discipline summaries
DR. JORDAN KIRKWOOD MZOMA
ACHIUME
Practice Location: Cambridge
Practice Area: General Practice
Hearing Information: Agreed Statement of Facts,
Admission, Agreed Statement of Facts on Penalty,
Joint Submission on Penalty
On December 18, 2014, the Discipline Committee
found that Dr. Achiume committed an act of professional misconduct, in that he engaged in conduct
or an act or omission relevant to the practice of
medicine that, having regard to all the circumstances, would reasonably be regarded by members
as disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional. Dr.
Achiume admitted to the allegation.
On January 13, 2010, the Inquiries, Complaints
and Reports Committee (ICRC) issued a decision
regarding an investigation. Citing concerns about Dr.
Achiume’s record-keeping, the Committee ordered
Dr. Achiume to complete a specified continuing education or remediation program (SCERP) in medical
record-keeping between June and December 2010.
Letters from the College sent in November 2013
and January 2014 advised Dr. Achiume that College
records indicated he had still not complied with the
January 2010 SCERP order. Despite a request for
an explanation for his failure to do so, he provided
none. He was informed that the matter could result
in a referral to the Discipline Committee.
By February 19, 2014, Dr. Achiume had still not
completed a medical record-keeping course approved
by the College. Accordingly, the ICRC referred the
matter to the Discipline Committee.
Dr. Achiume had completed the in-class portion of
the medical record-keeping course as of the date of
the hearing, [December 18, 2014]. He was scheduled
to complete the practical component of the course by
January 30, 2015.
Reasons for Penalty
Counsel for the College and counsel for the member
made a joint submission as to an appropriate penalty
and costs order.
With respect to aggravating factors, College coun-
sel asked the Committee to consider Dr. Achiume’s
disciplinary history. He has been disciplined on three
previous occasions, all in the 1990s, albeit for serious
findings unrelated to the present one.
With respect to mitigating factors, Dr. Achiume’s
admission to the allegations obviated the need for
a contested hearing. This admission saved time and
resources. The Committee did note however that the
whole matter could have been avoided if Dr. Achiume had complied with the ICRC’s order earlier or
if he had provided a timely and reasonable explanation for his delay. Counsel for Dr. Achiume informed
the Committee that he has been in practice since
1976, with a large patient population, and reminded
the Committee that despite Dr. Achiume’s previous
involvement with discipline, these events all occurred
in the early 1990s for behaviours unrelated to the
present issues. Dr. Achiume had begun the required
medical record-keeping course by the date of the
hearing, and as part of a March 2014 order of the
Quality Assurance Committee, he had a supervisor
reviewing his records in order to discuss the care and
treatment plans.
Counsel for Dr. Achiume suggested that his noncompliance was related to a misunderstanding of College processes. Dr. Achiume’s practice was assessed as
part of a Quality Assurance (QA) initiative for physicians over the age of 70. Counsel suggested that Dr.
Achiume did not appreciate that the QA process was a
separate process from the ICRC process which commenced in 2009. The Committee was not persuaded
by this suggestion, as no evidence was presented to
support this explanation and because of Dr. Achiume’s
persistent and prolonged non-response to the ICRC
order, which he knew about for more than a year prior
to the start of the QA practice assessment.
The Committee understands how critical it is
that physicians practising in Ontario recognize and
respect the obligations of the College to regulate
physicians in order to promote and ensure patient
safety. The Committee feels strongly that, in order to
maintain public trust, it must insist on strict compliance by physicians with orders from all College committees. The Discipline Committee was dismayed at
Dr. Achiume’s persistent disregard for the authority
of the ICRC and his failure to respond to College
inquiries in a timely manner. The Committee found
Issue 4, 2015 Dialogue
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