Lengthy doctor suspension overruled

A three-and-a-half year suspension given to a doctor found to have inappropriately prescribed narcotics is too long, P.E.I.'s Court of Appeal ruled Friday.

The court said Dr. Grant Matheson should not be suspended at all unless he lapses.

The P.E.I. College of Physicians and Surgeons suspended Matheson's licence last February and fined him $15,000. This was not, however, the first penalty Matheson faced over the incident.

Between 2002 and 2005 Matheson was addicted to narcotics. He prescribed them to a patient, and then bought them back for his own use. As a result of an earlier investigation, he was suspended for 19 months.

Matheson also faced criminal charges of obtaining narcotics under false pretenses. He was sentenced to two years probation.

The college argued that it had received a number of complaints between 2002 and 2005, and it had treated Matheson's case as six separate incidents. The court ruled that was not appropriate, and that all of the doctor's transgressions should count as one finding of professional misconduct.

Justice John McQuaid wrote that the suspension should be reduced to 18 months, but also noted that there had been no further complaints since Matheson received treatment. The suspension would only be applied if Matheson does not meet the other conditions set down by the college.

• Pay the $15,000 fine.
• Submit to random drug testing.
• Do not prescribe any narcotics.
• Submit to audits of his practice by the college.

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Kenneth MacDonald wrote the suspension should be 12 months because 18 months was out of line with other cases in Canada.