Medical watchdog suspends doctor for two years

Cambridge doctor was sent to prison for fraud, theft, drug trafficking

KITCHENER — A family doctor with a practice in Waterford who turned to crime to feed her fentanyl addiction has been suspended for two years by Ontario’s medical watchdog.

In April 2016, Sarah McArthur of Cambridge was sent to prison for two years after pleading guilty to possession of hydromorphone for the purpose of trafficking, fraud, forgery and theft. She has been out of prison since May 2017.

Lawyers for the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario had urged the college’s disciplinary committee to revoke her licence, given “the egregious conduct of Dr. McArthur, particularly the criminal conviction for trafficking, fraud and forgery.”

Instead, the committee last week suspended her certificate of registration for two years. It ruled she committed an act of professional misconduct. She faces a reprimand and must pay $5,000 in costs to the college.

McArthur, 46, has not practised medicine since 2010, due to substance abuse issues, but wants to return one day.

She is “fully aware of the serious nature of her conduct that has already resulted in the loss of her children, loss of her personal freedom during her incarceration, and loss of the ability to practise her profession for the past eight years,” the disciplinary committee said. “The committee expects that the profession as a whole would regard the two-year suspension with the associated undertakings as a very serious sanction, with significant financial and reputational consequences.”

McArthur won’t automatically be allowed to practise medicine in two years. She must meet several conditions, including proving she is fit to be a doctor and is in recovery from her addiction. McArthur, who lived in Cambridge, was a family doctor in Waterford.