PepaBCN

Imagine you are a dental hygienist and live in Sweden.. You are employed to help “migrant children” with their dental issues. As part of your job you examine the wisdom teeth development of the kids and you notice that 80% of those “kids” have fully formed wisdom teeth, implying they are not kids at all but adults older than the age of 18. You tell the Swedish Migration Agency and they advise you to put it in writing. When you send exact details, with examples of specific patients you are suspended, investigated and fired for disclosing private information relating to patients. This happened to Bernt Herlitz in 2017. When he appealed the unfair dismissal he ultimately lost and was fined about $50,000. He and his family faced financial hardship and almost lost their home, until some generous benefactors raised money for him. Bernt remains unemployed today, despite staff shortages for dentists in his area in Gotland. At the time, Sweden scoffed at the tests and claimed they were “discriminatory” but since then they have quietly brought in mass dental testing, for those whose age is in doubt, by the National Board of Forensic Medicine. Bernt deserves a medal. Not vilification and unemployment.