Luisa J. Ritacca

The Member, a registered nurse providing psychotherapeutic counselling, admitted to professional misconduct for failing to maintain therapeutic boundaries, entering into a financial relationship, and practising in a conflict of interest with a client.

The Member co-leased clinic space to the client and received payments for mentorship and partnership buy-in while continuing a therapeutic relationship.

The Discipline Committee accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a reprimand, a four-month suspension, and terms and conditions on the Member's certificate of registration.

The Member, a registered nurse, faced allegations of professional misconduct involving multiple incidents of physical and emotional abuse, failing to follow care plans, and inappropriate communication with patients' families.

The Member admitted to the allegations, including bending a patient's finger back, hitting a patient across the mouth, and leaving a patient in an unsafe bed position.

The Discipline Committee accepted an Agreed Statement of Facts and a Joint Submission on Order, finding the Member guilty of professional misconduct.

The Committee ordered a reprimand, a six-month suspension, and imposed terms and conditions on the Member's certificate of registration.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought disciplinary proceedings against the Member for alleged sexual abuse of a patient.

The Member brought a preliminary motion for third-party production of the Complainant's mental health and counselling records, arguing they were relevant to the Complainant's reliability and memory due to his history of bipolar schizoaffective disorder.

Applying the O'Connor test, the Discipline Committee ordered the production of records from one treating psychiatrist for a limited timeframe overlapping with the alleged incident and the Complainant's decision to report it.

The requests for all other counselling and historical mental health records were denied for failing to meet the threshold of likely relevance.

The Member, a registered nurse, admitted to professional misconduct after engaging in inappropriate conduct and communication with a 16-year-old client.

The Member allowed the client to watch an R-rated movie on his personal iPad, showed the client personal photos, exchanged phone numbers, and sent text messages asking the client to provide contact information for a marijuana supplier.

The Discipline Committee accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering an oral reprimand, a three-month suspension, and terms, conditions, and limitations on the Member's certificate of registration.

The Member was found to have committed professional misconduct, including engaging in dishonourable and unprofessional conduct, failing to obtain consent, and providing inappropriate care.

The Discipline Committee accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a six-month suspension, a reprimand, and terms, conditions, and limitations on the Member's certificate of registration, including meetings with a nursing expert and employer notification.

The Member, a Registered Practical Nurse, was charged and convicted of impaired driving.

She failed to report the charges and the subsequent conviction to the College of Nurses of Ontario.

Furthermore, she provided false and misleading information on her registration applications by denying any ongoing proceedings or convictions.

The Discipline Committee found the Member committed professional misconduct.

Accepting a joint submission on penalty, the Committee ordered a reprimand, a three-month suspension, and terms, conditions, and limitations on her certificate of registration, including meetings with a nursing expert and employer notification.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought disciplinary proceedings against a registered nurse who was convicted of multiple counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and aggravated assault for intentionally administering insulin overdoses to 14 vulnerable patients in long-term care and home care settings.

The nurse, who had resigned her certificate of registration and was serving a life sentence, did not attend the hearing.

The Discipline Committee found that the nurse committed egregious professional misconduct, including physical abuse and disgraceful, dishonourable, and unprofessional conduct.

The Committee ordered the immediate revocation of her certificate of registration, emphasizing the paramount need for public protection and deterrence.

The Member, a registered chiropodist, admitted to professional misconduct for implanting unapproved stents of his own design into patients' feet instead of the Health Canada-approved stents they had consented to receive.

The Member also failed to keep adequate patient records.

The Discipline Committee of the College of Chiropodists of Ontario accepted an agreed statement of facts and a joint submission on penalty.

The Committee ordered the revocation of the Member's certificate of registration, issued a reprimand, and ordered the Member to pay $30,000 in costs.

The Member, a registered chiropodist, faced allegations of professional misconduct including practicing at unauthorized locations, overprescribing orthotics and orthopedic shoes, failing to maintain adequate patient records, and submitting inaccurate invoices to insurers.

The Member admitted to the allegations and the Discipline Committee found that his conduct constituted professional misconduct.

The Committee accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering an 8-month suspension (with one month remitted upon completion of an ethics course), a 9-month restriction on prescribing and dispensing orthotics and footwear, 15 months of practice supervision, a reprimand, and $15,000 in costs to the College.

In a professional discipline proceeding, the member admitted allegations arising from delayed diagnosis and inadequate management of a patient’s cancerous oral lesion, together with deficient recordkeeping.

The panel accepted the agreed statement of facts and found professional misconduct under the Health Professions Procedural Code and the applicable dentistry regulations.

Accepting a joint submission, the panel imposed a reprimand, a one-month suspension, practice conditions including monitoring and inspections for up to twenty-four months, and costs.

A publication ban protected the identity of the patient.

This endorsement addresses the costs of an action where the plaintiff, Saramia Crescent General Partner Ltd., was awarded $1,277,000 in damages for breach of lease.

