Lifetime ban ends a 30-year career sullied by $400K in improper billing, $75K in fines and a criminal conviction

A B.C. doctor with a troubled history that dates back to when he first got his licence in 1990 has been banned from the profession for good. The ban comes after he breached undertaking agreements that included securing a college-approved practice supervisor and working in a non-supervisory role with other full-time doctors and with patient volumes and hours approved by the provincial regulator. Dr. Gustavo Jose Carvalho, who practised in Richmond, will have his registration cancelled effective Jan. 1, 2023 and will not be eligible for reinstatement of registration during his lifetime, according to a notice issued by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia. His forced exit from the profession caps a rocky career that saw him suspended multiple times by the college and fined a total of $75,000 for three cases from 1993 to 2016. In 2016 he became the first physician in B.C. to have his Medical Services Plan billing number revoked permanently against his will—other doctors have surrendered theirs voluntarily—after an audit uncovered fake patient appointments and billing errors that added up to $200,000 invoiced to the province. Read: B.C. doctor the first in province to be involuntarily stripped of billing number Two previous audits had also found numerous instances of improper billing, resulting in an order for Dr. Carvalho to repay the province $184,138 plus interest and surcharges. In 2002, he was sentenced to one year of house arrest and three years’ probation for harassing a former girlfriend, public mischief and breach of sentence conditions. After his billing plan was taken away in 2016, Dr. Carvalho continued to face disciplinary action for breaching conditions imposed by the college. In 2018 he was reprimanded for failing to provide medical records in a timely manner. He was also suspended and fined that same year for unprofessional conduct. Revoking Dr. Carvalho’s licence permanently was necessary to “protect the public and to send a clear message of deterrence to the profession”given his past actions and continued failed remediation, wrote the college’s inquiry committee. “The inquiry committee was concerned that Dr. Carvalho continued to commit unprofessional conduct, including professional misconduct, following decades of regulatory actions taken against him and attempted remediation.” Read: ‘YES I AM a Medical Doctor and physician’: Impostor faces criminal charges

Lifetime ban ends a 30-year career sullied by $400K in improper billing, $75K in fines and a criminal conviction

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