A 55-year-old New York woman named Yolany Mejia Carranza has been arrested and accused of pretending to be a dentist and carrying out procedures that have left her "patients" with permanent injuries. Moreover, police believe that Mejia Carranza targeted members of the Hispanic community who did not have medical insurance.
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According to the
Suffolk County Police D e partment, they discovered a "fully functioning illegal dental office" at a Bay Shore home on March 13. Police stated that Mejia Carranza was acting as a dentist without a license. Moreover, police believe that she previously did the same by allegedly running an illegal dental business at Huntington Station.Suffolk Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina revealed that many who sought out Mejia Carranza for dental work suffered injuries. Catalina stated, according to CBS News, that one of the victims suffered "partial facial paralysis." He said that Mejia Carranza's patients were in "grave danger."
"I think everyone knows it's not really fun to go to the dentist you can only imagine what this experience was like for her patients," Catalina said, as per abc7. "She did not use anesthesia, but she used a local anesthesia, but no one was getting the anesthesia for the complex dental procedures she was doing. She was a full-service dentist."
Yolany Mejia Carranza was arrested and charged with three counts of unauthorized practice of a profession. She pleaded not guilty to all counts, according to CBS News. Her next court appearance is scheduled for April 1 and Mejia Carranza surrendered her passport in the meantime.
Investigation And Reaction
According to Commissioner Catalina, police believe that Mejia Carranza was targeting members of the Hispanic community. "Mostly people who did not have health insurance and many of whom may have been in the country illegally," Catalina said.
Given her past alleged illegal practice at Huntington Station, Commissioner Catalina said that there is a possibility that there are other similar complaints "out there." Therefore, he has asked for those complaints to come forward.
Neighbors were shocked after finding out about Mejia Carranza's alleged fake dental practice.
"She is like a normal neighbor," neighbor Steve Contreras told CBS News. "Just walking around here and there, and never said nothing about dentist work,". We didn't know anything, so it's like wow."
Alfredo Valle, another neighbor, said that the news came "Out of nowhere."
"Pretty shocking. Out of nowhere. After a long day of work, saw 15 cars of police officers in my neighborhood," Valle told abc7. "I hope people who used her services, I hope they're OK."