The court determined that the plaintiff was entitled to costs on a partial indemnity scale up to November 8, 2016, and on a substantial indemnity scale thereafter, having beaten two offers to settle.

The defendants' arguments that the costs were excessive, that the issues were novel justifying a reduction, or that mediation costs should be excluded were largely rejected.

A minor reduction was made for communications costs.

The court also drew an adverse inference against the defendants for failing to disclose their own costs.

The plaintiff landlord sued the defendant tenant for damages after the tenant repudiated a commercial lease with eight years remaining.

The repudiation forced the plaintiff to sell the property, as it could not afford the carrying costs without the rental income and re-letting was unfeasible.

The defendants admitted liability but argued the plaintiff suffered no damages because the property was sold at fair market value.

The court rejected this argument, finding the forced sale was not at fair market value and did not compensate the plaintiff for the lost income stream and capital appreciation.

The court accepted the plaintiff's discounted cash flow analysis to quantify damages, using the 2015 appraised fair market value to account for foreseeable lost capital appreciation, and assuming reasonable mitigation through a hypothetical investment in a REIT basket.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought disciplinary proceedings against a registered nurse who failed to secure 27 Hydromorphone tablets prior to their destruction and disposal.

The member admitted to failing to follow the facility's protocol but contested whether the conduct amounted to unprofessional conduct.

The Discipline Committee found that the member's failure to immediately secure the narcotics in the lockbox demonstrated a serious disregard for her professional obligations and constituted unprofessional conduct.

The panel accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a two-month suspension, a reprimand, and terms, conditions, and limitations on the member's certificate of registration.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought disciplinary proceedings against a registered practical nurse for alleged physical, verbal, and emotional abuse of patients, as well as unprofessional conduct towards colleagues.

The nurse did not attend the hearing.

The Discipline Committee found that the nurse committed professional misconduct by failing to provide a blanket to a patient, physically and verbally abusing patients, mocking a patient with aphasia, making obscene gestures, and sharing unsolicited sexual information with colleagues.

The Committee revoked the nurse's certificate of registration and ordered a reprimand.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought disciplinary proceedings against a registered nurse for historical allegations of professional misconduct dating back to the 1970s.

The Member was alleged to have engaged in a personal, sexual, and financial relationship with a vulnerable 15-year-old client during and immediately after the therapeutic relationship.

The Discipline Committee found that the Member's conduct constituted malpractice and incompetence under the former Nurses Act, and disgraceful, dishonourable, and unprofessional conduct under the Health Disciplines Act.

The Committee revoked the Member's certificate of registration, ordered a reprimand, and imposed a $5,000 fine.

The Member, a registered nurse, faced a discipline hearing for professional misconduct after his login credentials were used to access the electronic medical records of a high-profile patient not under his care.

The Member admitted to failing to log out of his workstation, which allowed the unauthorized access.

The Discipline Committee accepted an Agreed Statement of Facts and a Joint Submission on Order, finding the Member guilty of professional misconduct.

The Member was reprimanded, suspended for one month, and subjected to terms and conditions including meetings with a nursing expert and employer notification.

The Member, a Registered Practical Nurse, was randomly selected for a practice assessment as part of the College's Quality Assurance program but failed to participate for over two years despite multiple notices.

The Discipline Committee found the Member committed professional misconduct by failing to cooperate with the Quality Assurance Committee and engaging in unprofessional conduct.

The Member did not attend the hearing.

The Committee ordered a reprimand, a three-month suspension, and imposed terms, conditions, and limitations on the Member's certificate of registration, including meetings with a nursing expert and mandatory participation in a future Quality Assurance cycle.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought disciplinary proceedings against a registered nurse for three incidents of care.

The allegations included attempting to force a client to take medication without consent, administering the wrong medication to another client (labetalol instead of Levophed), and failing to document vital signs.

The member did not attend the hearing.

Relying on video evidence, hospital records, and expert testimony, the Discipline Committee found that the member committed professional misconduct by contravening standards of practice, abusing a client, and engaging in disgraceful, dishonourable, and unprofessional conduct.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought allegations of professional misconduct against the Member for numerous criminal convictions, including theft, impaired driving, and driving while disqualified, and for failing to report these charges and convictions to the College.

The Member did not attend the hearing.

The Discipline Committee found that the Member committed professional misconduct and that her actions were disgraceful, dishonourable, and unprofessional.

The Committee ordered the immediate revocation of the Member's Certificate of Registration, noting her ungovernability and persistent disregard for the law.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought professional misconduct allegations against a registered practical nurse who had been criminally convicted of fraud and forgery for stealing and cashing cheques belonging to a vulnerable client.

The member did not attend the discipline hearing.

The Discipline Committee found the member committed professional misconduct, noting the serious breach of trust and the member's failure to participate in the proceedings.

The Committee ordered the immediate revocation of the member's Certificate of Registration to protect the public and maintain confidence in the profession.