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Discipline History

1999
Dr. Maher Hanna

Dr. Hanna entered guilty pleas to four charges of unprofessional conduct. He admitted that he:

  1. Was untruthful to the College when he responded to a concern that the CV of a physician who he had employed to work in his clinic had been falsified;
  2. Failed to maintain the standards of the profession in relation to medical records for 10 patients;
  3. Failed to follow the College's bylaws with respect to his chelation practice;
  4. Was untruthful in advising the College that he was fully compliant with the College's chelation bylaw.

Dr. Hanna's licence had previously been revoked in relation to another matter. He was suspended for a six month period that overlapped the period of his licence revocation. He was ordered to pay costs of $16,272.

1999
Dr. Maher Hanna

Dr. Hanna entered guilty pleas to four charges of unprofessional conduct. He admitted that he:

  1. Provided false information to a preliminary inquiry committee that he did not perform chelation therapy after February 17, 1998;
  2. Provided false information to a preliminary inquiry committee that he had recorded symptomatology leading to the diagnosis of ADHD in patients charts;
  3. Prescribed Ritalin in a manner that did not meet the standards of the profession;
  4. Submitted accounts to Medical Care Insurance Branch for spirometry services when he had not provided the necessary services to be entitled to bill for such services.

Dr. Hanna was suspended for a further 5 months and required to pay the costs of the investigation and hearing in the amount of $12,361.

2000
Dr. Carlos Huerto

Dr. Huerto was found guilty of unprofessional conduct in that, with respect to one patient, he:

  1. Failed to strongly advise the patient to discontinue birth control medication;
  2. Failed to achieve an INR level in the therapeutic range for anticoagulation;
  3. Provided an invoice to a patient for a medication that was not provided;
  4. Falsified hand-written notes in the patient's chart;
  5. Falsified a typed transcription of certain chart entries;
  6. Removed a document from the patient's chart.

Dr. Huerto was found guilty of unprofessional conduct in that, with respect to respect to a second patient, he:

  1. Treated a patient with Primacor (milrinone) in a manner which did not meet the standards of the medical profession;
  2. Provided thrombolytic therapy to a patient in a manner that did not meet the standards of the medical profession;
  3. Failed to provide the patient the necessary information to make an informed decision;
  4. Wrote a prescription for a narcotic without the intention that the patient receive the narcotic;
  5. Failed to alert the administrator under The Vehicles Administration Act of the dangers associated with the patient's condition.

Dr. Huerto was also found guilty of unprofessional conduct as he failed to maintain proper medical records.

The discipline committee also found Dr. Huerto found guilty of unprofessional conduct with a third patient, but that finding was set aside by the Court on appeal.

At the time of the penalty hearing, Dr. Huerto had been suspended from the practice of medicine for a period of approximately 14 months. The Council ordered that:

  1. Dr. Huerto was suspended from practice for the period of his interim suspension;
  2. Dr. Huerto was prohibited from providing thrombolytic or inotropic therapy except subject to the conditions in the order;
  3. Dr. Huerto was required to pay the sum of $172,600 towards the total costs incurred by the College of Physicians and Surgeons in relation to the investigation and hearing.

The costs were reduced to $120,000 after the finding of unprofessional conduct with respect to the third patient was set aside by the Court.

2000
Dr. Maher Hanna

Dr. Hanna entered a guilty plea to charges of unprofessional conduct that he:

  1. Breached an undertaking to post a sign notifying patients that he required a chaperone for examinations of female patients;
  2. Breached an undertaking that female patients would sign a document confirming that a chaperone was present for interactions with him;
  3. Billed for medical services which he did not provide.

The penalty imposed was:

  1. a suspension for six months;
  2. a fine of $10,000;
  3. a prohibition on practicing medicine unless there was another physician present in the clinic when Dr. Hanna was seeing patients in the clinic;
  4. a prohibition against treating female patients unless a chaperone approved by the College was present;
  5. an order that a physician approved by the College verify, on a monthly basis, that Dr. Hanna had complied with the terms of his undertaking and restrictions;
  6. an order to repay Medical Services Plan for improper billings.

