Board adopts default orders; revokes multiple Texas dental licenses and denies several registrations

The disciplinary review committee of the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners on Feb. 19 adopted a series of orders remanded from the State Office of Administrative Hearings and voted to revoke and deny licenses and registrations in multiple cases.

Mister Michael Hoover, presenting several SOAH remands, told the committee that staff recommended adoption of board orders in default cases. On the record, Hoover said staff recommended revocation of the license issued to Norman Bajwa, noting the respondent failed to appear at the hearing and a default was entered by the administrative law judge. The committee voted to adopt the order and revoke Texas license number 36361; the motion passed unanimously.

The committee also approved staff recommendations in other default cases after the ALJ issued default dismissal orders and remanded the matters for informal disposition. Board staff asked the committee to adopt attached orders denying Jocelyn Hernandez’s application for registered-dental-assistant registration and denying Denise Pinto Hernandez’s application, and to revoke licenses ordered after default for Carrie Shakespeare and Shirley Ann Talton. Staff also recommended revocation of registered-dental-assistant number 125802 issued to Christopher Rodriguez. Presenters described each matter as remanded by SOAH following default or summary-disposition proceedings and recommended the board adopt the attached orders.

Committee members voiced no sustained objections and took each vote as staff requested; for those matters recorded in the transcript the motions carried and most motions were noted as passing unanimously. The committee’s recommendation will be forwarded to the full board as required for any matters that require full-board ratification.

Why it matters: Default rulings and remands from SOAH are a common pathway for discipline in matters where respondents do not appear; the board’s votes remove practicing privileges and aim to protect patients where the agency concludes probable cause or where the ALJ has remanded disposition to the board.

What’s next: The committee’s formal recommendations will be placed before the full board at the next session for confirmation where required. Where the transcript records unanimous committee votes, staff will submit the adopted orders for entry consistent with the Administrative Procedures Act.