Mamdani Administration Sues Brooklyn Dental Providers for Preying on Patients and Driving Them Into Medical Debt
July 29, 2026
NEW YORK, NY – Today, Commissioner Samuel A.A. Levine and the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) announced an enforcement action filed in New York Supreme Court against two Brooklyn-based dental offices, New York Family Dentistry and Canarsie Family Dentistry, for appalling violations of New York City’s Consumer Protection Law.
A DCWP investigation found that both dental practices routinely exploit patients seeking affordable dental care by misrepresenting pricing and insurance coverage, pressuring them into unnecessary procedures, and signing them up for high-interest rate loans without informed consent—resulting in unexpected debt and long-term impacts on both financial and physical health. DCWP seeks to ban both dental practices from this predatory conduct and secure civil penalties and full restitution for harmed consumers.
“No one in pain should be treated like a payday,” said DCWP Commissioner Samuel A.A. Levine. “When dental providers exploit New Yorkers who desperately need care, New York City will halt their predatory practices and hold them accountable. The era of ripping off our most vulnerable is behind us.”
“Exploiting vulnerable New Yorkers isn’t just wrong—it’s illegal,” said New York City Corporation Counsel Steve Banks. “This case is another example of the City’s unwavering commitment to enforcing its consumer protection laws and protecting individuals from predatory business practices.”
“New Yorkers deserve transparent pricing and access to quality health care without being blindsided by hidden costs or subjected to unnecessary procedures,” said Council Member Harvey Epstein. “New York Family Dentistry and Canarsie Family Dentistry have taken advantage of patients, in predominantly black and brown neighborhoods, leading them to make financial and physical sacrifices without forewarning. I commend DCWP for protecting consumers and making clear that businesses that deceive and exploit New Yorkers will be held accountable.”
“No senior should walk into a dental office in pain and leave with a loan they never agreed to,” said Council Member Mercedes Narcisse. “Grateful to Mayor Mamdani and Commissioner Levine for going after predatory practices in Canarsie. We need to keep cracking down on scams and hold accountable anyone who preys on vulnerable New Yorkers. If anyone in the district was affected, my office is here to help.”
“Ms. Wilson and Ms. Breeden came to these dental offices seeking care and instead were left with devastating physical, emotional, and financial consequences," said Ellen McCormick, Staff Attorney in the Consumer & Bankruptcy Law Project at The Legal Aid Society. "Seniors and New Yorkers living on fixed incomes should never be saddled with thousands of dollars in debt for services that may have been covered by Medicare or Medicaid, enrolled in medical financing without their knowledge or consent, or subjected to incomplete or harmful treatment. We are grateful to DCWP for taking action to hold New York Family Dentistry and Canarsie Family Dentistry accountable and to help ensure that impacted consumers receive the restitution and protection they deserve.”
“Through our Financial Justice Hotline, we’ve helped a growing number of Black, Brown, and immigrant New Yorkers—virtually all of whom are seniors living on fixed incomes—harmed by the same disturbing pattern of conduct: They went to a dentist seeking quality dental care, only to have the dentist push them to undergo unnecessary procedures and take on exorbitantly high-cost credit cards and loans that threaten to wipe out their retirement income and savings,” said Susan Shin, Legal Director at New Economy Project. “We applaud Commissioner Levine and DCWP for cracking down on these exploitative practices, and we urge federal and state financial regulators to take forceful action against the banks and fintech lenders that peddle these predatory credit products, fueling and profiting from these abuses.”
“The Community Service Society of New York (CSS) applauds Commissioner Levine and DCWP for taking action against medical practices that push these high-interest rate credit cards to exploit vulnerable patients who are seeking care and can least afford to incur thousands of dollars in medical debt caused by these medical credit cards,” said Elisabeth R. Benjamin, CSS Vice President of Health Initiatives. “Our research has shown that medical debt disproportionately harms low-income households and communities of color, creating financial hardships and discouraging people from accessing health care services. As we continue to push for policies that protect New Yorkers from financial ruin associated with medical debt, we commend DCWP for holding bad actors accountable and aggressively enforcing the city’s consumer protection laws.”
“We’ve seen this playbook before—predatory companies looking to make a buck off of vulnerable patients,” said Winston Berkman-Breen, legal director at Protect Borrowers. No one should be upsold hundreds of dollars they didn't plan for or walk out of a dentist's office with a loan they were tricked into borrowing. This lawsuit is a chance to make these patients whole. We applaud DCWP for stepping up to protect New Yorkers in the examination room,"
“A dentist’s chair is not a sales floor. No one should leave the dentist’s office with a mountain of debt that they never knowingly agreed to take on,” said Julie Margetta Morgan, president of The Century Foundation, a New York City-based think tank. “Predatory medical payment products are engineered to be pitched when patients are most vulnerable, yet what patients hear as a ‘payment plan’ turns out to be a credit card that charges sky-high interest from day one. DCWP is sending a clear message: exploiting patients through these predatory lending practices is unacceptable.”
