court to
base their earlier judgment, is now not fit to hold a license to
practice dentistry?
Interesting tactic! And, a lot less costly for them than paying the huge
“undisclosed” settlement, as ordered by the court. This is the type of
ongoing legal battle I would be faced with had I tried to continue my
own defense.
Another point of interest is that prior to the federal lawsuit, I was
singled-out and investigated on multiple occasions by the investigative
branch of the Ohio State Dental Board (OSDB). Leading the investigative
assault against me were the following two women, Dr. Eleanor Awadalla,
of Toledo, OH Former secretary of the OSDB, and Rebecca Hockenberry,
Assistant Administrator of the OSDB, neither of whom ever asked to speak
to me personally. It is my understanding that Dr. Eleanor Awadalla was
also a paid consultant of Aetna Insurance Company during the time of her
investigation against me. This should have been considered a direct
conflict of interest!
In August, 2006, after a lengthy investigation, and scouring through 76
patient records, an individual from the OSDB contacted Eve Mueller, a
reporter at WBNS-TV in Columbus. Ms. Mueller showed up at my office on
Friday afternoon, demanding an interview with me about charges I have
never even seen! I spoke with her by phone and that evening, Channel 10
ran two inflammatory stories about me, which were anything but objective
or truthful. In violation of the law, this award-winning reporter was
given a list of charges filed against me by the OSDB five (5) days
before I received them! As a seasoned reporter, Ms. Mueller should have
recognized that being the first to report such “breaking news” was
actually breaking the law! It was unethical of this reporter and WBNS-TV
to report on insider information received prior to my knowledge of
charges made against me.
During the past several months, my legal defense team has made attempts
to negotiate with Jon Fulkerson, the state-appointed prosecuting
attorney, Dr. Awadalla, and the current OSDB secretary, Dr. Ed Hills of
Cleveland, to no avail. The full OSDB, consisting of my peers and dental
hygienists has never been involved in the decision making process
regarding my suspension, but rather only a three member investigative
team has been responsible for making critical decisions regarding the
suspension of my license and future of my practice of nearly 29 years!
These events bring us to today. In February of this year, under the
advice of my legal counsel, much prayer and discussion with family
members and close friends, I acquiesced and signed the Consent
Agreement. As you can imagine, this was an extremely difficult decision,
but necessary to move forward and continue my life’s passion – those
suffering from TMJ disorders and craniofacial pain.
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
The allegations against me were gleaned from a five-year review of many,
many records and not the result of any patient complaints.
Unfortunately, the individual who chose to publicly accept the spotlight
in an effort to defame me was untruthful with her statements. In
reality, several patients actually involved in the allegations were
willing and eager to testify on my behalf; however the investigative
team of the OSDB (consisting only of three individuals) was not willing
to hear or interested in their testimony.
Since the beginning of the media coverage, our office has been inundated
with phone calls and emails from faithful friends, colleagues and
patients asking how they can help. Simply stated, I respect our
patients’ privacy and I have chosen not to compromise the
confidentiality of any of our patients by making individual records or
cases a matter of public information.
However, if you would like to write letters to our Governor and the Ohio
Inspector General to share the experience you have had with me
personally, professionally or as your dental or pain management
resource, I would be very grateful and would appreciate your help.
Write letters of support for me and asking for an investigation of the
Administrative Branch of the OSDB because of suspected conflicts of
interest, corruption, and unreasonable penaltie
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