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An Ottawa doctor whose clinic was at the centre of an infection scare has agreed never to practice medicine again after the College of Physicians and Surgeons found her unprofessional and incompetent.
The College held a disciplinary hearing for Dr. Christiane Farazli on Thursday after dozens of patients also came forward to say that she had brutalized them during procedures, such as colonoscopies.
In the college’s inspection report, Farazli was accused of using unsterilized instruments and having “gross cross-contamination” from a dirty scope, among other allegations.
She was then barred from performing endoscopies on the premises or anywhere else in Ontario.
On Thursday, the disciplinary panel said had Farazli not given up her practice, she “would have been subjected to the most severe penalties available to the College.”
They also said her treatment of patients was “abusive”.
“It is hard to think of a more vulnerable position for these patients. To treat patients in this position with gross insensitivity and disregard of their discomfort is unconscionable,” the College said.
Public health scare in 2011
An Ottawa Public Health investigation accused Farazli of using improper cleaning procedures for patients treated between April 2002 and June 2011.
Public health officials sent 6,800 letters to former patients warning them to get tested for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. But after a year-long investigation, officials said they found no cases linked to the clinic.
A $10-million class-action lawsuit was filed against Farazli in late 2011, but there has been no legal movement since the doctor filed her defence a few months later.
None of the allegations against Farazli have been proven in court. She could not be reached for comment.
Farazli has also tried to sue The Ottawa Hospital on three separate occasions for malpractice related to her back injury. The latest suit was launched in 2009, but all three cases have been dismissed.
Agencies/Canadajournal
