To the editor:
After my letter concerning dental (mis)treatment was published (“Creston patient rejected by 'small-minded, avaricious' dentist”), I have had many calls and conversations indicating similar experiences: people refused services because they did not have a dental plan, others let go because they were reluctant to take X-rays, others refused service because they did not want cosmetic work.
The despairing question was, “What can we do?”
I suggest the following:
First, send a report to the College of Dental Surgeons of British Columbia. In my case, it did not do any good as the dentist in question replied with a list of legitimate sounding recommendations, which they accepted. I could not prove that this was not the way it was. However, if they receive enough letters about a particular malefactor, even they will eventually have to pay attention.
When this does not net results, report this to the federal government at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. Follow this with a similar file to the provincial BC Human Rights Tribunal.
Discrimination is illegal in B.C. and it most likely applies in your case. Practitioners in the public service are not allowed to discriminate and refuse service according to their whims, although they do as long as they can get away with their avaricious practice.
The final step is to publicize the outrage you were submitted to: Submit your case to Go Public at www.cbc.ca and other interested programs, such as Marketplace. And yes, write a letter to the editor.
Good luck, and don’t give up standing up for your rights and dignity, and at least make it more difficult for mistreatment to continue by supposedly public practitioners!
Larry Ewashen
Creston