Province posts draft rules for podiatry, moves to make it a regulated health profession

The government of Prince Edward Island has published draft regulations that would make podiatry a regulated health profession in the province.

The draft regulations, posted on the province's website Thursday, lay out rules for those who want to diagnose and treat foot conditions as podiatrists. 

They include completing a post-secondary program in podiatry, being covered by liability insurance, and having up-to-date training in first aid and CPR. 

The draft regulations make the P.E.I. College of Physicians and Surgeons responsible for determining who can practise as a podiatrist on the Island.

• READ: The draft regulations as posted on the P.E.I. government site

As regulations rather than legislation, the changes don't require a vote in the legislature but can be approved by Premier Dennis King's cabinet. If that happens, P.E.I. will become the ninth province in Canada to regulate this branch of medicine.

Podiatrists will need authorization to perform some kinds of treatment under the new rules, and that go-ahead will depend on whether they can prove they have completed the relevant training.

Those treatments include injecting a drug into the foot, prescribing a drug, administering a drug or substance by inhalation, and applying electrical energy in the form of laser therapy to treat a fungal foot infection.

Longtime P.E.I. podiatrist hopes regulation will rebuild trust in profession

4 months ago

Duration 2:52

CBC P.E.I.'s Steve Bruce speaks with Charlottetown podiatrist Keith Bettles, who says his practice had never been inspected until recently, about the province's plan to regulate podiatry this coming fall, and how he hopes it will help Islanders regain trust in the industry.

This move by the province comes less than a month after a CBC News investigation outlined concerns being raised about Island podiatrist John Johnson in the wake of a Chief Public Health Office alert about past sterilization practices at his clinic.

The clinic has a sign on its door for "Dr. John Johnson, DP" and Johnson treats people for various foot conditions.

However, multiple people, including Johnson's former stepmother Melanie Johnson, told CBC he appears to have no formal education or credentials in podiatry. 

CBC News has asked John Johnson for proof of his credentials, but he hasn't provided them or responded to the allegations.

In late June, P.E.I.'s Chief Public Health Office told patients of Johnson Podiatry that they should arrange to be tested for HIV and hepatitis, over concerns about past infection control measures there.

P.E.I.'s Chief Public Health Officer talks podiatry clinic infection risk and opioid overdoses

5 months ago

Duration 7:44

A public health alert was issued following six non-fatal opioid overdoses in Charlottetown on Friday. P.E.I.'s Chief Public Health Office also warned people about an infection risk connected to a local podiatry clinic. CBC’s Kerry Campbell spoke with Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison about both topics, and the next steps.

"I want to emphasize that no one is ill or has reported illness," Dr. Heather Morrison, P.E.I.'s chief public health officer, said at the time. 

Her office said the issues have been resolved and the risk to the public is very low.

Reacting to the CPHO warning, Johnson told CBC News that staff at his clinic have always operated to the highest standards in terms of sterilization and hygiene.

"I'm very confident there is going to be no risk to the public and everything we have been doing has been safe for all Islanders," he said.