PROTECT CONSUMER JUSTICE.ORG

Karen Kinses went looking for a dentist in 2005 and found Dr. Mitra Bolbolan MacMillan, DDS.

In the front window of her Orange County office, MacMillion listed her name, her specialty and a certificate advertising herself, USC Clinical Associate Professor.

MacMillan examined Kinses and proposed a treatment plan that included pulling 28 teeth and installing dentures. Kinses agreed without seeking a second opinion. She found the dentures to be painful and returned for several times over the next eight months.

According to the California Court of Appeal, MacMillan became hostile, telling Kinses that she “should be grateful you don’t have cancer” and that she “should be grateful you didn’t lose a limb.” When Kinses complained that the dentures caused her chin to protrude, MacMillan suggested that she get Botox treatment.

Finally, Kinses demanded a refund. MacMillan responded by waving consent forms at Kinses stating that she could not sue, and left a message on Kinses’ answering machine saying:

“Don’t come back to this office unless you have the money for a new set of dentures.”

Kinses sued MacMillan for fraud and for the negligent infliction of emotional distress. She testified that she chose MacMillan because she was impressed with her affiliation with USC. MacMillan responded that she had been a part-time, unpaid clinical associate professor from 1998-2000.

“I’m proud of being a professor, so it’s just letting the patients know,” MacMillan testified.

After she was sued, MacMillan asked USC whether it was proper to claim the affiliation. USC responded that she could not list any affiliation.

Superior Court Judge James P. Gray of Orange County dismissed the suit before a jury trial.

Kinses appealed. Justice William W. Bedsworth of the Court of Appeal reversed Gray, finding there was sufficient evidence for a jury to find fraud based on MacMillan’s claim of the USC affiliation. The court said:

“MacMillan was not a USC clinical professor when she took Ms. Kinses as a patient and she had not taught at USC since 2000.”

The court called MacMillan’s comments “been ill-considered, unwise, and perhaps unprofessional.” But the law did not provide for a remedy to such “insults and indignities.”

Kinses v. Mitra Bolbolan MacMillan, Court of Appeal 4^th District Div 3 (G041375)

–Steve Ingram

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