PC candidate still running in provincial election despite further restrictions on his medical practice
PC candidate for Tyndall Park constituency says he's done nothing wrong
Ten years after Winnipeg physician Dr. Naseer Warraich's licence was temporarily revoked for professional misconduct, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba has imposed new restrictions on how he practices medicine.
The terms and conditions were posted on the College's website and include limitations on how many patients Warraich can see in a day, and how he files his paperwork.
"In his office practice, Dr. Warraich will see no more than five patients per hour, on average, to a maximum of 35 patients per day when working a full day in the office," the College said.
It went on to say Dr. Warraich is not allowed to "supervise or teach any students in any setting".
Despite that, Warraich said he is still running for the Tories in the Winnipeg constituency of Tyndall Park and is featured on the party's website wearing a white coat and stethoscope.
"There is nothing, anything against me," Warraich said over the phone from the Keewatin Medical Centre where he works.
"There's no restrictions. Who told you there's a restriction? I'm old guy now so I need to limit my practice you know," Warraich said.
He told CBC the terms and conditions were because of his "workload" and said he was advised by the PC party not to comment.
"I have like hundreds of students. I'm not any more able to do it, you know. I'm busy with other stuff you know," said Warraich.
In 2006 Warraich pleaded guilty to professional misconduct for co-signing prescriptions for U.S. patients he had never seen. The prescriptions were for up to 20 pharmacies, the college found.
Some of the prescriptions were for animals, although Warraich is not a veterinarian.
His licence was suspended for two years and he was fined $16,000.
The college said during its investigation that Warraich misled the college regarding how long he had been co-signing prescriptions and for how many pharmacies. He also initially told the college he spent 15 minutes reviewing patient information before co-signing a prescription.
In an emailed statement, the college's Dr. Anna Ziomek said the new restrictions have nothing to do with Warraich's past mistakes.
"We confirm that the terms and conditions on Dr. Warraich's license reflected on his profile did not arise from the 2006 decision," she said. But due to confidentiality rules, she said the college will not release any further information.
'A dedicated physician and surgeon'
The PC Party declined an interview request, and sent this statement instead.
"Dr. Warraich has already acknowledged mistakes made over 13 years ago that led to him fully accepting professional responsibility as a physician," spokesperson Howard May said in an email.
"These are not new and have been reported in the media before, in 2011 when he was a candidate for our party, and in the fall of last year."
The statement went on to say, "In January of this year, he voluntarily agreed to some professional practice management restrictions dealing with workload, patient volumes and administrative matters. These have been published and are publicly available as part of the normal College of Physicians' process. There is no suggestion of professional misconduct [in the most recent conditions], and he remains a dedicated physician and surgeon, who has treated thousands of patients within his community over almost 20 years."
Warraich said he would donate his full salary to his riding, "for the welfare of the people".
"Nothing is there against me. I'm a cancer survivor. I served with the Canadian Armed Forces. I raised money," he said. "I did whatever I was able to do for the community and the people."
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with files from The Canadian Press