2000
Dr. John Schneeberger

Dr. Schneeberger was charged with a number of criminal offences, including two charges of sexual assault on patients. He was suspended from the practice of medicine by the College pending the outcome of those charges.

Dr. Schneeberger was convicted of several criminal charges, including two sexual assaults.

Dr. Schneeberger's licence to practise medicine was revoked.

2001
Dr. Armstrong Mettle

Dr. Armstrong Mettle entered a guilty plea to two charges of sexual involvement with patients. Both relationships were consensual.

The Council revoked Dr. Mettle's licence for a minimum period of 9 months. He was required to have a psychiatric evaluation by professionals who were experienced at assessing physicians who have committed boundary breaches before he would be eligible to apply for a licence. He also was prohibited from engaging in counseling except with respect to a patient's physical condition.

Dr. Mettle met those conditions and his licence was restored.

2001
Dr. Ian Cowan

Dr. Cowan entered a guilty plea to a charge that he prescribed medications to a person with whom he maintained a sexual relationship.

Dr. Cowan was suspended for a period of two months, with the suspension itself suspended on the condition that he did not commit any further acts of unprofessional conduct for a period of two years.

2002
Dr. Elarien Korchinski

Dr. Korchinski entered a guilty plea to a charge that he made several efforts to meet a female patient outside their professional relationship and made improper personal disclosures to this patient.

Dr. Korchinski was reprimanded.

2002
Dr. Bruce Zimmermann

Dr. Zimmermann entered guilty pleas to three charges of failing to respond in a timely fashion to requests for information from the College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Dr. Zimmermann was fined $3,000.00.

2003
Dr. Carlos Huerto

Dr. Huerto was charged with a number of charges of unprofessional conduct. The Discipline Hearing Committee found him guilty of three charges.

The charges of which he was found guilty were that:

  1. He engaged in a sexual relationship with a patient;
  2. He prescribed medications in the name of an individual when some or all of the medications were not necessary for the patient's medical condition and/or were not intended for the patient's use;
  3. He swore affidavits relating to his financial circumstances in which the information provided was false and/or misleading and/or failed to provide full and complete disclosure of his financial situation.

Dr. Huerto's licence was revoked. He was required to pay $52,500 towards the costs incurred by the College.

2003
Dr. Tony Ogundipe

Dr. Ogundipe applied for licensure with the College of Physicians and Surgeons. In his application he did not disclose that he was the subject of criminal charges in Nova Scotia and did not disclose that he had been licensed in Nova Scotia.

The College became aware shortly after granting Dr. Ogundipe a licence that he was the subject of an outstanding criminal charge and had been licensed to practise medicine in Nova Scotia. Dr. Ogundipe's licence to practice was revoked.

Dr. Ogundipe was acquitted on the criminal charge. He then sought restoration of his licence.

Dr. Ogundipe entered a guilty plea to a charge that he provided information to the College in connection with his licensure that was incomplete or misleading.

The penalty imposed by the Council was:

  1. Dr. Ogundipe was suspended for three months, retroactive to the time that his licence was terminated by the College;
  2. He was fined $5,000.

Dr. Ogundipe's licence to practise medicine was restored.

2003 and 2006
Dr. Esther Stenberg

Dr. Stenberg's skills and knowledge were twice assessed by competency committees.

In both instances the competency hearing committee concluded that she lacked certain skills and knowledge.

In relation to the 2003 finding, she was required:

  1. to practise psychotherapy only under the supervision of a physician approved by the College;
  2. to complete a course in counseling skills approved by the College; and,
  3. to undergo a repeat assessment if directed by the Council.

Following completion of the remediation her skills and knowledge were again assessed. In 2006 the Council required her to undergo a minimum of 50 hours of supervised practice with a physician or psychologist approved by the College.

2004
Dr. Elarien Korchinski

Dr. Korchinski entered a guilty plea to a charge of unbecoming, improper, unprofessional, or discreditable conduct involving harassment of colleagues and coworkers.

As part of the disposition, Dr. Korchinski provided an undertaking to the College. Among the terms of the undertaking was that he would continue to be enrolled in the Saskatchewan Physicians at Risk Program, would authorize regular reports from that program, and would continue with his medical treatment.

