Federal lawsuit filed against Aspen Dental Management - KTIV News 4 Sioux City IA: News, Weather and Sports

A federal lawsuit filed in New York claims Aspen Dental Management and the private equity firm that controls it, illegally operate dental clinics across the country.

The suit says Aspen, based in New York, and Leonard Green and Partners are violating laws that require clinics to be owned by dentists who actively perform procedures onsite.

Court papers say Aspen's "so-called 'Practice Owners' are nothing more than de facto employees and independent contractors" of the company, which controls its 358 clinics' marketing, hiring, training and bookkeeping.

There's a Aspen Dental located in Sioux City's Lakeport Commons.

A statement from Aspen Dental Management, Inc. says the accusations are "entirely without merit."

It goes on to say that they "provide business support services to dentists who own and operate more than 350 practices in 22 states. The dentists and staff at Aspen Dental offices around the U.S. provide access to high quality, affordable dental care for millions of patients. ADMI is proud that the business support services that it provides allow dentists to spend more time focusing on patient care, rather than accounting, IT, and the other administrative responsibilities associated with running a dental practice."