Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in California

First, I am surprised that you would return to a medical provider whom you had discharged in bankruptcy - seems to me that was a mistake. A non-life-threatening emergency provider of medical care has no legal obligation to continue to see you as a patient or provide services. Medical providers are only ever required to provide services where failure to do so would result in death or serious injury. Dentists never fall into this category, so providing services to you is 100% at their discretion. I know that if I didn't pay my dentist, he's not going to see me until I pay him in full, and will then likely require that I pay for services in advance.

As for their conduct in the office, the first of what you described really requires the opinion of an attorney who specializes in medical privacy laws. Years ago, a set of laws referred to as HIPAA were enacted which required medical providers (dentists are covered by the law) to protect private information about a patient's treatment. I would speculate that the dentist's staff may have violated that set of laws by announcing that you had filed bankruptcy; however, bankruptcy is a public record, so it may not be a violation. I am also not certain if billing records are covered by HIPAA. You need to consult with a health care attorney for that question.

Next up - did the staff violate any bankruptcy laws? Maybe - by demanding payment, they might have violated the post-discharge injunction which prohibits creditors holding discharged debts from demanding payment thereon. However, because the staff member put it in terms of "pay or we won't provide services," that may not be enough for you to pursue them in bankruptcy court. To seek redress for the alleged violation, you would have to reopen your bankruptcy and file a motion to hold the dentist in contempt of court. You would have to submit to the court sufficient evidence to prove that they violated the post-discharge injunction, and would also have to prove some sort of damages resulting therefrom. In the end, I would speculate that you would spend more money pursuing such a motion than you would recover. It wasn't necessarily right for the staff member to embarass you, but at the same time, I'm not sure that legally it crossed the line, or if it did, the question is how much money are you willing to throw at this problem versus simply finding a new dentist.

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