On January 9, 2019, on the basis of an Agreed Statement of Facts and Admission, the Discipline Committee found that Dr. Vineet Iqbal Arora committed an act of professional misconduct, in that he has engaged in an act or omission relevant to the practice of medicine that, having regarding to all the circumstances, would reasonably be regarded by members as disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional.
AGREED STATEMENT OF FACTS AND ADMISSION
Dr. Arora is a 53-year-old ophthalmologist who received his certificate of registration authorizing independent practice in 1989. Dr. Arora practices in Hamilton, Ontario.
On June 21, 2015, Dr. Arora entered into an Undertaking with the College whereby he agreed to, among other things:
- restrict his number of daily patient encounters to a maximum of eighty (80) patient encounters per day except on days when he is on-call for the Ophthalmology Service at Hamilton Health Science and St. Joseph’s Health Centre; and
-maintain a call log verifying all patients seen above the ordinary 80 patient maximum.
In September 2016, the College received correspondence from the Ministry of Health and Long- Term Care, indicating that on various dates between June 21, 2015 and August 22, 2016, Dr. Arora had claimed for more than 80 fee codes which require a direct encounter with the patient. Dr. Arora was on-call on one of these dates. Dr. Arora did not maintain a call log verifying all patients seen above the ordinary 80 patient maximum on the dates when he was on-call.
Dr. Arora admits that, based on these facts, he engaged in acts or omissions relevant to the practice of medicine that would be regarded by members as disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional by breaching the terms of his June 2015 Undertaking to the College.
AGREED STATEMENT OF FACTS RELEVANT TO PENALTY
Complaints resolved by the June 2015 Undertaking and a caution-in-person
The June 2015 Undertaking was directed by the Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee of the College (the “ICRC”) in resolution of 2 separate patient complaints. Each of these complaints involved an allegation that Dr. Arora communicated in a rude and unprofessional manner. The ICRC noted that Dr. Arora had a history of complaints regarding communications and expressed its view that Dr. Arora’s high-volume, high-stress practice contributed to his communication difficulties. In addition to accepting Dr. Arora’s June 2015 Undertaking in resolution of each complaint, the ICRC also directed that Dr. Arora attend at the College to be cautioned in respect to patient communications.
Relevant College history
Apart from the matter at hand, Dr. Arora has no prior discipline history with the College. Prior to the complaints resolved by the June 2015 Undertaking, Dr. Arora had been the subject of a number of complaints to the College between 1996 and 2011 regarding rude and unprofessional communications with patients.
In February 2007, in resolution of several complaints, Dr. Arora entered into an undertaking to complete a course in Medical Record-Keeping for Surgical Specialties and a course in Physician- Patient Communications. The undertaking was fulfilled. The Complaints Committee also directed that Dr. Arora attend at the College to be cautioned in respect to patient communications. On May 14, 2007, the Co-Chair of the Complaints Committee wrote a warning letter to Dr. Arora. In that letter, he noted Dr. Arora’s history of patient complaints regarding communications and conveyed that he expected that the College would not have to deal with matters of a similar nature again. In June 2011, in resolution of a patient complaint, the ICRC directed that Dr. Arora attend at the College to be cautioned about maintaining professional communications with patients at all times. On December 5, 2011, the Chair of the ICRC wrote a warning letter to Dr. Arora. In that letter, he noted Dr. Arora’s caution-in-person regarding unprofessional communications and advised Dr. Arora that the matter of repeated complaints of a similar nature and his failure to respond to the Committee’s first warning may be brought to the attention of the ICRC should such episodes happen again.
Additional information
The June 2015 Undertaking provides that Dr. Arora was to practice under the guidance of a preceptor for a minimum of two (2) years and to see a therapist who is a member of a regulated health profession for a minimum of one (1) year. Dr. Arora continues to meet regularly with his preceptor and see a therapist, although he is no longer required to do so pursuant to the terms of his June 2015 Undertaking. Dr. Arora’s therapist, Ms Stephanie Swayne, has continued to provide reports on his progress to the College.
Since entering into the June 2015 Undertaking, Dr. Arora has not been the subject of any new patient complaints to the College regarding rude or unprofessional communications. Dr. Arora has advised the College that, since being notified of the College’s concerns regarding compliance with the June 2015 Undertaking, he has made a number of changes to his practice, including: implementing a new system to track appointments; instructing his staff to book fewer appointments per day; and making changes to his staff, including hiring new staff. There is no evidence that Dr. Arora has exceeded 80 patient encounters a day since he was informed of the breach of his June 2015 Undertaking by the College, on December 13, 2016.
DISPOSITION
The Discipline Committee ordered that:
The Registrar suspend Dr. Arora’s certificate of registration for a period of one (1) month, commencing from February 25, 2019 at 12:01 a.m.
The Registrar place the following terms, conditions and limitations on Dr. Arora’s certificate of registration:
o Dr. Arora will participate in and unconditionally pass the PROBE Ethics & Boundaries Program offered by the Centre for Personalized Education for Professionals, with a report or reports to be provided by the provider to the College regarding Dr. Arora’s progress and compliance. Dr. Arora will complete this requirement within 6 months, or, if it is not possible to do so within 6 months, at the first available PROBE Ethics and Boundaries program for which Dr. Arora is eligible.
- Dr. Arora attend before the panel to be reprimanded.
- Dr. Arora pay costs to the College in the amount of $6,000.00 within 30 days of the date of this Order.
Dr. Arora waived his right to an appeal under subsection 70(1) of the Code and the Committee administered the public reprimand.
Terms and conditions imposed on certificate by: Member