March 31--Hundreds of former patients of oral surgeon Dr. W. Scott Harrington lined up
in occasional rain outside the North Regional Health and Wellness Center on
Saturday morning to get tested for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
Health officials said Thursday that Harrington, who has been practicing
for 36 years, may have exposed as many as 7,000 patients since 2007, the
earliest that patient records could be found.
Health officials reported 420 people were tested Saturday.
The possible exposure has generated news headlines around the world.
Orville Marshall showed up Saturday to get tested at 9 a.m., an hour before
the clinic started.
He had his wisdom teeth taken out at Harrington's office about five years
ago.
He said the assistants did most everything, and he didn't see the doctor
until a brief visit after the procedure.
Marshall said he felt anxious when he first heard the news but is trying
to be rational.
"I'm trying to stay on top of letting fear take me someplace it
shouldn't," he said.
Willeta Burks called the hotline Saturday morning because her daughter
had her wisdom teeth taken out at Harrington's office more than 10 years ago.
She was advised to take her daughter for testing, she said.
"Of course you're angry when health professionals aren't doing what
they're supposed to do," she said. "It's not like we (the patients) inspect
them."
Patients since 2007 have been advised to get tested at the center, 5635
N. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., and patients before then are instructed to
call a hotline set up by the Tulsa Health Department at 918-595-4500.
The hotline received more than a thousand calls Friday and more than 400
on Thursday, a health department spokeswoman said.
Harrington is accused of using unsanitary equipment, keeping drugs past
their expiration dates and allowing dental assistants to perform IV sedation,
which could be a felony charge if authorities pursue it.
The dental assistants also face possible charges. They are not allowed to
use a needle or syringe on a patient for any reason, said Susan Rogers,
executive director of the Oklahoma Board of Dentistry.
Practicing dentistry without a license and allowing unauthorized practice
of dentistry both could result in one to four years in jail and up to a
$10,000 fine, she said.
Attempts to reach Harrington have been unsuccessful.
No one answered the door Thursday at his Tulsa home, which property
records show is worth more than $1 million. His practice a few miles away, in
a section of Tulsa where plastic surgeons operate and locals congregate at
bistros and stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue, has a fair-market value of
around $851,000.
Property and tax records show Harrington owns another residence in
Carefree, Ariz., in an area of upscale homes tucked into in the boulder-strewn
mountains north of Phoenix.
Nobody was at home Saturday at the low-slung, 1950s-style vacation home,
across from the Boulders Resort in Carefree. Neighbors said they had seen a
lot of activity at the home in recent weeks.
Harrington's malpractice lawyer, Jim Secrest II of Tulsa, did not respond
to phone messages left Thursday or Friday. A message at Harrington's Tulsa
office said it was closed, and an answering service referred callers to the
Tulsa Health Department.
Health officials first learned of the problem when a person with
hepatitis C and no risk factors for the disease was found to have had a dental
procedure at Harrington's office in the short time when he or she would have
been exposed.
Investigators visited his office on March 12 and March 18. He voluntarily
stopped practicing March 20, so there was no need for an emergency hearing.
Harrington has an office at 2111 S. Atlanta Place and a satellite clinic
at 12806 E. 86th Place North in Owasso.
Tulsa Health Department spokeswoman Kaitlin Snider said Saturday that the
free testing clinic will likely be run for several weeks.
"We'll be here as long as it takes," she said.
Testing will continue Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Results take about two to three weeks. Negative results will be mailed.
Anyone who tests positive will be interviewed by a health department employee
and informed of resources in their area if they do not have insurance or a
personal doctor, she said.
Patients can go to their regular doctor to get tested, but the health
department is encouraging them to get tested at the free clinic so it can keep
track of how many people have gone through the process, she said.
The health department has received resources from the Oklahoma State
Department of Health for the testing, she said.
Rogers said the Oklahoma Board of Dentistry has an ongoing investigation
of Harrington's violations and has briefly discussed the case with the Tulsa
district attorney, but no charges have been filed yet.
By statute, the board cannot do routine inspections of dentists' offices.
There has to be a complaint filed first, she said. Harrington had no prior
complaints.
At least one law firm in the Tulsa area reported it received several
unsolicited calls from former Harrington patients. The statute of limitations
for dental malpractice in Oklahoma is two years, according to JD.MD, a medical
malpractice and expert witness service.
Dentists in Oklahoma are required to have insurance, but there is no
minimum amount they must have, Rogers said.
Harrington, 64, graduated from the University of Washington School of
Dentistry in 1974 and then went on to an oral surgery program three years
later, she said.
He has a hearing before the board of dentistry April 19.
Free testing offered
Anyone who was a patient of Dr. Scott Harrington since 2007 should be
receiving a letter from the Tulsa Health Department, which is offering
patients free testing for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
The clinic is at the North Regional Health and Wellness Center, 5635 N.
Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
There will be no clinic Sunday. It will continue Monday through Friday
from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
There is also a hotline for anyone with questions. It will be answered
Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The number is 918-595-4500.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Shannon Muchmore 918-581-8378
shannon.muchmore@tulsaworld.com
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