Six-month suspension for physician who made referrals using another doctor's credentials

An Ottawa doctor has been suspended for six months and ordered to pay $6,000 in college costs after being found guilty of multiple offences that included directing an employee to use another physician’s credentials to make a referral—as well as inadequate infection prevention and control that harmed a patient. Dr. Mathieu Belanger had also exposed a patient to risk by continuing to use a broken bottle of calcium chloride. He is temporarily banned from practice starting on Feb. 1, 2023 and must complete college-approved ethics courses within six months from the Dec. 12 order. Before resuming his practice, he must retain a clinical supervisor and work under supervision for at least 12 months, according to the decision document issued by the Ontario Physicians and Surgeons Discipline Tribunal. In February 2021, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario had ruled against Dr. Belanger’s request to have his case heard by a French-speaking disciplinary panel, in place of an interpreter. Read: Doctor has no right to francophone panel, Ontario discipline committee rules Before resuming his practice, he must retain a clinical supervisor and work under supervision for at least 12 months, according to the decision document issued by the Ontario Physicians and Surgeons Discipline Tribunal. The tribunal had also found Dr. Belanger guilty of performing unauthorized procedures in his clinic, which had failed the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario’s out-of-hospital-premises inspection program. As a result of this guilty finding, he has been prohibited from performing any procedures that can only be done in an out-of-hospital-premises setting. Dr. Belanger also billed the province improperly 147 times under two codes whose conditions he did not meet, as well as failed to keep adequate records. This sanction was not the first for Dr. Belanger. In 2018, his licence was suspended for five months after he was found guilty of treating patients with nerve blocks even though his clinic was not approved for the procedure. Read: Toronto Star investigation takes on 'excessive' nerve block billing

Six-month suspension for physician who made referrals using another doctor's credentials

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