Chef, cancer survivor drops dental malpractice lawsuits

Renowned chef Grant Achatz has reached an undisclosed settlement with Bucktown Wicker Park Dental Associates, the Chicago-area dental clinic he sued after being diagnosed with advanced tongue cancer, according to a story in the Chicago Sun-Times.

In addition to settling with the clinic, Achatz dropped the malpractice lawsuits he had filed against two Chicago-area dentists, Loveline Dulay, DDS, and Michelle Schwartz, DDS.

In the lawsuits, filed in 2008 in Cook County Circuit Court, Achatz claimed the dentists didn't do enough to facilitate an earlier diagnosis of the cancer. The lawsuits alleged negligence and sought damages in excess of $50,000 plus court costs.

According to court documents, Achatz first noticed a lesion on his tongue in 2004. In November 2005 he visited Dr. Dulay, who did not order a biopsy. In July 2006, he visited Dr. Schwartz at Bucktown Wicker Park Dental Associates; she also did not order a biopsy.

In May 2007, after the lesion began growing and became painful, it was biopsied and Achatz was diagnosed with Stage IV tongue cancer, according to the story. The doctors also found that the cancer had metastasized to his neck. But rather than having parts of his tongue surgically removed -- the typical treatment for this type of cancer at advanced stages -- he took part in a University of Chicago clinical trial that used radiation and chemotherapy.

His cancer is now in remission, according to the Sun-Times.