Inside a dental scam

Roberta Baskin of WJLA-TV and her team exposed a chain of dental clinics that put small children under unnecessary and painful treatments in a scheme to profit from Medicaid.
For their investigative series, “Drilling for Dollars: Children’s Dentistry Investigation,” the team recently won a 2009 duPont-Columbia Award.
From Columbia’s announcement:

“In this exemplary investigative series, Baskin and her team gained extraordinary access to a corrupt chain of dental clinics that targeted small children on Medicaid. Without hidden cameras, Baskin methodically shows how children were physically harmed by the extreme practices of the clinic. They tracked down former employees to report on the bonus system that rewarded employees for doing the most dental work, even if it was unnecessary. Baskin followed up on the report to show similar problems at Small Smiles clinics across the country. The reports sparked a criminal investigation and a federal investigation. As a result of Baskin’s tenacity, six different insurance companies suspended their contracts with Small Smiles clinics in Maryland.”

For more click here.