ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska dentist accused of fraud and unnecessarily sedating patients also performed a procedure while riding a wheeled, motorized vehicle known as a hoverboard, authorities said.
Prosecutors charged 34-year-old Seth Lookhart with felony Medicaid fraud and reckless endangerment.
A former patient testified Wednesday at his trial that she was angered when an investigator showed her an unauthorized 2016 video of Lookhart extracting one of her teeth while she was sedated and he was riding the hoverboard
Veronica Wilhelm was “pretty livid” about the dentist’s actions, she testified.
“When did Dr. Lookhart get your approval to take out your tooth on a hoverboard,” prosecutor Joan Wilson asked in court.
“He never did. I obviously wouldn’t have approved that. That’s dangerous,” Wilhelm said.
Wilhelm also was angered that Lookhart sedated her son for a teeth cleaning, she said
Lookhart denied the felony fraud allegations but acknowledged some other accusations, including the hoverboard procedure, defense attorney Paul Stockler said.
Stockler described the dentist’s actions as “absolutely stupid.”
“But I’ve seen much more dangerous things where no doctor has been charged,” the lawyer said.
The Anchorage dentist unnecessarily sedated patients so he could inflate his Medicaid billing, authorities said.
Lookhart fraudulently billed Medicaid about $1.8 million dollars and stole $250,000 from his partners, authorities said.
A state board suspended Lookhart’s dentistry license in 2017.
Wilhelm addressed Lookhart directly in court.
“I don’t have anything bad to say about taking out my tooth, I appreciate that, but I just think that what you did was outrageous, narcissistic you know, and crazy,” she said.