Can You Trust Your Narcotic-Prescribing Dentist?

It is shocking to consider that nearly day after day we hear about another dentist with professional integrity issues. Today it’s a Hudson dentist has been banned from prescribing controlled substances, such as painkillers, the New Hampshire attorney general’s office announced.

The order, prohibiting Dr. Robert T. Christ from prescribing controlled substances, was imposed Friday by the state Board of Dental Examiners.The board’s action was in response to information that the doctor “had been prescribing controlled substances to some individuals without a medical basis to do so and that the frequency, quantity and dosage prescribed for some patients was excessive for what had been documented,” the attorney general announced.

The board issued an order of emergency suspension of prescribing privileges and scheduled a hearing for 5:30 p.m. April 8 to determine “whether Dr. Christ engaged in professional misconduct, which warrants the continuation of the suspension of his privilege to prescribe controlled substances, the imposition of permanent disciplinary sanctions, or both.”

His office was investigated after a tip from a local pharmacist. That tip led to the arrest of an employee in the dentist’s office for 25 counts of drug diversion.However, the arrest led the board to launch an “unannounced inspection” of the dental office, according to the order.During that investigation, he “acknowledged that he had patients who were drug seekers,” according to the order.

The dentist “acknowledged that one of the drug-seeking patients showed up at his office and ‘made a scene,’ stating she would not leave until she was prescribed ‘pain killers,’ ” according to the order.Rather than call police, he “prescribed her narcotics,” the order stated.

An office manager had formerly used a yellow highlighter to mark occasions when she had suspicions about “a patient’s actual need for the narcotic prescribed,” according to the order.Some of the highlighting dated back to 2009, the order stated.“It does not appear that the concerns raised by the highlighting resulted in a change in the dentist’s prescribing practices,” the order stated.

Investigators seized records of some of his recent patients.“These records indicate that the frequency, quantity and dosage of the controlled substances prescribed are excessive for the pain and treatments documented,” the order stated.

Finding a dentist that you can trust isn’t an easy thing to do. One that prescribes narcotics just because the client demands it probably isn’t going to be your first choice as a dentist. Online sites like topdentistsonline.com can helpyou find the right dentist for you and your family.