discipline summaries
DR. STEPHEN CHARLES HUEBEL
Practice Location: Toronto (Scarborough)
Practice Area: General Practice (Emergency Medicine)
Hearing Information: Agreed Statement of Facts,
Admission, Agreed Statement of Facts on Penalty,
Joint Submission on Penalty
On January 19, 2015, the Discipline Committee
found that Dr. Huebel committed an act of professional misconduct, in that he failed to maintain the
standard of practice of the profession. Dr. Huebel
admitted to the allegation.
Patient A presented to the emergency department
in August 2012 with back and chest pain and a
history of some slurred speech. She was seen by an
emergency physician, had some investigations done
and was discharged with a diagnosis of transient
ischemic attack and chest pain not yet diagnosed.
The blood work conducted that day at the emergency department was unremarkable. She was to have
follow-up tests.
Patient A returned to the emergency department
two days later at approximately 9:50 a.m. complaining again of pressure between the shoulder blades
associated with chest pain radiating to the epigastriac
area. The pain was associated with weakness and
nausea. Patient A’s vital signs at Triage were: temperature 36.2; heart rate 64 irregular; respiratory rate
28; blood pressure 71/54 and 100/72; and oxygen
saturation of 96% on room air. Her past medical
history of atrial fibrillation and thyroid disease were
documented at Triage.
Dr. Huebel saw Patient A at 10:15 and documented her past medical history of atrial fibrillation
on Coumadin and her history of thyroid disease. He
documented her history of a sudden sharp chest and
mid-back pain that occurred two days prior with an
episode of an altered state of consciousness. He noted
that the CT head scan done at that time showed no
acute abnormality and that the troponin done at that
visit was negative. There are scant details of a physical examination, which was essentially unremarkable. Dr. Huebel ordered blood work (including a
D-Dimer), a chest x-ray, a thoracic spine x-ray and
a CT scan to rule out pulmonary embolism. He also
ordered medication, including Zofran and Toradol.
Dr. Huebel’s next documentation was at 13:45, and
then at 19:45, at which time it is documented that
the patient returned from diagnostic imaging with a
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