DISCIPLINE SUMMARIES
DR. ADEL ABDUSELAM ABDURAHMAN
PRACTICE LOCATION: Sault Ste Marie
AREA OF PRACTICE: General Surgery
HEARING INFORMATION: Admission; Agreed Statement
on Facts; Contested Penalty
On February 9, 2018, the Discipline Committee
found that Dr. Abdurahman committed an act of
professional misconduct, in that he has engaged in 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.
The agreed facts established that Dr. Abdurahman
entered into an Alternative Payment Plan agreement
whereby he agreed to provide services to designated
hospitals in northern Ontario in exchange for annual
lump sum payments. The agreement was entered
into by the Ministry, the OMA and other parties to
bring surgical services to under-serviced areas of the
province.
Between January 1, 2015 and October 6, 2016, Dr.
Abdurahman was providing general surgery services
at Riverside Health Care Facilities in Fort Frances,
Ontario under the terms of an Alternative Payment
Plan. The Agreement provides physicians with an
annual lump sum payment in exchange for providing
general surgery services at the hospitals covered un-
der the Agreement. The Agreement specifically pro-
hibits physicians who have entered into the Agree-
ment from submitting claims or accepting payment
from the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (“OHIP”).
In contravention of the agreement, Dr. Abdurahman
submitted OHIP claims in the amount of approxi-
mately $200,000 for services he rendered at hospitals
who were not parties to the agreement. These hospi-
tals were between 1000 and 2000 km away from Fort
Frances. On many claim dates, Dr. Abdurahman was
the only on-call surgeon at Fort Frances and would
not have been able to attend Fort Frances within a
reasonable time period if required. When the billing
irregularities came to light, Dr. Abdurahman asked the
Chief of Staff to retroactively alter the on-call schedule
to cover up his unauthorized absences.
ORDER
The Discipline Committee ordered: a nine-month
suspension on Dr. Abdurahman’s certificate of
registration; a reprimand; successful completion of
the PROBE course in ethics and professionalism;
five years of clinical supervision following return to
practice, with a focus on OHIP billings, and re-
assessment to follow; a fine payable to the Minister
of Finance in the amount of $35,000; and payment
to the College for hearing costs in the amount of
$5,500.
For complete details, please see the full decision at
www.cpso.on.ca. Select Find a Doctor and enter the
doctor’s name.
APPEAL
On August 15, 2018, Dr. Abdurahman appealed the
penalty decision of the Discipline Committee to the
Divisional Court. Pursuant to the terms of Dr. Abdu-
rahman’s undertaking to the College of July 4, 2017,
the decision of the Discipline Committee remains in
effect despite the appeal.
On October 16, 2018, the Divisional Court
dismissed Dr. Abdurahman’s appeal for delay, with
costs.
DR. ALEXANDER MICHAEL ALEXANDER
PRACTICE LOCATION: Toronto
AREA OF PRACTICE: General Practice
HEARING INFORMATION: Admission; Agreed State-
ment of Facts; Joint Submission on Penalty
On September 25, 2018, the Discipline Committee
found that Dr. Alexander committed an act of pro-
fessional misconduct, in that he has failed to main-
tain the standard of practice of the profession, and in
that he has engaged in conduct or an act or omission
relevant to the practise of medicine that, having
regard to all the circumstances, would reasonably be
regarded by members as disgraceful, dishonourable or
unprofessional.
The agreed facts established that, following an
assessment of his practice that occurred in 2013,
ISSUE 1, 2019 DIALOGUE
43