Dentist Sentenced for Medicaid Fraud

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Hawaii Attorney General David Louie
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Hawaii Attorney General David Louie

REPORT FROM THE ATTORNEY GENERAL– Joseph Perrino, DDS, formerly of Honolulu, will pay $35,700 in restitution and fines, and will perform 500 hours of community service for making false claims to the State Medicaid program and Hawaii Dental Service (HDS).  The Honorable Richard K. Perkins, Judge First Circuit Court, sentenced Perrino this morning.  Judge Perkins rejected Perrino’s request to defer his plea and have his record expunged.  Instead, Judge Perkins found Perrino guilty and imposed the sentence.

Perrino owned and operated a clinic in Waianae for fifteen years.  He sold the practice in January of 2011 after learning of the investigation into his fraudulent activities.  The fraud and theft charges stemmed from a scheme by Perrino whereby he submitted claims for dental restorations but either failed to perform those restorations, or actually provided a service far less involved and less costly than a restoration.  Restorations are essentially fillings where amalgam or resin is used to restore the function, integrity, and morphology of missing tooth structure such as that which results from a cavity or other dental condition. 

Perrino’s fraudulent claims were discovered during a routine review by the MedQuest Division of the Department of Human Services and a subsequent peer review by HDS who had independent dentists review Perrino’s claims.  HDS will receive $2,500 for the fraudulent claims Perrino submitted to it.  Perrino can no longer participate in Medicaid and with HDS.  

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Under the agreement with the State, Perrino is to pay his fine ($10,000), and restitution ($25,700) by the close of Court business today.  His community service is to commence immediately. 

Attorney General David M. Louie said “I am very pleased with Judge Perkins’ ruling and the sentence that was imposed.  This case demonstrates that the state will aggressively investigate and prosecute any individual committing fraud.”  


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31 COMMENTS

  1. Dentist get a bad reputation when patients talk badly about them to other patients. Before technology allows so many of us to have the ability to connect through the internet dentist reputation management was pretty much unheard of. pediatric dentist aurora

  2. Restorations are essentially fillings where amalgam or resin is used to restore the function, integrity, and morphology of missing tooth structure such as that which results from a cavity or other dental condition.

  3. Interesting post.I am sorry for this guy but every man should pay for his mistakes but I think if he had a better lawyer or consultant his punishment would be more kind or shorter

  4. It is not ok what happened. For me the teeth are very important so I needed to find a good dentist. I searched until I found on the site Total Dentistry good dentists. They are great.

  5. This is totally illegal and I never support in such activities. As a doctor I believe we have no right to play with peoples life. We have responsibility to serve them as much as we can and thanks for posting this article

  6. Although he was sentenced for medical fraud, he was a a good dentist. Now I will have to search for another dentist, a friend of mine told me that I should view site.

  7. This happens when people are leaded by greed, one way or another we will always pay for our mistakes. Although maybe he would have got an easier sentence if he would have collaborated with legal consulting services.

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