The U.S. Justice Department announced a settlement Wednesday in a Medicaid fraud case involving a dental company founded in Colorado.
“We have zero tolerance for those who break the law by exploiting needy children,” U.S. Assistant Attorney General Tony West said at a news conference.
FORBA Holdings LLC, which operates Small Smiles dental clinics, will pay the Justice Department $24 million to settle civil claims that unnecessary procedures were performed on children at the clinics across the country.
Colorado will get more than $1.2 million from the settlement, state Attorney General John Suthers said.
The clinics were once co-owned by Michael and Edward DeRose of Pueblo, but the father and son sold their stakes in the clinics three years ago. Six years ago, 9News disclosed that the clinics strapped children to “papoose boards” during dental procedures, not allowing them to get up even if they vomited or wet themselves.
Neither FORBA nor the DeRoses responded to requests for comment.
The papoose-board technique was taught to dentists training at Small Smiles clinics in Colorado before they went elsewhere across the country.
