Brooklyn, NY – A bogus dentist charged in the death of a woman who passed out while he was working on her avoided jail after prosecutors found she died from unrelated causes.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
Alexander Poperetchny, 47, had been practicing without a license for 16 years on Oct. 23, 2007, when 71-year-old Colette Villemin passed out in his Coney Island offices.
An autopsy found that she had a heart attack.
“She would have died, anyway,” said Poperetchny’s lawyer, Robert Race. “She had a circulatory problem. It didn’t matter if it was a licensed dentist, you, me or the man in the moon.”
Poperetchny, who worked alone, carried Villemin downstairs after she collapsed when he thought she was having an allergic reaction to peroxide. Poperetchny left her on a curb and went into a pharmacy to get something to help Villemin, but an ambulance arrived by the time he returned.
It turned out that Villemin had “significant heart disease” and “bronchial pneumonia,” a spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office said.
Prosecutors still wanted him to get one to three years in jail because Poperetchny had been practicing illegally since coming to the United States in 1991.
“He demonstrated a total disregard for the laws of our country,” Assistant District Attorney Benjamin Lieberman said. “By violating these rules … he put his own interest above that of society’s.”
But Supreme Court Justice Joseph McKay, who gave Poperetchny five years’ probation, said the idea of putting him in jail for practicing without a license would be “unprecedented” and “inappropriate.”
Poperetchny, who works as a medical technician making crowns and other dental items, could still get his U.S. dental license.
There’s something really wrong with this. He didn’t get jail time & he could still get his license? Why bother. He can just hang up his shingle & pretend. Saves all those years of study & money.
While that passed muster with a jury any Dentist will wonder whether she was injected with anasthetic. Most anesthetics include a small amount of epinephrine or similar to tighten the blood vessels in the area and keep the pain killer from spreading away. A worst case scenario could mean injecting (without checking) into a blood vessel and the Epi causing a reaction that could exacerbate risk factors.
Yes, I could agree that the Woman would have died eventually as till now we all do. I am not sure she was so sick at the time of tx.
I think he had a great Lawyer.
to 7:24
He must have done the job well, although he learned on his own, if he practiced for 16 years alone! He may have very well been better at it than some other bad dentists who may not have good hands. . (They evidently could not find him guilty at any time to have messed-up his dental work)!
You guys can’t read! It’s obvious that this person was a licensed dentist in her home country. She jus couldn’t afford starting a few years of school again in order to get a US license. She obviously is a well trained dentist doing work for many years.
Chacham Mah Nishtanah :
YEH RIGHT! trained in Russia ” i chengineer!!!” “i doctor!” “chai a specialist!!”
I suppose the next time you hear that you’ll be right on board!! L. dafka
Ok Chacham, you go and have HIM work on you. It’s obvious who can’t read here. You thought the dentist was a woman.
He was my dentist!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! for real. i almost passed out when i saw his picture. he didnt practicee undrr that name so when i read it ……