Fake doc must pay $300K for injuries
Acupuncturist masqueraded as neurosurgeon
A judge has ordered an acupuncturist who posed as a neurosurgeon to pay $300,000 in compensation to a patient he injured, an “outrageous” case that highlights the ongoing challenge of policing fake doctors.
Authorities knew for at least two years that Alan Canon was masquerading as a doctor, yet he continued to do so with apparent impunity, the ruling by Ontario Justice Susan Healey reveals.
In that time, he caused a raging infection that left Vito Servello with life-altering pain and anxiety, and allegedly sexually assaulted two female patients who thought he was a surgeon and osteopathic physician.
He was neither. Canon was licensed only as a practitioner of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine and was actually facing charges from that profession’s regulator for posing as a doctor at the time he saw Servello.
The Pepsico Canada vicepresident said he met with officials at the College of Physicians and Surgeons within a few months of his September 2015 appointment. Though the college has the power to prosecute people who pretend to be doctors, little appears to have been done.
“The (regulators) knew about it and did nothing,” Servello said. “That’s the worst part of it. I kept saying ‘How many people have to suffer at this man’s hands until you guys shut him down?’ … There’s got to be a better system to protect people.”
Counterfeit physicians seem to be surfacing regularly these days, with Toronto police charging a 19-yearold Toronto woman recently with aggravated assault after she performed a plasticsurgery procedure with no medical training, calling herself Dr. Kitty.
Ontario’s College of Physicians has taken action against five others since 2014, the bogus doctors offering everything from psychiatry to cosmetic injections.
The experience of Quebec’s College des Medecins suggests the scope of the problem may be much larger. It laid 98 charges in 2016-2017 of illegally practising medicine and using the title of doctor.
In B.C., posing unlawfully as a doctor is on the radar for the College of Physicians and Surgeons “more than ever,” said spokeswoman Susan Prins. The regulator has sought injunctions against three such people since 2015, with another one in the works now, she said.
Servello had gone to Canon in October 2015 at a friend’s recommendation for treatment of knee injuries.
The Mississauga, Ont., practitioner injected vitamin B-12 into his knee, and then disaster struck. The injection caused a septic infection that required surgery, a nine-day hospital stay and aggressive antibiotic treatment, Healey concluded in her judgment.
Canon “shockingly” kept calling himself a doctor, the judge noted, labelling the behaviour malicious, outrageous and socially irresponsible.
“Evidence shows a clear intention to continue to obtain financial profit at the expense of endangering the public,” she wrote.
Canon could not be reached for comment.
He has been charged by Peel Regional Police with sexual interference against a female patient, the second of the sexual assault charges.
Servello started experiencing unusual pain in his knee the night of his procedure and within a few days was admitted to hospital and diagnosed with a major streptococcus infection, the court ruling says.
Two years later, he still has pain, numbness and other symptoms in his leg that harm his sleep, have ended his previously active lifestyle and darkened a once-sunny personality, the judge found.
“He ruined my life,” Servello said. “I couldn’t walk, I was out for almost a year. I have … constant pain in my knee now. It’s like a nightmare. Every time I think about it I want to cry. That’s how bad it is.”
Justice Healey ordered Canon to pay about $200,000 in standard damages to Servello, his wife, four children and mother, plus $75,000 in punitive damages and $34,000 to the province to cover the cost of his medical care.
Also known as Oleg Konanykhin, Canon was charged by the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture in April 2015 with a variety of disciplinary offences, including using the title “Dr.” and performing an unauthorized procedure.
He was still purporting to be a medical doctor on his website this May, according to Justice Healey’s ruling.
And Canon was claiming to be a neurosurgeon, medical doctor and osteopath in June when Peel police charged him with sexually assaulting a patient, the force said.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons said it has an “open investigation” into Canon and is monitoring his disciplinary and criminal cases.
The body can launch provincial-offences prosecutions against those claiming erroneously to be doctors or seek a court injunction, said Kathryn Clarke, a college spokeswoman. Sometimes, the police get involved “where there is concern about public safety,” she said.
No such action seems to have occurred in Canon’s case. The Chinese medicine body did inform the CPSO of the charges against him, said Allan Mak, the body’s registrar, but he refused to say when that occurred.