discipline summaries sician Health Program and the College were satisfied that she could return to work . As part of that undertaking , Dr . Marcin voluntarily resigned her prescribing privileges in relation to narcotic drugs , narcotic preparations , controlled drugs , benzodiazepines / other targeted drugs . Dr . Marcin ’ s breached her March 26 , 2014 , undertaking and contravened the terms , conditions and limitations on her certificate of registration by prescribing narcotics and other monitored drugs when she was expressly prohibited from doing so . On December 17 , 2014 , Dr . Marcin entered into an undertaking which required , among other things , that she practise under the guidance of a clinical supervisor acceptable to the College . Dr . Marcin breached her December 17 , 2014 , undertaking by not meeting with her supervisor with the required frequency and for the required duration . She failed to fulfil the terms of her monitoring and rehabilitation plan as required by her undertaking . Defence counsel submitted that Dr . Marcin made a good faith effort to comply with her undertaking . The Committee did not agree . While the Committee believed that Dr . Marcin has made some effort to comply with the monitoring terms , it was clear from the totality of the record that she repeatedly failed to comply . The Committee recognized that illness and other unexpected situations may impact on compliance . However , the excuse that Dr . Marcin offered – that she was unable to pay her supervisor – is not acceptable . The College monitor repeatedly reminded Dr . Marcin of the terms of her undertaking throughout the monitoring . The undertakings at issue were clear . The Committee found the disregard Dr . Marcin demonstrated was purposeful , flagrant , and shows a disregard of her governing body .
Reasons for Penalty The principles relevant to the imposition of penalty in disciplinary proceedings are well-established . The protection of the public is the paramount consideration . Others include maintenance of public confidence in the reputation and integrity of the profession and in the principle of effective self-governance ; general deterrence as it applies to the membership as a whole ; specific deterrence as it applies to the member ; and the potential for the member ’ s rehabilitation . In this matter , dishonesty , lack of personal integrity , incompetence and ungovernability all play a central role . The Committee was staggered by the breadth of professional misconduct which demonstrated Dr . Marcin ’ s blatant disregard of the healthcare system , the responsibilities of the medical profession and its governance . The profound effect of such behaviour cannot be underestimated . There is simply no place in the medical profession for such reprehensible conduct . Dr . Marcin demonstrated repeated and pervasive dishonesty . Her fraudulent billing of OHIP for which she was criminally prosecuted , resulted in fewer dollars available for the care and treatment of Ontario patients in need . The College and the public rely upon and expect physicians to be honest in their OHIP billing . Serious consequences must follow when dishonesty occurs . Dr . Marcin demonstrated flagrant self-interest as well as dishonesty when she placed a letter terminating her professional relationship with Patient A in his medical record . This falsification of her patient ’ s medical record was uncovered in a forensic audit and is a further illustration of self-interest and deception . Dr . Marcin placed her patients in a dangerous position when she failed to maintain the standard of practice and was incompetent in her prescribing of narcotics . She put the community at risk for drug abuse and drug diversion which is acknowledged to be a significant problem . Dr . Marcin demonstrated a lack of propriety and a disregard of her professional responsibility in her boundary violations with Patient A . In doing so , she abused the trust inherent in the physician-patient relationship . Dr . Marcin demonstrated an unacceptable disregard of the role of the College in the governance of the profession by repeated breaches of undertakings she made to the College . These undertakings were made to protect the public from harm . Dr . Marcin ’ s major errors in clinical judgment and her lack of insight as to her fundamental professional
Full decisions are available online at www . cpso . on . ca . Select Doctor Search and enter the doctor ’ s name .
Issue 2 , 2017 Dialogue 63