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National Alliance for Oral Health Consensus Conference on Medically Necessary Oral Health Care: Legal issues
Author(s) -
Cameron Cheryl A.,
Litch C. Scott,
Liggett Martha,
Heimberg Steven
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
special care in dentistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.328
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1754-4505
pISSN - 0275-1879
DOI - 10.1111/j.1754-4505.1995.tb00513.x
Subject(s) - medicine , alliance , oral health care , legislature , malpractice , oral health , health care , medical malpractice , dental care , nursing , family medicine , law , political science
This paper examines medical malpractice law as it applies to medically necessary oral health care. The basic legal concepts and reported cases involving medically necessary oral health care are reviewed. It is concluded that dental professionals and consumer advocates must advance their educational and legislative advocacy efforts so that health professional colleagues and the public will become aware of the importance of these services and insurers will routinely include coverage of medically necessary oral health care in their medical and dental policies. While failure to provide medically necessary oral health care can be violative of patient rights and legally actionable, medical malpractice litigation should always be the behavior modifier of last resort.