The penalty imposed by the Council was::

  1. a suspension for five months with three months suspended on the condition that he not commit any further acts of unprofessional conduct within the next two years; and,
  2. an order that he pay $2,000 towards the costs of the investigation and hearing.

2004
Dr. Oluwatoyin Yusuf

Dr. Yusuf's skills and knowledge were assessed by a Competency Committee. The report of the Committee concluded that his skills and knowledge were deficient.

Dr. Yusuf agreed to limit his practice of medicine to surgical assisting.

2004
Dr. Satnam Gandham

Dr. Gandham held a licence to practice medicine in both British Columbia and Saskatchewan. In discipline proceedings before the British Columbia College Dr. Gandham admitted that he had prescribed medications via the internet without establishing a doctor-patient relationship with the persons to whom the medications were prescribed. The British Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons imposed a fine of $25,000.

The Council directed that he pay a fine of $15,000.

2005
Dr. Ashoka Prasad

Dr. Ashoka Prasad was registered on a special licence to practice psychiatry issued at the request of the Minister of Health. The Council conducted a hearing to determine whether his licence should be revoked based upon falsification of his credentials. The Council received information that the medical degree issued in his name had been granted to a different person. The Council received information that his Fellowships in psychiatry from Ireland and Scotland had been rescinded by the credentialing bodies that had issued them.

Council revoked his licence to practice medicine in Saskatchewan.

2005
Dr. Petrus Le Clus

A competency committee was appointed to investigate Dr. Petrus Le Clus' skill and knowledge.

Dr. Le Clus signed an undertaking that he would not practice medicine. The College agreed to suspend the investigation by the competency committee;

2006
Dr. Ronald Young

The discipline committee found Dr. Young guilty on a charge that he had telephoned a Saskatchewan physician and in that telephone call made statements that were threatening, or could be perceived as threatening, pertaining to another physician.

Dr. Young was reprimanded and ordered to pay $7,895.77 in costs.

2006
Dr. Jagdish Sood

The Executive Committee appointed a competency committee to determine if Dr. Sood had the skills and knowledge to perform certain ophthalmic procedures.

The matter was resolved when Dr. Sood signed a written undertaking that he would not perform surgery or the ophthalmic procedures of concern.

2006
Dr. Arthur Eldemire

Dr. Eldemire was charged with unprofessional conduct. The charges alleged that he prescribed psychoactive medications in a manner that did not meet the standards of the profession, and that he provided untrue information to the College.

The matter was resolved when Dr. Eldemire agreed to relinquish his licence and not to practise medicine in future.

2006
Dr. Bruce Zimmermann

Dr. Zimmermann entered guilty pleas to four charges of unprofessional conduct for failing to respond to correspondence from the College.

He received a fine of $1,500 on each charge, for a total of $6,000.

2007
Dr. Ryan Kyliuk

Dr. Kyliuk entered guilty pleas to several charges of unprofessional conduct. Dr. Kyliuk admitted that he completed prescription forms for narcotics which he consumed himself. In each case he inserted the name and signature of a fictitious resident as the prescriber, and the name of a physician who ostensibly was the supervising physician. The supervising physicians were unaware of, and did not authorize, the prescriptions.

The Council revoked Dr. Kyliuk's licence to practice medicine.

2007
Dr. Charles Smith

Dr. Smith entered a guilty plea to a charge that he provided false or misleading information to the College when applying for a licence to practise medicine.

Dr. Smith received a reprimand and was required to pay the costs of the investigation and hearing in the amount of $2,407.82.

2008
Dr. Werner van Tonder

Dr. Werner van Tonder entered a guilty plea to a charge that he left his practice without making appropriate arrangements for the follow-up care of his patients, he left his practice without making arrangements for the review of laboratory results and/or consultation reports for his patients and he left his practice without making arrangements for the ongoing care for patients admitted to hospital under his care.

He also admitted unprofessional conduct for not making appropriate arrangements to complete hospital records for patients under his care and for not responding to correspondence from the Deputy Registrar requesting information about his prescribing of prescription review drugs.

Dr. van Tonder had left the province and was no longer licensed in Saskatchewan at the time of the penalty hearing.

