> John Kent, the oral surgeon at Louisiana State University who helped develop
> and promote the product, allegedly ignored research that linked the devices
> to aggressive giant cell formation and extensive bone loss. Early on, he is
> said to have dismissed a damaging study of the effects of the implants on
> dogs and allegedly used his position on a professional board to try to
> squelch a study on monkeys, according to lawsuits filed in Louisiana. In
> 1984, Kent wrote to his partner, Vitek founder Charles Homsy, about a
> patient's "devastating results." Kent worried that the implants could lead to
> "a calamity of unbelievable proportions." All the while he continued to
> implant the devices, allegedly earning over a hundred thousand dollars in
> royalties.
>
> Kent declined to comment. Homsy said he prefers not to discuss the past. "I'm
> at a time in my life when I want peace," he said. But when asked why his
> implants failed, he blames the patients. "If you've destroyed your own tissue
> by grinding your teeth, and are given a second chance with an implant, you
> have to protect it," he says.