DOCTOR LOSES LICENCE OVER FALSE BILLING, APPEALS RULING

OVERSIGHT BODY LAUNCHED PARALLEL PROBE INTO DR. HARMANDER SINGH GILL'S ACTIONS DURING INVESTIGATION

A former Mississauga doctor, who was found by a disciplinary panel to have billed $146,000 worth of false invoices to the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP), is appealing the decision to revoke his licence.

Dr. Harmander Singh Gill had practices in Toronto and Mississauga before the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) decided last April to revoke his licence. That decision came after a disciplinary panel concluded in February 2020 he was "incompetent" and guilty of committing an act of professional misconduct, according to a CPSO report.

According to the CPSO, he billed OHIP for thousands of strep tests that he did not perform, and the tests he actually conducted were not justified.

"Dr. Gill is vigorously appealing against the findings,= which were made by the college against him," said Gill's lawyer, Margaret Bojanowska, in an email to The News. "He does not agree with or accept any of the findings."

She said that Gill was not given the opportunity to properly defend himself against the allegations, as the college proceeded with the case in his absence. She said he wasn't able to call any evidence to defend himself.

"Dr. Gill has complete confidence in the appeal court's ability to see the errors made in the case against him," Bojanowska said.

Gill filed an appeal on Aug. 14.

The college also found "grossly deficient recordkeeping" at his practice and said he was not keeping track and caring properly for patients with chronic conditions.

"We are particularly troubled that Dr. Gill's misconduct encompassed both gross inadequate care that put his patients at risk and dishonest action which placed his own interests ahead of those of his patients and the public," stated the CPSO'S discipline committee.

Gill told the college that he lacked guidance early on in his career.

He argued he made a one-off mistake, choosing to open a walk-in clinic and

not hiring the right staff.

In January 2019, a separate investigation was launched into Gill's co-operation with investigators, after months of delays.

The CPSO launched its

initial investigation in 2017, but said that for nine months, attempts to complete the investigation were unsuccessful.

Gill said that he was having trouble securing legal representation and, for nearly five months, he asked investigators to give him an extension on turning in his physician profile.

On numerous occasions, the college said investigators reached out requesting information or to arrange an in-person meeting, but to no avail.

Investigators arranged a date to interview Gill, but when they arrived at his office, it was closed, according to the college.

Gill said that his wife was pregnant at the time, and they had to rush to the hospital for tests. In the hurry, Gill forgot his cellphone at home and didn't notify the CPSO that he wouldn't be available that day.

On Aug. 18, the CPSO issued a finding of dishonourable conduct in relation to his behaviour throughout the first investigation.