Real Dental Malpractice Claim
Mistakes and mishaps happen in every profession. But what happens when you’re a dental professional and make a mistake that causes pain, worry, or suffering to a patient?
And when you call your dental malpractice insurance in a panic, who answers, and how do they treat you? Jessica McCarthy, Complex Claims Director for Berxi, which is part of Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI), shares the real story of a Berxi dental customer who made a terrible mistake: he pulled the wrong tooth from an eight-year old patient. Find out how she helped the dentist do the right thing, for both his patient and his livelihood.
In her role, Jessica supports Berxi policyholders with claims related to complaints and board actions. So when a dental malpractice customer contacted Berxi’s Claims Hotline about an error made, Jessica was assigned to the case.
From their first conversation, Jessica recalls the dentist saying “I messed up bad” with a young patient and that he needed help.
The patient was an eight-year-old who needed to have a tooth pulled to accommodate braces. Under normal circumstances, the dentist would have had up-to-date, accurate scans of the patient’s teeth, but due to cost restrictions from the patient’s insurance, he decided to do the procedure without new x-rays. And because the young patient was “incredibly upset and anxious” during treatment, the dentist reported that he felt rushed to do the procedure.
“The dentist pulled the wrong tooth — an adult tooth,” shares Jessica. “And he knew it as soon as he did it.”
The patient’s parent, a dental hygienist, knew as well.
Worried about the impact of his mistake, the dentist did the only thing he could do: told the parent he would “make it right” and then turned to Berxi, his dental malpractice insurance provider, for help.
How can you prepare for a liability claim? File the most thorough incident report. Learn what to include so your defense team has what it needs.
get an outlineSee how the malpractice insurance team helped care for the patient and protect the dentist during a dental emergency.
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see the data“From a liability perspective, the situation was very clear-cut,” Jessica shares. “The dentist took full responsibility for the mistake.”
In settling the malpractice complaint, Jessica’s challenge was to determine the monetary amount of the claim and to handle it as expeditiously as possible for the patient, the patient’s family, and the dentist.
She had to:
The dentist explained that the extracted tooth was a back molar, which would make it uncomfortable for the patient to eat. He also provided Jessica with supporting documentation and the contact information for the patient’s parent.
It’s not uncommon for patients and family members to be upset and angry when they’ve been impacted by a medical mistake. However, Jessica was pleasantly surprised when she spoke with the child’s mother shortly after the claim was filed. “She was extremely kind and helpful and knew a lot about teeth extraction given her experience working in the dental field,” Jessica recounts.
The mother was also very prepared and put together a treatment plan with input from an orthodontist, a periodontist, and another general dentist, all of whom would be needed to remedy the situation for her child.
“It was very complicated and expensive and involved multiple dental appointments and procedures in the short and long term,” she adds.
According to the plan:
Beyond these procedures, the mother considered the time she would need to take off from work to bring the child to the appointments. To calculate these costs, Jessica had to determine the mother’s hourly salary.
The mother proposed a settlement, which included money for the treatment and lost wages, and another amount for the patient’s suffering.
“In my experience, this was a reasonable request considering the multiple treatments involved and the discomfort the child would have eating,” Jessica shares.
Jessica presented the settlement offer to the dentist for his consent along with her recommendation to issue a counteroffer. The dentist, who agreed with the treatment plan, countered, and the case was settled shortly after.
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see full listLess than two months after learning about the claim, Jessica cut a check to the mother, closing the claim. “The mother was so relieved to have the ordeal over,” remembers Jessica.
And the dentist was happy that the case was closed without his having to undergo a malpractice suit or board action.
The story is living proof that mistakes can and do happen. It also emphasizes the importance of having a dental malpractice insurance provider who will have your back, be compassionate, and work to get a complaint or claim filed against you resolved as quickly and fairly as possible.
That’s one of the differences of working with Berxi.
“We don’t just say claims is our product; we mean it,” shares Jessica. “With every claim, we strive to reach an amicable resolution for our clients as quickly as possible without sacrificing our investigations.”
Learn more about the confidence that comes with having dental malpractice insurance and discover the difference of working with Berxi by starting a quote today.
When you have a question or a problem, you want help from actual experts. At Berxi, our product specialist team has a 4.87 star customer satisfaction rating for answering questions and binding policies in a matter of minutes. And our claims team works within the mantra of “Claims is our product,” meaning reliable, empathetic, and helpful customer service is a part of Berxi’s core values. We are committed to returning claims calls within 48 business hours and answering policy questions from 8 am to 8 pm Monday to Friday. The Berxi team has real people who pride themselves on being there when you need them.
If you’re buying anything as important as insurance, you may be wary of a start-up that could lose funding and leave you high and dry when you ultimately have a claim to pay. Or you might confuse a brand you’ve heard of with strength and quality rather than research them for yourself.
The financial rating of an insurance company predicts the company’s ability to pay claims promptly and honor debts and other financial obligations on time.
How does Berxi hold up? As part of Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company (BHSIC), which has a financial strength rating of A++ (Superior), Berxi has the ability to back your claims with the resources and expertise to protect you and your dental practice for the long term. This means, you can trust we’re here now and far into the future.
Dentists don’t want one-size-fits-all insurance that applies generic healthcare malpractice stipulations to dental claims.
To assess how well an insurer understands how to fight your dental malpractice claims, you can ask questions like these:
Berxi regularly seeks advice from dental professionals on how to create malpractice insurance just for dentists. Our consultants and teammates specialize in the dental space, regularly sharing the needs of dental professionals, so we can shape our policies to serve you. And as part of Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company (BHSIC), we have a long history of working on malpractice claims and fighting for customers. We settle claims only with your consent, keeping you in the loop while the claim is being fought on your behalf.
