UPDATE: When should the public have learned about this outbreak?

MOUNT OLIVE -- Morris County dentist John Vecchione has been linked in state health reports to 15 cases of bacterial endocarditis, a heart infection.

In a report issued in July, the New Jersey Department of Health said the 15 cases -- which included one death -- were associated with "breaches of infection prevention practices" at an oral surgery practice in Morris County.

The outbreak occurred among patients receiving intravenous sedation for oral surgical procedures from December 2012 through August 2014, the DOH said.

Although the report does not specifically mention the dentist's name, the DOH released the report in response to an Open Public Records Act request from Hasbrouck Heights attorney James Lynch, who sought "any and all materials pertaining to any investigations of John Vecchione."

Lynch is representing former Vecchione patients in a lawsuit.

Vecchione is named in an administrative action filed by the state's Board of Dentistry, which allowed him to continue treating patients at his offices in Mount Olive and Parsippany.

The board investigated three initial reports of heart infections after a physician at Morristown Medical Center noticed that two patients had contracted the unusual disease and had one thing in common -- both had been treated by Vecchione.

The board did not suspend Vecchione's practice, but ordered him to improve his infection prevention protocols.

Asked why Vecchione's practice was not suspended, the attorney general's office, representing the board, issued a statement saying it had identified "several policies, protocols and procedures in need of change."

"Dr. Vecchione voluntarily agreed to implement those changes, which were memorialized in a consent order signed by both parties. The Board is continuing its investigation of this matter to determine if any further action is necessary," the attorney general's office said.

Vecchione and his attorney, Michael Keating, did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.

An inspection of Vecchione's office in the Budd Lake section of Mount Olive in 2014 revealed such issues as the use of a single use vial of Propofol for more than one use; pre-filled syringes of medication; expired vials and multi-dose vials of medication; non-sterile preparation of instruments and poor documentation of medication units, a deputy attorney general wrote in a decision on behalf of the State Board of Dentistry.

Among the patients who suffered the infection was 25-year-old Ryan Del Grosso of Jefferson, who was diagnosed with endocarditis about five weeks after having two wisdom teeth pulled by Vecchione, according to an account in Jefferson Patch. Del Grosso was the first client to sign on with Lynch for the lawsuit.

Del Grosso's father, Rene, said his son kept passing out and almost died, according to Patch.

"It's not like he (Vecchione) made a mistake," Del Grosso told Patch. "This is how he ran things."

After heart surgery, Ryan Del Grosso had to be confined to his house for about three months to receive medication, his father told the Associated Press. The ordeal left him with some hearing loss and severe tinnitus.

Ben Horowitz may be reached at bhorowitz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @HorowitzBen. Find NJ.com on Facebook.