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Monique’s regular dentist had been unavailable at that time. Monique
eventually saw him, the man who knew her dental history, and he told
her she had no cavities and that the fillings were probably unnecessary.
We helped Monique take her complaint to the Ontario College of
Dental Surgeons. A complaints committee found the work was “con-
sistent with the standards of the profession.”
We didn’t leave it there. First, we needed a mouth with no cav-
ities. No problem there. Producer Laurie Few had never had a filling
in her life. We compiled a dental history: Checkup by Dentist A on
October 26, 1993 — no cavities, no dental work required. Checkup
by Dentist B on March 17, 1994 — no cavities, no work required.
Then Laurie booked an appointment with Papneja for April 8, 1994.
He told her she had five cavities and two teeth which “required seal-
ing.” We had this from Papneja himself, with help from a hidden
microphone. Laurie left the office and said she would book an
appointment for the work later. During the next five months,
Papneja’s staff called her five times to remind her she had seven cav-
97
Getting What You Deserve
ities to be filled and a wisdom tooth that needed pulling. It would
take four appointments to do that work, she was told.
To complete our case, on October 21, 1994, Laurie’s teeth were
examined a fourth time by a leading expert in the field, a man who
teaches dentistry at the University of Toronto. We nicknamed him the
King of All Dentists. His opinion, Laurie had what he called “nearly
perfect teeth.” They were “teeth so healthy,” he said, “that she only
needs a checkup once a year and X-rays every eighteen months.”
I got on the phone to Dr. Papneja to share our research results
with him. He remained silent as I laid out the facts. I told him
we planned to take our information to the College of Dental
Surgeons and that we would like to interview him about what
we had discovered. He politely declined and gently hung up the
phone. It took us a few days to get together all the Papneja coordi-
nates we needed — where he lived, what vehicles he drove — and
we did a detailed survey of the Brampton shopping plaza where
Papneja operated his ten thousand square-foot clinic. We checked
for the usual bits of crucial information. What were the escape
routes from the office? How many back doors were there? Where did
he park his car? Was there any plaza security? Could we remain
unnoticed in the parking lot for long periods of time? We made
repeated dental appointments we would later cancel to figure out
Papneja’s working hours.
The dental office looked like a tough nut to crack. Hard to get past
the front counter. And Papneja’s office was like the factory ship of den-
tal clinics. A huge stream of people in and out, all day long, made bust-
ing up the place with a video crew out of the question. We always wor-
ried about video collateral damage — scaring innocent bystanders as
we tried to grab pictures of our target.
So we decided to try the house. Some house. It was a huge man-
sion on Mississauga Road South. We chose to drop by, camera rolling,
early one evening when our detective work had told us he was home.
We rounded the circular driveway and climbed the several sets of stairs
to the magnificent front door, surrounded by huge panes of intricately
designed glass that gave just a hint of a giant main hallway beyond. A
huge chandelier blazed high above. The nanny answered the door,
98
Cut to the Chase
apparently amused as our camera lights fired up, ready to record every
move and every word of Dr. Papneja.
“Not here.” She chimed pleasantly, in answer to my equally pleas-
ant question. “Still at work,” she added. Well, we had blown our cover
at the mansion. No more looking for Papneja here. Our so-called ele-
ment of surprise had vanished. There was nothing left but the office.
So we planned a vigil. We would wait for the doctor at his office. Get
him on the way in or the way out.
We got to the shopping plaza at six a.m. It was almost deserted. We [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]