Alpa Patel

In a professional discipline proceeding, the registrant admitted issuing or permitting false receipts for treatments not provided to two clients and failing to maintain treatment records for multiple appointments for a third client.

The Tribunal held that the admitted conduct constituted professional misconduct under several paragraphs of s. 26 of Ontario Regulation 544/94, including false or misleading documentation, record-keeping failures, and disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional conduct.

Applying the joint-submission standard, the panel accepted the jointly proposed penalty as consistent with the public interest and proportionate, particularly given the registrant's prior discipline for similar misconduct.

The Tribunal imposed a reprimand, a six-month suspension, remedial educational terms, compliance audits, and costs.

In a professional discipline proceeding, the Tribunal found that the registrant sexually abused and physically abused a client during a massage therapy session, contravened the College’s sexual-abuse prevention standard, and engaged in disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional conduct.

The findings were based on a signed statement of uncontested facts in which the registrant pleaded no contest to the allegations.

Applying the public-interest test for joint submissions, the Tribunal accepted the parties’ joint penalty submission.

It ordered a reprimand, mandatory revocation, reimbursement for therapy or counselling funding provided under s. 85.7 of the Health Professions Procedural Code, security of $6,000, and costs of $5,852.