Alberta doctor sanctioned for unprofessional conduct related to cannabis prescriptions
An Alberta-based doctor has been sanctioned after he was found to not be fully compliant with the Cannabis for Medical Purposes standard.
The decision was rendered by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA) after the doctor appeared before the CPSA Hearing Tribunal on three charges of unprofessional conduct.
According to the CPSA, the doctor had been accused of failing to comply with three of CPSA’s Standards of Practice but was found guilty on a portion of one charge.
The other charges, which pertained to the Referral Consultation and Telemedicine standards, were found to have not been proven and dismissed.
The charges stem from the doctor’s care of a patient in 2017, reports CTV Calgary.
In sanctioning the doctor, the CPSA tribunal ruled that the doctor will receive a reprimand and his authorizations for cannabis for medical purposes will be monitored by CPSA’s Physician Health Monitoring program on a quarterly basis for the next 12 months.
The doctor is responsible for 20 per cent of the costs of the investigation and hearing.
In September, a B.C.-based nurse was suspended for one week after it was determined that he asked a co-worker to create false vaccination records and that he supplied an elder with cannabis products outside of their prescribed health care plan.
In addition to the one-week suspension, the nurse also agreed to review informed consent and complete a course on ethics.
The man worked as a community health nurse with a high-risk population and his conduct from 2021 to March 2022 was reviewed by the B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM). He has also agreed to “discuss his learning in relation to his conduct with a BCCNM practice consultant.”
The regulator recommends that nurse practitioners who plan to authorize medical cannabis “familiarize themselves with the BCCNM prescribing drugs standards, the Cannabis Act and Cannabis Regulations, review the information about cannabis that is available from the Canadian Nurses Protective Society (CNPS), and review and comply with their organization’s policies about medical cannabis.”
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