Federal Jury Awards Albuquerque Dentist $44M

HEATHER CLARK

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A federal jury awarded an Albuquerque dentist $44 million after he claimed a rival dental equipment supplier tried to run his startup company out of business.

The award to dentist Charles Goodis is believed to be among the largest in New Mexico history for a standing verdict, Kyle Bisceglie, his attorney, said Thursday.

Goodis, an endodontist who founded Guidance Endodontics LLC, filed the lawsuit in November 2008 against York, Pa.-based Dentsply International Inc.

The jury, in a 6-3 vote, found Dentsply breached its contract with Guidance and violated the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act and its obligation under the contract for good faith and fair dealing.

Dentsply said the punitive damages awarded Oct. 9 were unwarranted and unlawful.

"We obviously will be actively appealing it," said William Jesllison, chief financial officer for Dentsply.

Bisceglie said the award was actually less than the damages suffered by Guidance.