DISCIPLINE SUMMARIES
medicine practice, including that:
• There was no effective initial triage process to
distinguish between severe patients and routine
patients;
• There was a failure to report unsafe drivers to the
Ministry of Transportation or to recommend to
patients that they not drive;
• The presenting complaint was not addressed in the
consultation report provided by Dr. Denys to the
referring physician;
• There was no effective triage following sleep studies,
with the result that some patients with extremely
severe sleep apnea experienced 6-9 month delays in
getting treatment;
• The quality of the sleep study reports and consulta-
tion reports provided to the referring physician was
poor;
• In some cases there was no evidence that the
patient had attended for a consultation with Dr.
Denys following the sleep study, nor any evidence
that attempts had been made to contact the patient
or that the referring physician was advised that the
patient did not attend for the consultation.
The expert opined that Dr. Denys failed to meet
the standard of practice of the profession in his care
and treatment of patients in 45 of the 50 patient
charts reviewed, that Dr. Denys demonstrated a lack
of knowledge, skill and/or judgment in 44 of the 50
patient charts reviewed, and that Dr. Denys’ clinical
practice exposed, or was likely to expose, patients to
a risk of harm in 25 of the 50 patient charts re-
viewed.
Disgraceful, Dishonourable and Unprofes-
sional Conduct
Dr. Denys’ daughters own the licenses of Essex
County Respiratory Services and Essex County Di-
agnostic Services, the Independent Health Facilities
where the pulmonary function tests were performed,
and Dr. Denys is the main interpreting physician for
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DIALOGUE ISSUE 3, 2019
pulmonary function tests at both facilities. Referring
patients for testing without appropriate clinical in-
dication and from which he and his family members
received a benefit constitutes disgraceful, dishonour-
able and unprofessional conduct.
Dr. Denys failed to comply with conflict of inter-
est requirements, which also constitutes disgraceful,
dishonourable and unprofessional conduct. Section
17 of Ontario Regulation 241/94 made under The
Medicine Act, 1991, provides that:
17. (1) It is a conflict of interest for a member
to order a diagnostic or therapeutic service to be
performed by a facility in which the member or a
member of his or her family has a proprietary interest
unless,
(a) t he fact of the proprietary interest is disclosed
to the patient before a service is performed;
or
(b) t he facility is owned by a corporation, the
shares of which are publicly traded through
a stock exchange and the corporation is not
wholly, substantially or actually owned or
controlled by the member, a member of his
or her family or a combination of them.
(2) A member who or whose family has a proprietary
interest in a facility where diagnostic or therapeutic
services are performed shall inform the College of the
details of the interest.
Dr. Denys failed to inform the College of his
conflicts of interest in respect of Windsor Sleep
Disorders Clinic, Essex County Respiratory Services,
Essex County Diagnostic Services and Denys Sleep
Supplies and Services Inc. until he submitted the
Conflict of Interest declaration forms on August 16,
2017.
Undertaking
On April 12, 2019, Dr. Denys entered into an
Undertaking with the College in which he agreed to
cease practising sleep medicine in all jurisdictions
and to never resume doing so.