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Nova Southeastern University has agreed to a $5.5 million class action settlement over accusations that student dentists at the school failed to properly sterilize tools.
Most of the affected patients were children, according to the Florida Bulldog.
The Class is defined as all 1,152 patients who received from Linda Niessen, dean and professor of Nova Southeastern University’s College of Dental Medicine, a letter informing them they may have been exposed to inconsistencies in prescribed sterilization protocols while a patient at NSU’s PostGraduate Orthodontic Clinic at 3200 S. University Drive in Davie, Florida, between July 2015 and February 2018 and offering a screening blood test, and who obtained a screening blood test the results of which were negative for any viral disease from such exposure.
The letter informed Class they may have been exposed to “inconsistencies in prescribed sterilization protocols” while at the school’s dental clinic between July 2015 and February 2018, according to the settlement website.
Class Members who submit a valid and timely claim form will receive $3,000, the settlement notice states.
Though the school has agreed to the settlement, Nova Southeastern University has admitted no wrongdoing.
The Court has not ruled in favor of either party.
The class action lawsuit, filed in December 2018, had argued dentist residents at the clinic failed to follow U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-approved guidelines that require dental and orthodontic equipment to be sterilized with heat, according to the Florida Bulldog.
Because these protocols were not followed, the class action lawsuit alleged, patients who underwent procedures were potentially exposed to viral infections and diseases, the Florida Bulldog reported. No patients who were exposed became ill.
“This happened because they were booking multiple procedures at the orthodontic clinic and the students were not capable or able to adequately sterilize for the next patients,” Class counsel told the Florida Bulldog. “They were sanitizing, not sterilizing. They knew about it for many, many months before they ever disclosed it to the patients.”
Did you have orthodontic or other dental work performed at the Nova Southeastern University clinic? How do you feel about the settlement? Let us know in the comment section below.
The plaintiff is represented by Jay Cohen of Cohen, Blostein, & Ayala PA.
The Nova Southeastern University Dental Tool Sterilization Class Action Lawsuit is Tiffany Aguero, et al. v. Nova Southeastern University Inc., Case No. CACE18028483, in the 17th Judicial Circuit Court in and for Broward County, Florida.
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