discipline summaries
1. The Registrar impose the following terms, conditions and limitations on Dr. Gagnon’s certificate of
registration:
a. Dr. Gagnon shall successfully complete, at
his own expense and before the end of 2015,
education approved by the College regarding
boundaries in the doctor-patient relationship.
2. Dr. Gagnon appear before the panel to be reprimanded.
3. Dr. Gagnon shall pay the College its costs of this
proceeding in the amount of $4,460 within 30
days of the date of this Order.
At the conclusion of the hearing, Dr. Gagnon waived his
right to an appeal and the Committee administered the
public reprimand.
Full decisions are available online at www.cpso.on.ca.
Select Doctor Search and enter the doctor’s name.
DR. A VAITO MANOHAR
Practice Location: Toronto
Area of Practice: Family Medicine
Hearing Information: Reinstatement Hearing
Dr. Manohar made an application to the College for
reinstatement of his certificate of registration. His
certificate had been revoked for professional misconduct
on October 5, 2006. The Registrar referred Dr. Manohar’s application for reinstatement to the Discipline
Committee and the Committee heard the application
on October 7 to October 9, 2013. The College opposed
Dr. Manohar’s application for reinstatement.
At the conclusion of the reinstatement hearing, the
Discipline Committee granted Dr. Manohar’s application for reinstatement with terms, conditions and limitations to be placed on his certificate of registration.
Revocation of certificate of registration
On October 5, 2006, the Discipline Committee made a
finding that Dr. Manohar committed an act of profes-
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Dialogue Issue 3, 2015
sional misconduct, in that he had engaged in sexual
abuse of a patient; he had engaged in conduct relevant
to the practice of medicine that, having regard to all
the circumstances, would reasonably be regarded by
members as disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional; and he had engaged in conduct unbecoming a
physician.
At the outset of the original hearing, Dr. Manohar
denied all the allegations but later entered the plea of
‘no contest’ to all of the allegations.
The sexual abuse included an act of sexual intercourse. Dr. Manohar’s certificate of registration was
revoked, and no application for reinstatement could
be made for five years. The findings of disgraceful,
dishonourable or unprofessional conduct and conduct
unbecoming a physician were made with respect to
Dr. Manohar’s having fabricated a story to the College;
having persuaded a witness to do the same; and having
attempted to interfere with the College’s investigation.
Evidence
The Committee heard oral evidence from Dr. Manohar,
from a treating physician and from two expert witnesses. The College did not call witnesses to give oral evidence but introduced a Victim Impact Statement. The
application record of Dr. Manohar also included the
transcript of his hearing of October 5, 2006, together
with the decision and reasons from the same hearing
and the statement of facts introduced at that hearing;
the decision and reasons in the case of Dr. Y, released
October 20, 2008; and a record of Dr. Manohar’s continuing medical education from 2010 to the present.
Overview of the events leading to the revocation of Dr. Manohar’s certificate
The complainant in the hearing leading to Dr. Manohar’s revocation first began attending his clinic in or
about March 2002, following injuries in a motor vehicle
accident. Following these injuries, she lost her business and became depressed. Dr. Manohar treated her
approximately 20 times over the subsequent two and
a half years, including prescribing antidepressants and
conducting two sessions of psychotherapy. On several
occasions, Dr. Manohar provided the complainant with
his cell phone number and in January 2003, met with
her for a drink at a bar.
In September 2004, Dr. Manohar invited the com-