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Medicaid fraud charges have been dropped against Howard Schneider, the Jacksonville dentist accused of mistreating his pediatric patients. Schneider was arrested in 2015, but he was found incompetent to stand trial.
Dozens of families were hurt and angry after learning charges have been dropped against Schneider, a man who they call a monster. The former dentist is accused of child abuse and in some cases-, unnecessary removal of teeth from the children’s mouths.
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Action News Jax spoke to Melissa Farrar, who said her granddaughter, Dixie, started going to Schneider’s office at the age of 3.
“When she came out, she had a mouth full of caps. The caps kept falling off, we kept taking her back. She ended up with only four teeth left in her mouth. She could only eat soft food until her adult teeth started coming in to where she could hardly enjoy anything at all,” Farrar said.
According to the state, because of Schneider’s age and deteriorating mental condition, the charges were dropped.
“I can’t believe they dropped the charges. That’s ridiculous,” Samantha Black said. She said her boys are still affected years later.
“He has so much lost space from where Dr. Schneider pulled all of his teeth out at such a young age, he lost a lot of space,” Black said of one of her sons.
If Schneider regains competency, the state could reinstate the charges.