Doctor has licence suspended and charged $110,000 for making false accusations about colleague

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/06/2017 (2501 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Manitoba doctor has had his licence suspended for six months and was ordered to pay $110,000 in costs after falsifying allegations that a hospital colleague strangled him and threatened to kill him.

Dr. Tahseen Mahdi made accusations he “knew or ought to have known were false,” reads the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba inquiry panel’s written decision dated May 19 but posted online Wednesday.

Mahdi did not return a request for comment left at his clinic.

The College inquiry panel’s 62-page document outlining the reasons for its decision describes brewing tension at a hospital somewhere outside of Winnipeg — the College has withheld the names of all witnesses, facilities, and the regional health authority — over emergency room scheduling.

In July 2013, the hospital’s chief of staff, referred to only as Dr. H, called a meeting of all the doctors working in the hospital’s emergency room to discuss a scheduling process dating back to 2012 that wasn’t working “as intended.”

What happened next, per Dr. H’s recollection, is accepted by the inquiry panel, which labeled him an “impressive witness” who was “disinterested in the outcome of these proceedings” or at least, more so than the affected parties.

A physician referred to in documents as Dr. A began to berate Mahdi, standing over him and telling him that he was incompetent and had been sent away to Winnipeg for additional training. Dr. A was, per the decision, unhappy at having not been assigned any emergency department shifts in August. Although Dr. H tried to calm Dr. A, Dr. A continued “verbally abusing” Mahdi.

He “wagged his finger at Dr. Mahdi and walked towards him saying things such as ‘I am going to beat you. I am going to throw you down. I am going to send you to hell.’” Dr. H distinctly remembered that there was physical contact, both Dr. A putting his finger in Mahdi’s face and then punching him in the chest.

While Dr. A denied the punch, saying he “might have touched Dr. Mahdi’s chest,” he acknowledged his behaviour was inappropriate and “that he lost control of his emotions and regretted doing so.” Mahdi reported the incident to the RCMP the next day, which began investigating. It’s unclear based on the file what came of that investigation.

It’s what Mahdi alleged transpired after that — on Aug. 1, 2013 — that the inquiry panel said never actually happened. And the inquiry panel for the College, which is the regulatory body for all physicians and surgeons across the province, said the accusation was so severe as to constitute professional misconduct.

Mahdi alleged he was in his office on Aug. 1 when he was, per the written decision, “surprised by an attack by Dr. A, who came from behind you, choked you with his hands, said ‘you better drop the charges or you are going to lose your life,’ and pushed you to the floor.”

Except, the panel said, an investigation and testimony over the course of five days last spring, showed that couldn’t have happened. The panel didn’t dig into the motives of either Mahdi or Dr. A, but relied on “substantial evidence from other witnesses indicating that Dr. A did not assault Dr. Mahdi.”

As a result, last September the panel found Mahdi guilty of professional misconduct specifically for “planned and deliberate” allegations against Dr. A even when he knew them to be false. It took until last month for the College to decide on a suitable punishment and until this week for it to be posted online.

The College has suspended Mahdi’s licence for six months, with two months considered already served owing to a two-month suspension in 2013 as a result of the summer incidents. His remaining four-month suspension begins Sept. 1. Mahdi must also pay costs to the college of $110,000 with half due by the end of the summer and the other half due next summer. He is also required to complete a medical ethics and professionalism course before the end of the year. The panel had no concerns with Mahdi’s patient care.

jane.gerster@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @Jane_Gerster