This report originally appeared in the June 2010 issue of DOTmed Business News

Mass. Attorney General Martha Cokely has announced that a former dentist from Fall River has been arraigned in Bristol Superior Court. The dentist, Michael Clair, was arraigned on charges of Medicaid fraud, including allegedly using pieces of paper clips as posts for root canals, instead of standard stainless steel posts.
Clair allegedly billed the Medicaid program for the costs of the posts through use of other dentists' provider numbers, submitted additional false claims to the Medicaid program using other dentists' provider numbers and illegally prescribed prescription drugs.


According to the attorney general's office, the Medicaid fraud division began investigating Clair in 2005. Clair is alleged to have been suspended from the Medicaid program in 2002 and no longer had authority to submit claims to the program. Clair then allegedly hired other dentists for his practice who were eligible to file claims, and used their provider numbers for the services he performed-amounting to approximately $130,000 between 2003 and 2005. In the course of the investigation, it was discovered Clair used pieces of paper clips as posts in the mouths of his patients as a permanent fix and to reduce costs. Long-term use of clips can cause discomfort and lead to infection.

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