TEXAS, USA — Since 6 News aired the story about Temple woman Monica Conway and her sour experience with Aspen Dental in Temple, Conway told 6 News she received a full refund and was directed to another Aspen Dental office to have her dentures installed properly.
Conway was allegedly left with unfinished treatment and over $3,000 of debt after she says her treatment with Aspen Dental was terminated for an unknown reason.
Conway had been going through a back and forth with the company for years, but less than 24 hours after our story aired in February, Conway received an unexpected call from the dental office. They told her she would get her money back and be sent to the Aspen Dental in Cedar Park to fix her dentures.
"I was not expecting a call that fast," Conway explained. "While it was frustrating, I'm happy it happened the way it did because I'm not sure if things would have been resolved."
Aspen Dental made Conway sign a nondisclosure agreement preventing her from speaking negatively about them.
However, when looking over court records, 6 News found a list of lawsuits against the company that were all settled out of court.
A lawsuit filed in May of 2022 by the family of a woman named Sandra Heath, who reportedly died while under anesthesia for a tooth extraction at a Cedar Park Aspen Dental office, was settled in January of 2023.
According to court documents, within five minutes after the intravenous anesthesia began, monitoring devices being used showed that Heath was not getting adequate oxygen. As a result of such failure, Heath went without oxygen while under said anesthesia for such a long period of time that she went into cardiac arrest and ultimately died as a result of prolonged oxygen deprivation.
In July of 2023, another lawsuit was settled for a McLennan County man who suffered permanent nerve damage while getting implants in his upper and lower jaw at an Aspen Dental in Bexar County.
Also in 2023, the Massachusetts Attorney General's office reached a $3.5 million settlement with Aspen Dental over claims of deceptive advertising.
The AG’s lawsuit alleged that Aspen Dental engaged in a multi-faceted scheme to deceive consumers into purchasing dental services and products at the more than 25 Aspen Dental-branded dental offices in Massachusetts. According to the lawsuit, Aspen Dental also sent consumers to collections over bills for services it had advertised as “free.”
There is also a Facebook page named 'Stop Aspen Dental' that has over 18,000 members who claim they've been overcharged, received bad care or were removed as patients for an unknown reason. Some are joining together to file a lawsuit against the company.
6 News has reached out to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office about claims made by Texans regarding Aspen Dental.
We are waiting to receive a response back.
If you feel like you're a victim of patient abandonment, the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners recommends you reach out to them.
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