The Council imposed a fine of $10,000.00 on the charge that he left practice without making arrangements for ongoing care of his patients.

The Council imposed a fine of $1,500 on the charge that he did not complete hospital records for patients he admitted to hospital.

The Council imposed a fine of $1,500 on the charge that he did not respond to correspondence from the Deputy Registrar.

2008
Dr. Johan Kruger

Dr. Kruger entered a guilty plea to a charge of providing inaccurate or misleading information to the College in connection with his application for licensure.

The Council ordered a written reprimand.

June, 2008
Dr. Biju Thomas

Dr. Thomas was charged with unprofessional conduct after he entered a guilty plea to a Criminal Code charge of disturbing the peace and quiet of a dwelling house by discharging a firearm in a public place.

Dr. Thomas entered a guilty plea to the charge of unprofessional conduct. The Council ordered that he be reprimanded and pay a fine of $2,000.

2009
Dr. Thomas Chambers

The Discipline Hearing Committee found Dr. Thomas Chambers guilty of unprofessional conduct. The discipline hearing committee concluded that he billed Medical Services Branch for patients who he had not seen and falsified patient charts to indicate that he had seen those patients.

At the time of the penalty hearing Dr. Chambers had left Canada.

The penalty imposed by the Council was:

  1. a six-month period of suspension from practice;
  2. a fine of $10,000;
  3. an order that he undertake psychiatric treatment for a period of two years in a form acceptable to the Registrar;
  4. an order that he take an Ethics program in a form acceptable to the Registrar;
  5. an order to pay the cost of the investigation and hearing in the amount of $16,058.34.

2009
Dr. Bruce Zimmermann

Dr. Bruce Zimmermann admitted that he had engaged in unprofessional conduct on five occasions. He acknowledged that his conduct in failing to attend at Indian Head Hospital on three occasions when he was called by the hospital was unprofessional. He admitted that on two occasions his conduct in ordering medications for himself at the local hospital and treating patients at the hospital was unprofessional.

The penalty imposed by the Council was:

  1. a reprimand;
  2. a fine of $10,000;
  3. an order that he take treatment under the direction of the Physician Support Program of the Saskatchewan Medical Association for a period of two years, with that program to provide reports to the College of Physicians and Surgeons each 6 months;
  4. an order that he pay the cost of the investigation and hearing totaling $16,351.66.

2009
Dr. Laurens Steenberg

Dr. Laurens Steenberg entered a guilty plea to a charge of unprofessional conduct by failing to maintain appropriate records for approximately 5,000 patient encounters over a period of approximately 4 years. He entered a guilty plea to a charge of failing to provide reports requested by several patients within a reasonable time.

Prior to the penalty hearing, Dr. Steenberg signed an undertaking with the College that he would maintain appropriate patient records for his current patients and that he would send letters to those patients for whom he had not maintained appropriate patient records advising them of that fact.

The penalty imposed by the Council was:

  1. a one-month suspension from practice;
  2. an order to pay the cost of the investigation and hearing in the amount of $3,389.84

2009
Dr. Evan Franko

Dr. Franko entered a guilty plea to a charge of unbecoming, improper, unprofessional or discreditable conduct in that he:

  1. prescribed Dilaudid to a person who not his patient who had a history of drug dependency,
  2. shared the Dilaudid with that person; and
  3. used the Dilaudid while on duty as a critical care associate, rendering him incapable of fulfilling his duties.

Dr. Franko signed an undertaking not to practise medicine until the College's investigation of his conduct was complete. He spent somewhat over six months prohibited from practicing until the matter was resolved. That was considered in determining his period of suspension.

The Council imposed a penalty which included the following provisions:

  1. he was suspended for a period of six months with his suspension deemed to have begun February 23, 2009;
  2. he was prohibited from practicing as a critical care associate or as an emergency room physician, except while on call treating his own patients;
  3. he was prohibited from practicing in any medical clinic where opiates are available;
  4. he was prohibited from prescribing any opiate;
  5. he was required to participate in Physician Support Program of the Saskatchewan Medical Association, to follow the recommendations of the program and to participate in a program of random fluid screening.