Anthony E. Blumberg & Associates, LLC

10/28/2022

I support Elizabeth Rochford for the Illinois Supreme Court. Protect your rights!

10/05/2021

NERVE INJURY CASE SETTLED FOR $675,000.00

The plaintiff, a 57 year old man, presented to the defendant dentist with tooth pain in his upper right molars. The dentist recommended that they be taken out.

After the extractions, without any warning to the patient, the dentist proceeded to harvest bone from the lower right jaw to use as a “socket graft” at the extraction site on top. This is done by taking cores, or cylinders of bone out of the jaw with a trephine, a surgical version of an apple corer.

Although implants had been discussed as a potential future option, as of the date this occurred, there was no evaluation of the patient’s dental condition, no treatment plan, whether other teeth might need to be extracted first, or whether the entire upper right jaw would need surgical augmentation to sustain implants. The harvesting and grafting procedures were therefore, and for other reasons, totally unnecessary.

The area of the rear lower jaw houses the Inferior Alveolar Nerve (IAN) which is close to the surface and easily injured during dental procedures. It is visible on x-ray and the standard of care therefore requires that x-rays be taken in order to identify anatomic markers (the IAN canal) before operating in this area. The area of bone harvesting can be seen on the x-ray image attached.

In this case, the defendant never obtained any x-rays of the lower jaw before surgically harvesting bone from this area. As a result, he injured the IAN causing the plaintiff irreparable harm. The patient was left with a permanent pain condition known as Trigeminal Neuralgia. It is constant and excruciating. The plaintiff has had nerve blocks that did not work and an ablation surgery that only worsened the pain.

This appears to be the largest settlement for this injury in Illinois.

06/10/2021

TOO LITTLE TOO LATE

Although this man lost his license he continued to practice. After many complaints were filed with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulations, they did not move forward with any prosecutions for years. The damage and anguish he caused to hundreds of his patients will never be fully compensated. I still get calls from former patients who are facing expensive reconstrtive dentistry because of this man’s incompetence and avarice.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailyherald.com/amp-article/20210609/news/210609169/

The Center for Dental Implants founder was sent to jail Wednesday after being convicted for continuing to practice dentistry after he lost his license.

12/28/2020

Please take a moment to look at my new website. I will periodically update the blog with ongoing dental-legal issues or cases of interest. www.ablumberg.com

12/05/2020

03/27/2020

From the latest Cook County Jury Verdict Reporter:

Publication: Settlements by Category Published: 3/27/2020
Confidential Settlement: $500,000 (IL Cook-Law)

Pltf Atty(s): Anthony E. Blumberg of Anthony E. Blumberg & Associates (Chicago, IL)

Facts:

Pltf F-54 was under the care of deft from August 1975 through January 2016. Allegedly, deft failed to properly diagnose/treat pltf's periodontal disease and performed poor restorations and root canals. As a result, pltf had to have all her adult teeth extracted and replaced with implant supported dentures ($68,733 past medl. expense, $68,050 future medl. expense). Paid by undisclosed dental clinic.

03/16/2020

During the current corona virus epidemic, we will continue to conduct business as much as practicable. Although some courts are closed, many conduct business electronically and remotely. We may also conduct depositions by teleconference or other means.

Additionally, our office will by physically closed. WE will still be checking voicemail regularly along with email. During this time, there may be a delay in response to communications. We thank you in advance for your patience.

Please:
- Wash your hands frequently
- Avoid touching your face, mouth, eyes and nose;
- Avoid public places (stay home) but if you must go out;
- maintain "social distance" at lest 6 feet from other people.

11/04/2019

REGARDING JAMES V. D'ALISE

Please be advised that my firm is no longer accepting cases against Mr. D'Alise. It is likely for the last few years of licensed practice, that Mr. D'Alise was no longer insured.

During the periods that my firm litigated claims against him, he and his company, A Center for Dental Implants (ACDI) had closed all but one of his original five locations. With the loss of his license last year and the pending criminal actions against him, it is unlikely that he has or will have any assets to satisfy any judgment against him.

Questions may be directed to my office via telephone or Instant Messenger. Comments can no longer be posted on this page.

11/02/2019

Know your dentist. Check the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation’s (IDFPR) for license violations, or ask for a referral from a trusted source. And never pay in advance or up front, no matter what the savings may be.

https://youtu.be/RcjOxkK0YTc

They say they dug deep into their pockets to pay for crowns and implants. Now, The I-Team is investigating complaints from several patients of the same subur...

08/24/2019

James V. D’Alise was sued by me about ten times. Some of those cases are reflected below. Last year, as noted in this article, his license was finally revoked. That should have happened years ago. Evidently repeated civil suits, multiple professional sanctions, and a revocation of his license didn’t get the message across to this man.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2019/8/23/20830665/james-dalise-dentist-oak-brook-revoked-license

James Vincent D’Alise was arrested Aug. 16 at his office at 1301 W. 22nd St., Oak Brook police said in a statement.

08/05/2018

08/05/2018

04/06/2018

Two more settlements against James V. D’Alise, DDS involving allegations of negligence related to implant placement. In each instance, my clients suffered bone loss, tooth loss and long painful roads to recovery. In the first action, settled for $150,000.00, Dr. D’Alise placed multiple implants into a periodontally involved patient. He never diagnosed the periodontal condition and therefore did not retreat it before placing implants. Many failed during his period of care and were replaced only to fail again.

