Victim of AIDS-Related Complex Sues : Patient Claims Dentist Refused Care

A patient with AIDS-related complex filed suit against an Encino dentist Thursday, accusing the dentist of violating an anti-discrimination ordinance by refusing to treat him.

The suit by Tom Jaynes, a Van Nuys psychotherapist, is believed to be the first filed against a dentist under a 1985 city ordinance aimed at stopping discrimination against people infected by the AIDS virus.

The suit also accuses the dentist, Jay Brent, of violating the state’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, which prohibits arbitrary discrimination by businesses.

‘Moral Obligation’

“I am bringing this lawsuit because I feel a moral obligation to speak out for myself and for others who may be too ill to ‘fight the fight,’ ” Jaynes said at a news conference called by his lawyer, Gloria Allred.

Brent later told the Associated Press: “I’ve just been falsely accused of this. It isn’t true. I do not refuse anyone treatment who has AIDS, ARC or anything.”

Jaynes said he had been treated by Brent once before and informed the dentist that he had AIDS-related complex when he called for another appointment last June. Jaynes said he warned Brent of his virus so the dentist could use gloves and other procedures recommended by the federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

According to the suit, Brent told Jaynes that he would no longer treat him. The complaint alleges that a friend of Jaynes, also a patient of Brent, called the dentist a few days later. The dentist allegedly told the friend that Jaynes did not need dental care because “he is going to die anyway.”

Worked as Student Nurse

Jaynes said he was particularly offended by the refusal to treat him because Jaynes has been a health-care worker for 14 years. He said he has been a student nurse and a medical-surgical technician.

“My first reaction to this was shock,” he said. “I treated patients with meningitis, with TB, with hepatitis. And it never dawned on me to consider refusing to care for a patient.”

AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, is a fatal disease transmitted by an exchange of body fluids that primarily affects homosexual men and intravenous drug abusers. People who have ARC later may develop a full-blown case of AIDS but are not considered to be stricken with the deadly disease.

David Schulman, head of the Los Angeles city attorney’s AIDS discrimination unit, said Jaynes’ suit is the first he knows of against a dentist under the 2-year-old city ordinance.

He said four other suits had been filed under the ordinance alleging discrimination by other businesses or persons, but that none have gone to trial.

The president of the Los Angeles Dental Society, Joe Frisch, said it is the society’s policy that dentists should not refuse to treat people infected by the AIDS virus. The society recommends that dentists take precautions.

However, James Formaker of the R. E. Green Dental Clinic in West Hollywood said the clinic receives several calls a week from patients referred by private dentists who refuse to treat them. The clinic specializes in treating patients with AIDS and AIDS-Related Complex.