Condition Lawyer Common Maura Healey is suing a dental chain with South Shore spots for allegedly deceiving clients and dishonest them out of their revenue.
In a assertion, Healey said Aspen Dental, which has hundreds of franchises throughout the U.S. and several on the South Shore, which include Quincy, utilized “bait-and-switch advertising and marketing campaigns” that promised cost-free products and services that people were later on billed for.
“Aspen Dental took edge of vulnerable individuals in need to have of dental care and utilized deceptive promotion to lure them into their workplaces below untrue pretenses,” Healey explained. “We’re suing this firm for violating each state regulation and its before claims not to interact in exactly these unlawful practices, and we’re in search of restitution for clients harmed by this misconduct.”
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In addition to Quincy, Aspen has areas in Hingham, Hanover, Plymouth, Brockton and Bigger Boston.
Healey’s place of work submitted the grievance and reveals, which were being far more than 100 internet pages prolonged, in Suffolk County Superior Courtroom on Thursday. The complaint alleges Aspen violated state client safety legal guidelines and a settlement the business produced in 2014 with the lawyer general’s place of work.
Healey explained Aspen billed shoppers for appointments following telling them initial appointments would be no cost. She said the exercise took edge of clients with emergencies. She said the organization advertised “no hidden service fees” but had complex billing structures.
The organization also allegedly took edge of very low-money people by marketing that it took “all insurance policy,” but Healy explained it did not get MassHealth, the state’s health insurance coverage which consists of Medicaid, covering low-revenue people.
Steve Nolan, the senior vice president of communications for Aspen Dental, pushed back again from the allegations and reported Healey’s lawsuit was “made to grab headlines.” The company ideas to combat the circumstance.
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“Sadly, the Massachusetts legal professional typical has brought a lawsuit centered on overblown rhetoric that’s inconsistent with its individual actions,” Nolan mentioned in an e mail. “The attorney typical is relying on outdated information and facts gathered during the study course of an investigation which is now lasted for far more than 5 years. They attempt to make up in seem and fury what the expenses lack in benefit.”
Nolan stated the firm has labored with Healey’s place of work from the commencing of its investigation and that “most, if not all of the concerns lifted by the (attorney general’s) office that we’ve recognized about were resolved very long in the past, no matter if we agreed with them or not.”
Aspen Dental is headquartered in Syracuse, New York.
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Joe Difazio can be arrived at at [email protected]. Observe him on Twitter @jldifazio.