In the second matter, settled for $110,000.00, my client never received a comprehensive evaluation or treatment plan. Implants were placed on an “as needed” basis rather than in response to an integrated plan for the entire arch. When implants are placed they act as the basement for the structure. Function and cosmetic needs should govern the plan. D’Alise decides when and where he wants to place implants and then tries to restore them later. This is like building a basement without knowing if you are going to build a single-family home or an apartment building on it.

These pictures show the patient as he looked when D'Alise was fininshed with him and what he had to have done on the top in order to accomodate bone loss. Rathen than four implnats, he has six, with spacing affected by areas of unrestorable bone loss. The singel unused implant on the upper left of the second pictiure is an implnat placed by D'Alise that could ntobe used and could not be safely removed.

04/09/2017

READ THE UBER ARBITRATION AGREEMENT. IF YOU USE UBER, YOU ARE BOUND BY IT.

If you ride UBER, you have by law, agreed to arbitrate all claims. That means: if you are injured in an accident as a passenger in an Uber, as a result of your driver's negligence, your only remedy is through arbitration.

If you do not like the arbitration award, there is no appeal. Arbitration is NOT conducted according to the law. In fact: "It is the intent of the parties that the FAA and AAA [arbitration] Rules shall preempt all state laws to the fullest extent permitted by law."

Think you can sue the driver independently? Think again. If the driver carries a standard automobile policy, it may not cover him when driving for hire. Or, he may carry a very small policy.

01/26/2017

$120,000.00 settlement against James V. D’Alise, D.D.S. and A Center for Dental Implants (ACDI) for mismanagement of a “hader bar” based system. The case settled following the depositions of the parties and a subsequent treating dentist who saw the plaintiff for a second opinion.

Circuit Court of Cook County, Court No.: 2014 L 11531.

06/02/2016

I'm going to today for gun violence awareness. Join the campaign at http://www.wearorange.org

Pledge to wear orange on June 2 and honor all the lives that have been stolen by gun violence.

02/26/2016

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
(A non-dental matter)

Settled for $197,500.00

The Plaintiff, a 58 year old woman suffersed a severe fracture to her arm at the elbow when she triped over a hose lurking just a step outside a Walgreen exit.

The plaintiff was exiting a Walgreen store at Belmont and Sheffield where, she alleged, the defendants, a crew engaged in power washing the pavement, allowed a hose to lie just a step or so outside the exit way. She also alleged that there were no warning cones or markers.

The plaintiff’s injury required surgery. She accumulated about $50,000 in medical expenses. In addition to a scar extending from just above her elbow to her mid forearm, she can feel the metal plate that remains in her arm.

The case was settled following the depositions of the parties. No other discovery was necessary.

Chacos v. O'Wallace Landscaping, Inc.: 2014 L 9148

11/02/2015

IT'S NEVER TOO LATE:

In a confidential settlement, an 86 year old McHenry County woman accepted an offer of $85,000 as compensation for the loss of four front bottom teeth due to forty plus years of dental neglect. The plaintiff regularly attended her semi-annual check-ups at the continuing practice of her dentist. Little periodontal charting or diagnosis was ever performed.

11/02/2015

Dental Malpractice Action settled on October 12, 2015 for $250,000:

Plaintiff, a 62 year old woman, alleged that she was a patient of the defendant dentist and his practice for a little over 11 years, during which time the defendant dentist is alleged to have placed multiple crowns with bad margins (where the crown meets the tooth). She alleged that as a result, she developed periodontal disease throughout her mouth which was neither diagnosed nor treated by her dentist. She alleged that as a consequence, she lost all of her teeth and had to have full, implant supported bridges on the upper and lower jaws.

Jerding, etc. v. Spencer, DDS, Brookside Dental Care, et al., 13 L 010447

03/08/2014

$225,000 settlement for dental implant mismanagement.
Plaintiff alleged that James V. D’Alise, the owner and operator of ACDI (A Center for Dental Implants) placed ten implants (instead of the original twelve that were planned) and that all of them failed due to Dr. D’Alise’s alleged negligence.

Rutkowski v. D’Alise, DDS and ACDI Chicago LLC, ACDI Oak Brook LLC, et al.

03/08/2014

$250,000 settlement for dental implant mismanagement.
The plaintiff, a 51 year old male at the time, alleged that James v. D’Alise, the owner and operator of the ACDI clinics (A Center for Dental Implants), initially placed five implants in his patient's mouth. Plaintiff alleged that as these failed they were replaced without any coherent plan for his mouth over all. In the end he placed a total of 8 implants including initial placements, additions and replacements. All failed. The patient alleged that as a consequence, he lost extensive bone and must undergo extensive restorative treatment which will include the loss of all remaining upper teeth (8).

Benjamin v. D’Alise, DDS and ACDI Chicago LLC, ACDI Oak Brook LLC, each a/k/a and d/b/a A Center for Dental Implants;

05/18/2010

I am pleased to announce that my firm has achieved a record settlement for a dental malpractice action not involving death. The case of Irgang v. Staib, DDS was settled for 1.25 million dollars.