Easier to dismiss consumer complaints than evaluate them properly:
Documents produced by the department in response to a State Journal request under the Open Records law show the new policy was shut down briefly when it was discovered staff were sending out letters that falsely claimed dismissed cases had been evaluated by “members of the relevant profession.”
By early May, it was shut down again because Dentistry Examining Board members said a serious complaint had been wrongly thrown out without proper scrutiny, or even the knowledge of, the dentistry board members. The department’s oversight boards were not notified when the policy took effect.
Four months later, the policy remains “temporarily suspended,” and the recently released agency records prompted the chairman of the state Senate consumer protection committee to suggest the possibility of an audit or hearings to look into actions of the state Department of Safety and Professional Services.