California Students Sue Dental Association Over Exam Cheating Row

Los Angeles, CA (AHN) - Thirteen students from UCLA's School of Dentistry have sued the American Dental Association (ADA) for accusing them of aiding cheaters on a national exam and denying them a chance to defend themselves.

In their suit filed with Superior Court in Los Angeles, the students demanded compensation of more than $1 million each and a temporary restraining order against punishments ADA will impose on them, including the voiding of their passing scores in the 2006 exam and a one-year ban on retaking the exam.

The ADA has charged that the students violated exam rules when they wrote down exam questions and distributed these later to others preparing for the same test.

The students have disputed the evidence presented against them and have appealed the case to the association's Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations. They claimed that the allegations have humiliated them personally and professionally, jeopardized their careers and plans for specialized studies, threatened to burden them with student loan debts.