Discipline decisions are the published reasons of regulatory tribunals that adjudicate professional misconduct and incompetence allegations against Ontario regulated health professionals. Posts in this category analyze decisions of the Ontario Physicians and Surgeons Discipline Tribunal (OPSDT) and, where relevant, decisions of the discipline bodies of other Ontario health colleges, including the College of Nurses of Ontario.
Discipline proceedings are regulatory rather than civil. They do not provide compensation to patients who have been harmed by negligent care. They focus instead on whether the registrant should continue in practice, whether their practice should be restricted, and whether public protection requires sanctions ranging from caution and remediation to suspension or revocation of the certificate of registration. The framework is set out in the Health Professions Procedural Code (Schedule 2 to the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991) and in the profession-specific acts and regulations.
For patients considering a civil claim, discipline outcomes can be a useful source of information about a practitioner’s history and the regulator’s view of the standard of practice. For lawyers and researchers, discipline decisions are an important parallel jurisprudence to civil case law on standard of care and professional conduct.
Posts in this category analyze recent discipline outcomes, with attention to the underlying clinical or non-clinical conduct, the regulatory provisions engaged, the penalty imposed, and any judicial review or appeal that followed.
Ontario discipline tribunal imposes four-month suspension, practice restrictions, and mandatory supervision on chronic pain physician with pattern of prior concerns.
Discipline Committee of the College of Nurses of Ontario imposes permanent undertaking on registered nurse who altered morphine records before patient’s death.
Ontario discipline tribunal revokes psychiatrist’s licence for issuing over 1,400 COVID exemption letters for profit, with dual misconduct and incompetence findings.
Ontario discipline tribunal imposes suspension on fertility physician based on Quebec findings, including federal Assisted Human Reproduction Act breaches.
Ontario discipline tribunal grants conditional reinstatement to psychiatrist whose licence was revoked in 2018 for serious professional boundary violations.
Missed sepsis is one of the most consequential diagnostic failures in emergency medicine. Patients with early sepsis can look deceptively well: vital signs may be
Professional regulation of physicians in Ontario operates across three distinct domains of duty: clinical conduct (the standard of care owed to patients during treatment), documentation
OPSDT accepts joint submission for permanent resignation after physician surreptitiously drugged a patient/employee with Rohypnol and Lorazepam, then self-administered to evade detection.
The Divisional Court affirms the OPSDT’s revocation of Dr. Trozzi’s licence. The Doré framework, the non-cooperation duty, and the limits of physician speech.
An Ontario tribunal ruled physicians have no Charter privacy interest in their patients’ records. Subsequent proceedings produced a 12-month suspension.
A family physician suspended for 12 months after charging patients for Accessible Parking Permit applications and certifying eligibility his charts did not support.
A diagnostic radiologist conducted hundreds of unauthorized searches of patient records over six years. The OPSDT imposed a four-month suspension, reprimand, and costs.
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