Dental student threatened suit over disability accommodations

Former Dental student Melinda Schottenstein threatened legal action against the School of Dental Medicine after the school allegedly refused to provide her with sufficient academic accommodations for a genetic condition called dysautonomia that affects her heart.

She then withdrew from Penn Dental and was refunded her tuition after Schottenstein and her lawyer failed to reach an agreement with the school regarding accommodations.

According to Uri Hangorsky, the school’s dean of academic affairs, the Dental School was still in the process of considering Schottenstein’s accommodations request when she chose to withdraw.

In a statement on behalf of the Dental School, Hangorsky said Schottenstein voluntarily decided to withdraw before the review process was completed.

Schottenstein, who attended Harvard University for undergraduate studies, originally enrolled in the Dental School after having been recommended by a maxillofacial surgeon for whom she interned. In a phone interview, Schottenstein said her cardiologist approved her for matriculation given her recent good health.

Having taken medication for her condition throughout college, Schottenstein said she had not had problems with her health or academics as an undergraduate, and she graduated magna cum laude in spring 2006.

Schottenstein added that she knew the dental curriculum would be challenging, so, in August, she met with Alice Nagle, a counselor who specialized in assisting graduate students with disabilities.

Nagle drafted a letter detailing accommodations Schottenstein had been approved to receive, including occasional excused absences from class, a chair to sit in if prolonged standing was required for class and snacks and drinks at all times during classes, laboratories and exams.

According to the letter, the University’s Office of Student Disabilities Services determined that Schottenstein was eligible for these accommodations.

Schottenstein then met with Joan Gluch, then-director of academic affairs, and her assistant Caryn Stivelman. Schottenstein said Gluch approved her accommodations.

Hangorsky declined to comment on the approval of the accommodations because he said the school’s records are confidential.

Within one month of the start of classes on Aug. 24, Schottenstein said she became “very symptomatic,” experiencing “exhaustion, tachycardia, terrible pain and heaviness in my legs, and dizziness.”

On Sept. 26, Schottenstein went to the emergency room, where she said her doctor expressed concern about her exhaustion.

Two days later, she went to the office of academic affairs to express her concerns to Gluch, who, she was told, had been replaced by Hangorsky.

Schottenstein became sick in histology lab on Oct. 30 and visited the ER for the second time that week.

The next day, Schottenstein met with Hangorsky and Stivelman to discuss possible solutions.

Schottenstein suggested extending the first two years of the curriculum over three years in order to slow the pace, but Hangorsky “flat out refused,” she said.

Though Schottenstein said she knew of dental school students taking even 10 years to complete the curriculum, Hangorsky said school policy restricted the curriculum to a maximum of five years.

A few days after the meeting, Schottenstein’s family hired Richard Miller, a lawyer, to write a letter to the dental school.

In the letter, Miller described the University’s refusal to provide accommodations, which the letter said are routinely provided at other institutions, as both “unfortunate and illegal.”

Miller told the dental school that if it didn’t provide reasonable accommodations, his client would take legal action against the school, alleging violation of the American Disabilities Act.

The dental school offered Schottenstein a full refund of her tuition — about $68,000 — and she withdrew from the school on Oct. 13.

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