“Enforcement actions like this one are essential to protecting older adults and other vulnerable patients being exploited by unscrupulous actors,” said April Kuehnhoff, Senior Attorney at the National Consumer Law Center. “These are the same types of abusive practices that the National Consumer Law Center documented in its report, Health Care Plastic: The Risks of Medical Credit Cards, and we applaud the DCWP for taking action.”
Details of the Case
Both New York Family Dentistry and Canarsie Family Dentistry take advantage of southeast Brooklyn’s predominately Black community, targeting the elderly, those with emergency dental needs, and New Yorkers with low incomes or on public assistance. The offices advertise low-cost dental services, including deals for bundles of services. An emergency visit including “a problem focused exam, x-rays needed, and necessary medication prescriptions” may be advertised as an affordable “$99,” but additional costs are not disclosed upfront. Further, despite advertising that most insurance plans are accepted, neither dental practice submits claims to insurers and regularly prevent consumers from utilizing their paid-for insurance benefits.
The dentists exploit their trusted position as health care providers, regularly “upselling” and pressuring patients into unnecessary services not covered by insurance. Once patients are seated in the dental chair, often in pain, they are told that additional treatments are required and that upfront payment is necessary. Both dental practices target elderly patients, many of whom are on Medicare and/or Medicaid and cannot afford out-of-pocket payments. Moreover, consumers are pushed to apply for third-party medical payment products, including medical credit cards. The offices did not disclose the many critical terms and conditions, or that such products are in fact loans with APRs as high as 26.99%. In some cases, the offices actually sign patients up for these loans without their consent or knowledge.
The dental offices’ incentive to use these predatory payment products is abundantly clear: when a patient uses one of these products, the offices receive immediate payment made in full, without having to negotiate with insurance companies or other third-party payors. The result is immediate profit for New York Family Dentistry and Canarsie Family Dentistry, while patients desperately in need of care end up on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars of unexpected medical debt.
In 2025, for example, when an elderly patient went to Canarsie Family Dentistry for a partial denture installation, a dentist told her that she needed additional treatment requiring the extraction of all her remaining teeth. Despite being a Medicare and Medicaid recipient, she was informed that she needed to take out a loan to pay for the services. Believing she had no other option, she paid approximately $1,000 out of pocket, and the dentist’s office charged the remaining $5,000 to a medical credit card opened in her name before services were completed.
During subsequent appointments, the patient was informed that she needed to pay an additional $10,000 to complete the dental treatments. To add insult to injury, the dentist failed to properly install the permanent dentures. A year later, the services for which the patient was charged have still not been completed, while she suffers declining physical health and is unable to eat solid food.
New York City's Consumer Protection Law prohibits unfair trade practices when dealing in consumer goods or services, such as false advertising, phony sales, and special offers with hidden conditions. The law also lays out proper behavior in the collection of consumer debts.
After receiving numerous alarming complaints about deceptive and unconscionable conduct, DCWP opened an investigation into New York Family Dentistry and Canarsie Family Dentistry in 2025. DCWP urges consumers to never sign up for a medical payment product if they are pressured or rushed to sign before a full review of terms and conditions. New Yorkers can report deceptive dental practices at nyc.gov/consumers.
DCWP's lead attorneys on the case are Deputy General Counsel Melissa Iachan and Staff Counsel Lindsay DeCicco of DCWP's General Counsel Division, under the supervision of General Counsel Michael Tiger.
The NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) is the nation’s leading municipal enforcement agency charged with delivering economic justice. DCWP leverages its authority to bring New Yorkers real economic relief and protect them from predatory, deceptive, and unfair practices that violate their rights as consumers and workers. This includes pioneering cutting-edge protections, such as the City’s Consumer Protection Law, Protected Time Off Law, Fair Workweek Law, and Delivery Worker Laws, including the Minimum Pay Rate for delivery workers. Through licensing more than 45,000 businesses in over 45 industries, DCWP ensures fair competition and a level playing field for responsible small businesses that are integral to New York City’s vibrant communities. DCWP also provides essential services such as free tax preparation and financial counseling to ensure New Yorkers keep more of what they earn and can plan for their futures. DCWP is committed to making sure New York City is a fairer, more affordable place to live. For more information about DCWP and its work, call 311 or visit DCWP at nyc.gov/dcwp, sign up for its newsletter, or follow on its social media sites, X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
Media Contact:
Stephany Vasquez Sanchez
Department of Consumer and Worker Protection
(212) 436-0042
press@dcwp.nyc.gov