Woodbury dentist under the microscope after closure leaves patients, employees stranded
WOODBURY, Minn. — A WCCO Investigation discovers more about why a Woodbury dentist shut down his practice leaving patients stranded after taking their money.
Dr. Marko Kamel has been cited more than once by the Minnesota Board of Dentistry for what it calls incompetence. In the meantime, his current patients are trying to find relief.
Kamel ran Woodbury Dental Arts since 2012, but recent complaints led to a license suspension, and then the abrupt closing of his practice.
Records show the board received several complaints about Kamel starting in 2019. He was accused of failing to properly administer sedation and local anesthesia to more than one of his patients.
Kamel was ordered to have monitoring and take coursework on sedation. In 2021 and 2022, two civil cases were filed against him for medical malpractice. Both were settled, but the details are not public.
Kamel's license was temporarily suspended by the board last May for "incompetence." He was allowed to go back to work with conditions in June.
But according to the board, new complaints led to another temporary suspension of his license in November 2023.
Then earlier this month, Kamel's license was officially suspended, and that's when he shut down his business — leaving his current patients in the dark.
They are currently fighting to get their medical records to find another dentist.
It's an issue a lawyer representing many of Kamel's patients is trying to figure out. That attorney tells WCCO the board has an entire page devoted to helping Kamel's patients, including a database of dental providers.
WCCO stopped by Kamel's house for comment but no one answered the door. His attorney has not answered our request for comment.
The Minnesota Attorney General's office is taking complaints from Kamel's former patients and handling them on a case-by-case basis for now.
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