DISCIPLINE SUMMARIES
omission that would be regarded by members as
disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional.
Dr. Peirovy gave a young female patient his per-
sonal cell phone number at the end of an appoint-
ment for the purpose of initiating a social dating
relationship. When she left the appointment, Patient
A expected that she and Dr. Peirovy would date.
Nothing was said about dating or ending the doctor-
patient relationship during the appointment. Patient
A did not consider Dr. Peirovy her doctor after the
appointment. The Committee concluded that there
was no professional reason for Dr. Peirovy to give his
personal phone number to this patient
Dr. Peirovy went on to engage in an intimate
romantic relationship with the patient shortly after
termination of the doctor-patient relationship.
The penalty hearing was contested. The College
sought a five-month suspension; a requirement that
Dr. Peirovy have a practice monitor for all patient
encounters; and costs of $36,860. Dr. Peirovy sub-
mitted that the appropriate penalty was a reprimand
and costs of $18,430.00.
ORDER
The Discipline Committee ordered: a two-month
suspension of Dr. Peirovy’s certificate of registration;
a reprimand; and costs of $28,610.
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.
DR. MARK JEROME SAGER
PRACTICE LOCATION: Toronto
AREA OF PRACTICE: Family Medicine
HEARING INFORMATION: Statement of Agreed and
Uncontested Facts; Admission, Plea of No Contest on
Liability; Joint Submission on Penalty
On March 4, 2019 the Discipline Committee found
that Dr. Sager had committed professional miscon-
duct in that he engaged in an act that is disgraceful,
dishonourable or unprofessional and he failed to
maintain the standard of practice of the profession in
regard to record-keeping.
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DIALOGUE ISSUE 2, 2019
Ms. A was a long-standing patient of Dr. Sager.
She had a history of recurrent breast cancer and was
scheduled to have a major operative procedure. Prior
to her final appointment with Dr. Sager in January
2017, she had often felt uncomfortable and humiliat-
ed due to his manner and lack of sensitivity in drap-
ing during gynecological examinations. At the final
clinical encounter, Ms. A asked questions regarding
lab reports and a medication prescribed by the surgi-
cal specialist. Dr. Sager responded to her very reason-
able questions with rude, demeaning language which
was laced with profanities. He also directly insulted
her intelligence. This degradation of Ms. A continued
when Dr. Sager was served with a complaint from
the College. He again used profane, rude language
and blamed the complaint on the patient, stating to
College investigators that Ms. A was mentally unwell
and had depression and cancer. He also suggested
that the College try to “trip her up” by further inves-
tigating the complaint.
Five weeks after he received the complaint, Dr. Sag-
er called Ms. A at her workplace and demanded that
she drop her complaint. He tried to manipulate her
by discussing his own health problems, and brought
up her religious background as a reason to forgive
his behavior. The entirety of these events was very
distressing for Ms. A. She felt humiliated, demeaned,
and manipulated by her long-standing physician.
As a contributing factor, when Ms. A’s chart was
requested by the College, it was found to be illeg-
ible. This led to further investigation into Dr. Sager’s
record keeping, which was found to be well below
the accepted standard of practice.
Prior College History
In June 2013, the Inquiries, Complaints and Re-
ports Committee of the College issued a decision
requiring Dr. Sager to be cautioned and to complete
a specified continuing education or remediation
program in relation to his record keeping. Dr. Sager
completed the University of Toronto Medical Record
Keeping Course in October 2013.
Undertaking to The College
Dr. Sager entered into an undertaking to the College
on January 16, 2019, by which he agreed to resign
his certificate of registration effective February 26,
2019. He also undertook not to apply or re-apply for