Mark Arnold recently lead a timely seminar about compensation for the victims of terror. The seminar was well received by both faculty and staff at Bond University in Australia. If you would like to arrange for an interview or for further information about this topic please visit ps752classaction.ca ..read more

Recent cases involving healthcare professionals’ rights to speak publicly confuse rather than clarify what are the ground rules. Nursing In 2015, Carolyn Strom, a nurse in Saskatchewan, posted on Facebook criticizing the health care her grandfather received while in palliative care. In the post, Strom said staff at St. Joseph's Integrated Health Centre needed to do a better job of looking after elderly patients. Strom believed she commented as a private person with genuine concerns for her grandfather’s healthcare rather than in her capacity as a nurse. Some nurses at St. Joseph’s felt Strom ..read more

Division Court upholds discipline committee’s decision to strip dental hygienist of license to practice for treating spouse In what can only be described as an absurd outcome, the Ontario Divisional Court, an appellate level court, has upheld the harsh punishment for Alexandru Tanase. What appears to be a slavish adherence to rules that lead to untenable outcomes, the court expressed its disapproval of its own ruling but stopped short of taking a bold step to clear Mr. Tanase’s name. In the decision the court said, “there is no other case of any dental hygienist anywhere in Canada who has bee ..read more

Is the new ‘Uber’ for doctors platform the solution to medical wait times we have been, ahem, waiting for? The Canadian medical system has struggled for years to balance the delivery of healthcare on the one hand, with administrative and systemic efficiencies on the other. While each province does have certain unique challenges, many difficulties inherent in our healthcare system exist across the country. Recent media coverage on ‘single issue appointments’ demonstrates the need for some reform. Many doctors struggle to run their practices for real financial reasons, while OHIP limits doctors ..read more

Military to track down Kingston dentist's patients The Canadian Armed Forces (“CAF”) are identifying dental patients who may have been exposed to serious blood-borne infections at a dentist office in Kingston, Ontario. The military’s surgeon general issued a statement on February 19: “We are working with Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox and Addington Public Health on this matter, and we are reviewing our referral records to identify all members who were treated at this clinic between January 2010 and January 2019,” Brig.-Gen. Andrew Downes, surgeon general and commander of Canadi ..read more

Health regulators in Ontario frequently publish pending discipline hearings and disciplinary findings online. Google finds these publications and often acts as judge, juror and executioner. Recently, a Dutch surgeon was disciplined for negligence. She was initially suspended by the regulator. Google found and indexed the disciplinary decision. A Google search of the surgeon’s name revealed that decision, and a third party’s unofficial blacklist of doctors, including the surgeon’s name. The surgeon appealed the regulator’s the decision. The regulator reduced the penalty to a conditional suspen ..read more

Earlier this year we commented on a Toronto Star story regarding a wrongful dismissal lawsuit against the RCDSO and its Registrar. The allegations included conflicts of interest, ethical breaches, bullying and sexual harassment towards staff by the Registrar. The court case is ongoing and allegations have not been proven in court.  The RCDSO takes a heavy hand with its critics. The College’s lawyers have issued warnings to critics, threatening defamation suits for public statements that question college leadership. But, as we queried  in our last commentary, who will regulate t ..read more

Doctors in England have been told to ditch Latin and use 'plain English' The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario has a mandate to increase transparency and accountability of its member doctors. But there are Inherent difficulties when a self-regulating profession sets its own policies and reports to itself (we acknowledge the CPSO is accountable to the Ministry, but certainly not on a daily basis).  Who is in the best position to monitor our health care system and the performance of its doctors? Who can and should raise questions when needed? College staff? Other bureaucrats? Or ..read more

Earlier this year the Regulated Health Professions Act was modernized... Or was it? In the spring of 2018, certain new provisions within this umbrella statute came into force. For example new or changed sections of the Act include updated proceedings regarding sexual abuse of a patient, definitions of what constitutes sexual abuse, and other proceedings and rules surrounding members' requirements to report to the College and publication of certain information. The Act makes it clear that there is a one year prohibition on the initiation (or maintaining) of a sexual relationship after the termi ..read more

A patient has filed two complaints after a dentist denied his service dog access to the surgical operatory. But wait... This story raises serious and complex legal issues. These days, we often hear stories of service animals being denied access (and therefore their owners being denied access) to services. We have all read of the treatment of service animals on American airlines. Policies seem clear; procedures less so. But what do you do when a patient, who is entitled to accommodation of his disability, is not permitted to bring their service animal into the dental operatory? What if the reas ..read more