It's possible dentist Jan Kippax may regain his license this week

AUGUSTA — Lewiston oral surgeon Jan Kippax may be able to practice dentistry again after a temporary license suspension expires Friday.

Though Kippax faces a slew of allegations that he mistreated patients that were severe enough for the Maine Board of Dental Practice to suspend his license last month, the panel only has the statutory authority to stop him from practicing for 30 days.

It is slated to hold a hearing on the complaints April 14 when it could decide to revoke his license entirely or take other disciplinary steps. But starting March 18, he’s free to return to dentistry until the nine-member panel takes action.

Dental overseers won’t talk about the case, but comments during the board’s regular monthly session Friday indicated they typically would not give a dental professional whose license is suspended a chance to return to practice before a hearing is held.

Rebekah Smith, a hearing officer who handles many cases involving professional licensing, said she generally only grants continuances beyond the 30-day limit if there’s an agreement with the person holding the license to continue the suspension through the hearing date.

Kippax was initially set to face a hearing March 10, but the date was put off without explanation. Smith said, though, she typically allows a delay in hearing dates after ascertaining that the parties intend to come up with a consent agreement that would lock in the suspension until the hearing is held.

There is nothing in the public record to indicate a consent agreement has been signed. Dental regulators won’t talk about it, citing the need for confidentiality in the cases they deal with.

If a consent agreement is worked out, it doesn’t take effect until the board votes on it. There is no scheduled board meeting this week.

Whenever a deal is worked out, “it’s ultimately the board’s decision whether it wants to accept the consent agreement,” said Penny Vaillancourt, the dental board’s executive director.

Whatever happens with the temporary suspension, there is likely to be a public hearing on Kippax next month. Smith laid out the way cases normally proceed.

She said that a license holder who faces allegations of violating the rules or standards of professional practice is given a chance to work out a consent agreement to resolve the dispute. If the person can’t reach a deal or wants to contest a preliminary denial of a license, he or she can appeal to the board.

The dentist, or any license holder who is facing scrutiny, is provided with a list of charges against him, Smith said, and a hearing date is set.

At the hearing, an assistant attorney general represents the state, essentially serving as a prosecutor, while the board is, in layman’s terms, the jury. The license holder or his attorney argues the other side, with a hearing officer running the trial, which can have witnesses called by either side as well as other evidence brought forward.

Smith said that as a hearing officer, it is not her job to decide a case. That’s up to the board.

Before a hearing is held, she said, she arranges to set deadlines for gathering evidence, which can include subpoenas of people or records. Witness lists are exchanged, she said, and any issues that arise are dealt with.

A preconference is also held, usually on the phone, to identify issues and resolve any motions that either side calls for.

The idea, Smith said, is for a hearing to be held within the month on cases in which there’s been a 30-day suspension, but that can be a tight deadline in a complex case.

Paul Dunbar, a Winslow dentist who serves on the board, said that when there is an emergency suspension of someone’s license, which is what happened in the Kippax case, everyone is squeezed by the clock because time is so limited.

“Things can start to kick in” quickly once a hearing date is set, Smith said.

The evidence allowed in a hearing is “pretty broad,” she said, including hearsay and other evidence that might not be allowed in a criminal or civil trial. Hearings are held in public except for any confidential medical information that may need to be cited, officials said. That can be presented in a closed-door, executive session.

Board members essentially have to weigh what’s provided to them in the case without relying on any outside information, Smith said.

At a hearing, opening statements by each party serve as “a road map” for what follows and then evidence is presented, including any witnesses, Smith said. They can be cross-examined. Board members are free to ask questions.

“There’s a lot on the line” for someone facing the potential of losing his license, she said. “This is really their day in court.” A hearing can last for days — and there’s a chance Kippax’s will. Vaillancourt asked members at the last meeting if they’d be available during the weekend for anticipated hearings coming up soon.

Normally cases are “thoroughly presented” by the state and the license holder, she said.

The board decides whether the charges against someone are justified “by the preponderance of the evidence,” basically deciding if they think there’s at least a better than 50-50 chance that the allegations are true.

Because it’s all done in public, the board is “a jury in a fishbowl” with its deliberations in public instead of behind the closed doors of a jury room as in criminal cases, Smith said.

She said the board cannot factor in any previous disciplinary actions involving a license holder as its members decide on the case in front of it — something that could help Kippax, who was disciplined in 2002 and 2003.

If the board rules against the license holder, it then figures out the proper sanctions for the transgression, which can range from revoking a license to setting rules for the dentist to continue to practice on probation. Fines are also possible.

Decisions by the board don’t become final until they’re put in writing and signed by the panel.

Unfavorable rulings can be appealed to state courts, Smith said, with whatever sanctions the board puts in place remaining unless the board or a judge says otherwise.

The Kippax case is among the most far-reaching and serious the dental board has faced in years, at least in public.

The board’s preliminary findings, outlined in a Feb. 15 letter to the dentist’s attorney, called Kippax’s conduct “contrary to fundamental principles and standards of dentistry as a healing profession.”

In suspending Kippax’s license, it said he had “demonstrated lack of skill, lack of empathy, lack of respect for his patients and lack of commitment of serving his community in a safe and caring way.”

Former patients have told the Sun Journal about a number of troubling incidents. One of those patients is among the 18 people whose complaints serve as the basis of Kippax’s temporary suspension.

Kippax’s hearing, open to the public, is slated for 8 a.m. Friday, April 14, at the Maine dental board’s office at 161 Capitol St. in Augusta.