The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan has sanctioned Moose Jaw’s Dr. Narinda Maree for the second time in five years for a plot that prescribed prescriptions to family members.
The college laid charges against Maree in May, accusing her of conduct that were “unbecoming, improper, unprofessional or discreditable” contrary to The Medical Professional Act. The college then released its decision in late June. The report indicated the college’s new concerns with Maree began in 2017 and continued into mid 2018.
Maree admitted that she was guilty of four charges of unprofessional conduct, including falsifying patient records that she provided to the college, using funds from the clinic where she practised for personal expenses, prescribing medication in the name of a family member that she intended to use herself, and providing medical treatment to a family member.
The Moose Jaw physician also pleaded guilty to unprofessional conduct in 2014 for similar charges.
Maree still practises with Professional Medical Associates at 550 Main Street North.
As part of its recent decision, the college reprimanded the doctor; suspended her for four months, retroactive to February; prohibited her indefinitely from prescribing any medication unless the registrar concludes Maree can issue medications; and practise only under the supervision of a duly qualified medical practitioner, or until the registrar believes this supervision is no longer required.
Maree will also have to receive treatment through the Physician Health Program of the Saskatchewan Medical Association, follow treatment recommendations and only discontinue treatment if the registrar gives approval, and pay $1,290 for the investigation and hearing, or failing that, have her licence suspended until she does pay.
The college produced a report in late May that laid out the charges of which it was accusing Maree:
- Maree submitted altered and/or falsified medical records to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan in response to inquiries about her prescribing prescriptions to patients;
- Maree failed to respond to requests for patient information and failed to comply fully and accurately with the requests for information;
- On Oct. 25, 2017, the college sent a letter asking for specific information, including copies of patient charts, for certain named patients, followed by two more similar letters on Dec. 7, 2017 and Dec. 19, 2017;
- Maree provided some information about four patients in January 2018;
- On March 2, 2018, the college sent a letter repeating its request for specific information and copies of patient charts;
- From March 6, 2018 to April 3, 2018, Maree provided some information on additional patients, while on May 17, 2018, she provided information related to a specific patient;
- On May 17, the college sent a letter expressing its concern about Maree’s conduct, specifically that the information she sent from the original patient records was altered, did not include some information from the original records, and that the information about purported therapeutic drug agreements with patients was not actually signed by the patients.
The college also found evidence that Maree had false dealings at her clinic. The financial arrangements for physicians working at the clinic included a requirement for doctors to contribute to the overhead expenses for the clinic. The college discovered Maree failed to make the required contributions, and instead, she used the account for those overhead expenses for personal expenses.
Further investigations revealed Maree prescribed zopiclone in the name of a relative that she intended to use for herself. She also altered a family member’s patient chart to show a nurse practitioner was the primary provider, without the knowledge or agreement of the nurse practitioner, and prescribed zopiclone and/or zolpidem to a relative when such treatment did not meet the conditions of the Code of Ethics.
The website for the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan is https://www.cps.sk.ca/imis.
