Suspended P.E.I. doctor fights for licence

Lawyers for a Charlottetown doctor whose licence has been suspended for 3 ½ years for professional misconduct say the penalty is too harsh.

Dr. Grant Matheson had his licence to practise suspended in January for overprescribing narcotic medications.

The P.E.I. College of Physicians and Surgeons found Matheson had prescribed the powerful painkiller Dilaudid to a patient, then bought the narcotic back for his own use.

Matheson's lawyers argued in court Thursday that a 3 ½-year suspension is the type of penalty used for doctors who sexually molest patients, not for those fighting an addiction.

They also said the College of Physicians and Surgeons should have dealt with the complaint that led to this suspension at the same time it investigated a similar complaint involving another patient.

The previous investigation led to a 19-month suspension for Matheson and treatment for his addiction.

Lawyers for the college contend the latest suspension is appropriate. They told the court they couldn't investigate the complaint when they first heard about it because the patient hadn't put his complaint in writing.

In December, Matheson pleaded guilty to a separate criminal charge of obtaining prescription narcotics under false pretenses between 2002 and 2005. He was sentenced to two years probation.

Matheson, who entered a treatment program in 2005, continues to practise medicine while the appeal of the suspension is heard.

He opened his practice on the island about 16 years ago.