‘Inevitable in a small town’: Tribunal orders family doctor to pay up to $12K for borrowing money from patient

An Alberta physician has been ordered to pay up to $12,000 in costs after entering into an inappropriate business relationship with a patient.According to the joint submission in the decision dated Feb. 25, 2026 from the Hearing Tribunal of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta, Dr. Alexander Lukubisa borrowed $40,000 from a patient to repay a debt and also provided the patient with $35,0000 to purchase a property for the purposes of renting it out on Airbnb. That purchase was ultimately unsuccessful, Dr. Lukubisa told the college.In his defence, the Langdon, Alta.-based family physician argued that social interactions with patients are “inevitable in a small town,” as summarized in the decision. However, the tribunal said this conduct represented “a clear breach” of the college’s standard of practice on boundary violations.The standard of practice states that physicians must “consider and minimize any potential conflict of interest or risk of coercion” when engaging with patients in non-clinical contexts, such as a personal or business relationship. When asked by the tribunal whether any steps were taken to minimize the perception of conflict of interest in this business relationship, Dr. Lukubisa said he avoided talking about financial matters in the clinic.“The Hearing Tribunal can infer from explanations provided by in the complaint and by Dr. Lukubisa in his response, that insufficient steps were taken to consider and minimize the risk of conflicts of interest and coercion,” the tribunal wrote.The patient, in his statement to the college, said he felt “manipulated and exploited” by Dr. Lukubisa through the doctor-patient relationship.In addition, Dr. Lukubisa was also accused of issuing prescriptions for Domperidone and Metoclopramide in the patient's name, only to divert the medications for his personal use. The complaint also noted that Dr. Lukubisa failed to create a record of the prescriptions in the patient’s charge.For his part, Dr Lukubisa admitted to this conduct, but said he was suffering from severe nausea as a result of a gastrointestinal illness and unable to see another physician to write a prescription.“Dr. Lukubisa states he understands this is not good practice and regrets his decision. Despite the desperation he says he felt at the time, he states he should have found some other solution,” the tribunal said, summarizing Dr. Lukubisa’s statement.In addition to the monetary penalty, which covers two-thirds of the costs of the investigation, Dr. Lukubisa has also been ordered to face a reprimand and complete a course on ethics.“The Hearing Tribunal is satisfied that Dr. Lukubias’s proven unprofessional conduct was serious, as it failed to respect the important therapeutic boundary between physicians and patients. Dr. Lukubisa acted out of self-interest rather than the interests of his patient, resulting in his patient reporting feeling manipulated and exploited,” the tribunal said.

‘Inevitable in a small town’: Tribunal orders family doctor to pay up to $12K for borrowing money from patient

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