DISCIPLINE SUMMARIES
her wound examined to ensure that it was healing
properly.
Patient A was accompanied on this appointment
by the student coordinator. Throughout this appoint-
ment, the patient was lying prone on the examina-
tion table with her buttocks exposed.
Dr. Hardwick made statements purporting to
compliment the patient on her physical appearance.
He also made inappropriate comments about the
standards for cosmetic appearance in her culture,
adding that because the patient was from her country
of origin, she was probably accustomed to getting
compliments on her appearance.
The student coordinator told Dr. Hardwick that it
was not appropriate for him to be commenting on
the patient’s physical appearance. In response, Dr.
Hardwick stated that he was only joking, and said
“These government types are so uptight. They don’t
know a good joke when they hear one.”
After the June 2016 appointment, Dr. Hardwick
telephoned the student coordinator to apologize for
how he had acted and for the way he had spoken
about the patient. He stated that he thought the
patient was mature enough to handle jokes of that
nature, and that it was his fault for not recognizing
her lack of maturity.
Undertaking
Dr. Hardwick resigned and entered into an under-
taking to the College on March 20, 2019, by which
he agreed not to apply or re-apply for registration as
a physician to practise medicine in Ontario or any
other jurisdiction effective March 27, 2019.
ORDER
The Discipline Committee ordered: a reprimand
and payment of hearing costs to the College in the
amount of $6,000.
For complete details of the Order, please see the
full decision at www.cpso.on.ca. Select Find a Doctor
and enter the doctor’s name.
At the conclusion of the hearing, Dr. Hardwick waived
his right to an appeal and the Committee administered
the public reprimand.
DR. MEHDI HORRI
PRACTICE LOCATION: Practice Address Not Available
AREA OF PRACTICE: Family Medicine
HEARING INFORMATION: Contested Penalty Re-Hearing
The Discipline Committee originally heard this mat-
ter on September 26 and October 13, 2016. At that
time, the Committee found that Dr. Horri com-
mitted an act of professional misconduct in that he
engaged in a sexual relationship with Patient A too
soon (two weeks) after the termination of the doctor-
patient relationship. Following a contested penalty
hearing, the Committee ordered that Dr. Horri’s
certificate of registration be revoked, as well as a
reprimand and costs.
Dr. Horri appealed the penalty decision to the Di-
visional Court. On May 30, 2018, the Court allowed
Dr. Horri’s appeal, quashed the penalty decision
and remitted the matter of penalty to the Discipline
Committee for re-hearing.
The contested penalty re-hearing took place on
November 7, 2018. Counsel for Dr. Horri submit-
ted that an appropriate penalty was a three-month
suspension, an ethics course, reprimand and half-day
of costs at the tariff rate from October 2015. The
College position on penalty was a 12-months suspen-
sion, education in ethics/boundaries, a reprimand
and costs.
The Committee reviewed precedent penalty cases
for this type of misconduct and noted that societal
values disavow “precipitous relationships of a sexual
nature with vulnerable former patients.” The Com-
mittee stated that the Protecting Patients Act and
subsequent amendments to the Code would make
revocation mandatory for the type of misconduct
engaged in by Dr. Horri. While the amendments do
not apply in Dr. Horri’s case, they indicate the seri-
ousness with which this misconduct is viewed.
ORDER
The Committee ordered: a 12-months suspension
on Dr. Horri's certificate of registration; individual-
ized coaching in ethics/boundaries; a reprimand; and
ISSUE 2, 2019 DIALOGUE
49