Mississauga doctor reprimanded
MD who was on Dragons’ Den sanctioned over his conduct
Several years ago, Mississauga doctor Marc Podell dressed up as a cowboy and appeared before a panel of five venture capitalists on the CBC show Dragons’ Den, looking to pitch his gardening tool called the Quickplant. It didn’t go so well. “Your business premise is ludicrous and you’re a problematic guy to deal with on an ongoing basis,” said investor Robert Herjavec.
“I’ve known you for five minutes and I know that about you.”
“I look for the path of least resistance and you are a huge path of resistance,” said Kevin O’Leary, now running to be leader of the Conservative party. “And the crazy thing is the product works.”
Having failed to get funding for his invention — which he said was far superior to the ordinary gardening shovel — Podell, with his cowboy hat, red kerchief and spurs, walked off camera and into the sunset.
On Monday, having changed the cowboy getup for a dark blazer, Podell appeared before a different panel of five people — this time at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. It didn’t go so well there, either. Podell, 66, admitted to a handful of allegations relating to his conduct while he was a surgical assistant at Trillium Health Partners in Mississauga between 2008 and 2014.
(The hospital suspended Podell’s privileges to practice there on May 7, 2014, and he resigned his privileges several days later, according to the college.)
The discipline committee’s findings include Podell being “repeatedly inaccessible” during his on-call periods, not responding to pages and often being late and/or not attending emergency surgery, according to an agreed statement of facts.
“His conduct jeopardized patient care as surgeons in emergent cases were forced to proceed without assistance,” according to the statement filed Monday at the college.
The statement says he took “insufficient steps” to address technical difficulties with his pager and cellphone.
He also admitted to making inappropriate comments in the operating room, including about the size and features of anesthetized patients, and “aggressively” demanding cash payment from an 18-year-old Quebec patient for his fee in assisting in her operation, according to the statement of facts.
“Respect for fellow workers and patients is a simple concept which you apparently were willing to ignore for your own egocentric purposes,” discipline panel chair Dr. Marc Gabel told Podell after he was handed a three-month suspension. “Disruptive behaviour in a hospital is a known cause of poor outcomes for the patients we serve.”
“Your behaviour brought people into danger and we totally condemn the actions we have heard about today.”
Podell’s lawyer, William Black, said his client “recognizes and acknowledges his shortcomings.” He said that Podell, who has been practicing medicine since 1981, was going through some personal troubles at the time, including a divorce.
According to the statement of facts, Podell also admitted:
He made “inappropriate comments” in the doctor’s lounge near other physicians while looking at pictures of women on a website called “Asian Kisses.” His lawyer clarified to the panel: “Despite its somewhat lurid title, that is not a pornographic website.” It is a dating website.
He requested that a social worker who dealt with the 18-year-old Quebec patient “portray him in a more favourable light” in her report about Podell’s behaviour. The social worker and nursing staff “felt that his advances toward the patient were harassing.”
He bumped into a nurse in the operating room, who found that his “physical contact was intentional, and filed a complaint.” Podell denied it was intentional, and tried to contact the nurse on three occasions, despite being told not to. The nurse found this intimidating.
On top of being suspended for three months, Podell was ordered to have his practice monitored by the college once he does go back to work. He was also ordered to pay the college $5,000 in costs by July.
“The choice is yours as to moving forward, but let us assure you that your role as a physician is in jeopardy unless you reform your behaviour,” Gabel told Podell.
There’s a happier ending to the Dragons’ Den story. In an update posted to the show’s website, Podell said that after appearing on TV, he found a distributor that placed Quickplant in numerous Canadian Tire, Home Hardware and Rona stores.
He says in the update that Quickplant had made over half a million dollars in sales.