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Tooth Works excluded from malpractice suit
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Posted on Mar 11 2005
Tooth Works has been removed as a defendant in a dental malpractice suit filed by a patient.
Loren A. Sutton, attorney for plaintiff John Schmanski, said he has filed an amended complaint taking the dental clinic out of the complaint, in consideration of its new ownership and management.
“It turns out that Tooth Works is under new management, having been purchased in December 2004,” Sutton said in a letter to Saipan Tribune yesterday. “The new owner/dentist is Dr. Alan S. Markoff, a licensed dentist who has practiced his profession for more than 30 years.”
According to Sutton, Markoff has an agreement with the former owner that contains a clause relieving him and Tooth Works from any liability accrued before the purchase.
He added, however, that former clinic owner Todd Johnson and former Tooth Works dentist John Ronan, remain defendants in the suit.
Sutton also stressed that the allegations in the complaint have to do with events that occurred before Markoff purchased Tooth Works.
Acting on behalf of Schmanski, Sutton filed on Wednesday a dental malpractice suit over a 2003 incident where Ronan allegedly did a root canal on the wrong tooth and dropped an instrument down the patient’s throat.
In the complaint, Sutton had included Tooth Works, Johnson, and Ronan as the defendants, asking the court to order them to compensate Schmanski for damages he had suffered from the alleged malpractice.
Sutton listed the damages Schmanski has suffered or will suffer as: physical pain and mental anguish, loss of earning capacity, physical impairment, dental expenses, medical expenses, and a loss of enjoyment of life.
“[Schmanski] is entitled to damages against the defendants jointly and severally in an amount adequate to compensate them for all damages of any kind, plus all costs, expenses, attorney’s fees, and interest from the date of filing of the complaint,” Sutton added.
