Rogue dentist should face jail time, says college

Alleged illegal dentist David Wu has one last chance to appear in court to defend himself Wednesday, say the B.C.'s College of Dental Surgeons, which has been chasing him for two months.

The college claims the 62-year-old, who also goes by the name Tung Sheng Wu, is a fugitive and a predator who operated an illegal dental office from his home in Burnaby.

It's been trying to find him since August, when officials searched his Burnaby home and seized dental supplies and shot video of dirty and outdated equipment.

Shortly afterwards a judge issued a warrant for his arrest for contempt of court, for violating a 2003 injunction that shut down another unlicensed clinic he operated in Port Moody.

Since then, a private investigator the college hired has been following up on almost two-dozen tips on Wu's whereabouts without any luck.

Wu did not show up for a court date in late September, and Wednesday is his last chance to tell the court how he ran the alleged illegal practice for more than a decade, seeing at least 1,500 patients.

The college argues he endangered the health of people who sought his underground dentistry, and say he should face both jail time and fines.

"Here's somebody who has consistently thumbed his nose at the courts and at the college, and has put hundreds of patients at risk," says Jerome Marburg, CEO of B.C.'s College of Dental Surgeons.

Meanwhile, Fraser Health says it has contacted 450 of Wu's former patients, urging them to get tested for hepatitis and HIV.

Officials say so far none of them have tested positive to an infection as a result of seeing David Wu.