A Westchester dentist tossed a patient out of his office and called her “disgusting” after learning she was HIV-positive, a new lawsuit alleges.
Yvette Brown, 48, says Dr. Benjamin Kur’s freakout happened May 24 after he took out two of her cracked teeth and prescribed her Percocet for pain, according to the Manhattan federal court lawsuit filed Wednesday.
Soon after, Kur, who works at Westchester Oral & Maxillofacial Associates in Hawthorne, was contacted by a pharmacist who told him Brown was taking antiretroviral medication, which could interact with the painkiller, the suit says.
That’s when the dentist canceled the Percocet prescription and asked her whether she was HIV-positive in the office waiting room.
“On hearing from Ms. Brown that she is HIV-positive, defendant Kur called Ms. Brown ‘disgusting’ and told her that she was a ‘criminal,’” the suit alleges.
Kur allegedly told Brown she put him and his staff at risk and threatened to call her insurance company to have her coverage dropped — before kicking her out.
He refused to prescribe pain meds to her afterward, the suit says.
Brown also claims the doctor disclosed her confidential health details to the Westchester County Health Department in an effort to launch an investigation.
The mother of five, who is employed as a city sanitation worker, has lived with HIV for the past 24 years.
“Because I am black, because I am a woman, because I am HIV-positive, Dr. Kur treated me as less than a person,” said Brown in a statement. “I never thought that a medical professional—a person who is trained to care for you—would be so cruel.”
Kur didn’t return a message.