Alberta doctor's licence revoked after failing to pay fees, having sex with patient

A family doctor in Cochrane, Alta., who had sex with a patient more than a decade ago and was found guilty of further unprofessional conduct in 2014 has now had his permit to practise medicine revoked after he failed to pay outstanding fees.

Late last year, Dr. Habeeb Tunde Ali was ordered to pay $70,241 for the costs of an investigation into his behaviour and a hearing by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta, the licensing body for doctors in the province.

On Monday, the college's registrar announced it had revoked Ali's permit to practise medicine following a decision by the Supreme Court of Canada to not hear his final appeal.

The college had found Ali guilty in 2014 on three charges under its standards of practice and the Canadian Medical Association's code of ethics, including:

• Failure to pay his annual fees of $1,800 to the college.
• Failure to comply with the rules of an agreement that let him return to his practice, after his licence was suspended for unbecoming conduct in 2008.
• Failure to accurately report his income post-bankruptcy.

Ali appealed the decision, unsuccessfully, to the college's council in May 2016. He then appealed in December 2017 to the Alberta Court of Appeal, and was again unsuccessful.

In the spring of 2018, however, the Appeal Court granted him a stay in the cancellation of his permit to allow him to try appealing the costs award to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Last week, the Supreme Court decided it wouldn't hear that appeal and the stay expired.

Licence cancelled 'effective immediately'

The college said Monday in a news release that his licence "has been cancelled effective immediately."

"Patients of Dr. Ali can contact the Oasis Medical Clinic, where he was practising, to be referred to another physician in the clinic," the release said.

Alternatively, the release added, patients can contact the Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network at 403-284-3726, visit Health Link online or by dialling 811, or use the college's "Find a Physician" tool to be directed to a doctor accepting patients in their area.

Ali's licence was previously suspended in 2008 after he had a sexual relationship with a patient and fathered a child with her. He had been allowed to return to practice on the condition that he agreed to meet regularly with a psychiatrist.