An administrative hearing has started for Dr. Thomas Endicott, the Arizona dentist facing the possible loss of his dental license after a patient died in his chair.
State regulators began presenting evidence before an administrative law judge on Friday morning. They were preparing to call a witness to testify when Endicott joined the virtual hearing 20 minutes late and asked for a continuance. He said he didn’t receive notice of the hearing.
“Your motion is exceptionally late,” Administrative Law Judge Jenna Clark told him.
Endicott said he has moved out of state and admitted he didn’t update his address, as is required by licensed dentists under Arizona law.
Arizona Assistant Attorney General Seamus Monaghan objected to continuing the hearing. The judge said she didn’t find Endicott’s reasons for requesting a continuance to be credible or compelling. But she said she would grant him a one-time exception to continue the hearing.
The hearing is expected to resume in February.
The ABC15 Investigators were the first to report that Endicott has red flags in his background dating back 20 years.
He’s been called before the Arizona State Board of Dental Examiners, the body that regulates dentists, multiple times. His Arizona license has been suspended for more than a year as a result of the patient's death.
But as ABC15 has previously reported, he has a dental license free of restrictions in Utah. Records show he was issued a business license earlier this year for a dental office in a Salt Lake City suburb.
He has repeatedly declined to talk to ABC15.
Last year, Endicott was called before the Arizona Dental Board after a woman underwent a procedure in his office to get dentures.
A board investigator said the patient had difficulty breathing after being given anesthesia. She lost consciousness.
Endicott gave her CPR.
Paramedics arrived and took her to the hospital. But she was dead on arrival.
Dr. John Dovgan, a dentist and the board’s chief investigator, told the board there was a failure to identify a cardiac medical emergency and a failure to put oxygen on the patient.
Arizona Dental Board President Dr. Anthony Herro, who is a dentist, told the board Endicott, “completely mismanaged a medical emergency.”
But David Williams, Endicott’s attorney at the time, called the death “an unfortunate event.”
“It’s our position Dr. Endicott appropriately managed the patient’s care and treatment as he tried to walk through an emergent situation,” he told the board.
At that meeting in 2022, Dr. Endicott agreed to refrain from practicing in Arizona for the time being. He later signed an agreement with the board that prohibits him from practicing in Arizona until the outcome of his disciplinary case.
The dental board tried to go a step further earlier this year, offering him a disciplinary surrender of his Arizona license. He declined. So the board moved forward with a formal hearing seeking the revocation of his license.
Once the hearing concludes, the judge will issue a recommendation to the Arizona Dental Board. The board will then vote on whether to revoke his license.
Email ABC15 Investigator Anne Ryman at: anne.ryman@abc15.com, call her at 602-685-6345, or connect on X, formerly known as Twitter, and Facebook.
