ONTARIO PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS DISCIPLINE TRIBUNAL

Date: May 21, 2026

Tribunal File No.: 25-023

BETWEEN:

College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario College

• and -

Ghassan Zohair Kamal Abu Kuwaik Registrant

FINDING AND PENALTY REASONS

Heard: April 9, 2026

Panel:

Jennifer Scott (panel chair)

Glen Bandiera (physician)

David Bird (public)

Linda Robbins (public)

Susanna Yanivker (physician)

Appearances:

Ada Jeffrey, for the College

Colin Johnston and Jonathan Mertz, for the registrant

RESTRICTION ON PUBLICATION

Pursuant to Rule 2.2.2 of the HPDT Rules of Procedure and ss. 45-47 of the Health Professions Procedural Code, no one shall publish or broadcast the names of patients or any information that could identify patients or disclose patients’ personal health information or health records referred to at a hearing or in any documents filed with the Tribunal. There may be significant fines for breaching this restriction.

Introduction

1Dr. Abu Kuwaik is a pediatrician who received his certificate of registration in 2011.

2Between 2012 and 2021, Dr. Abu Kuwaik provided medical care to close family members at different periods of time. Some of his care included prescribing large amounts of medication, including controlled substances and narcotics, and providing psychotherapy. His care of one family member occurred over a period of nine years. Dr. Abu Kuwaik failed to document his care, billed the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) inappropriately and failed to adhere to his professional obligations for dispensing drugs and treating family members.

3Dr. Abu Kuwaik did not contest the allegations, and we found that he failed to maintain standards of practice of the profession and engaged in acts that would reasonably be regarded by the profession as disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional.

4The parties made a joint submission that the penalty should be a 12-month suspension, reprimand, and completion of the PROBE ethics course and the University of Toronto medical record-keeping course. They agreed further that Dr. Abu Kuwaik would pay costs at the standard tariff rate of $6,000 for a half-day hearing.

5We must accept a joint submission unless to do so would bring the administration of justice into disrepute. Applying that test, we accepted the joint submission at the hearing. These are our reasons.

Misconduct

6Dr. Abu Kuwaik prescribed controlled medications and narcotics to Patient A, a close family member, between 2012 and 2021. The amount of medication he prescribed was significant. For example, in 2015, Dr. Abu Kuwaik prescribed more than 1500 pills that were controlled substances or narcotics to Patient A. He did not create a patient chart for his treatment and did not inform Patient A’s two primary care physicians of the medications that he prescribed to Patient A. Dr. Abu Kuwaik billed OHIP for the treatment of Patient A, including assessments and psychotherapy, on 26 occasions between 2014 and 2022.

7Dr. Abu Kuwaik treated other close family members. He treated Patient B between 2012 and 2014 when he prescribed medications, including controlled substances. He did not create a patient chart for any of the care or treatment provided to Patient B, and billed OHIP for services, including assessments and mental health care, on six occasions between 2013 and 2017.

8Dr. Abu Kuwaik also treated Patient C, another close family member, between 2018 and 2020. He prescribed medications, including narcotics, and did not create a patient chart for any of the care or treatment provided to Patient C. He did not submit any claims to OHIP.

9During a search of Dr. Abu Kuwaik’s former residence, two bags of medications were found. These included unlabeled medications, as well as medications prescribed to Patient A, Patient B, and other individuals, and medications indicated for office use. Numerous prescription receipts for Patients A and B and other individuals were found in the residence.

10Dr. Abu Kuwaik does not contest these facts.

11Under the College’s Policy on Treatment of Self, Family Members, or Others Close to Them, in effect at the relevant times, a physician must not provide treatment to family members unless for a minor condition or in an emergency situation and when another qualified health-care professional is not readily available. Those exemptions do not apply here. In treating close family members, Dr. Abu Kuwaik breached this policy.

12Under the Dispensing Drugs Policy, drugs must be stored securely. Dr. Abu Kuwaik breached this policy when he failed to store drugs securely in his former residence.

13Dr. Abu Kuwaik does not contest that his conduct was not consistent with these policies and was disgraceful, dishonourable and unprofessional.

14We find that Dr. Abu Kuwaik failed to document his care of Patients A, B and C, billed OHIP inappropriately for some of these patients and failed to adhere to his professional obligations for dispensing drugs and treating family members. In doing this, he failed to maintain standards of practice of the profession (para. 1(1)2 of Ontario Regulation 856/93) and engaged in disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional conduct (para. 1(1)33 of Ontario Regulation 856/93).

Joint submission

15The parties made a joint submission on penalty. A joint submission will be rejected only where it is contrary to the public interest in a way that brings the administration of justice into disrepute: R. v. Anthony-Cook, 2016 SCC 43 at para. 34.

16A penalty is contrary to the public interest when it fails to protect the public and/or impairs the ability of the College, and by extension the Tribunal, to regulate the profession of medicine and govern physicians. If the proposed penalty violates the public interest, the administration of justice is brought into disrepute. In the professional regulation context, this means the proper functioning of the College’s professional discipline system has broken down.

17We considered the seriousness of Dr. Abu Kuwaik’s misconduct, his lack of discipline history and the caselaw on penalties in similar cases because these are the factors that are relevant to determining whether the proposed penalty fails to protect the public interest.

18Dr. Abu Kuwaik’s misconduct is serious. Treating close family members and providing them with controlled substances and psychotherapy involves a transgression of boundaries that could impede objective and effective decision making and high-quality care. Close family members are entitled to the same level of care as other patients. His lack of documentation and careless storage of large quantities of medications created risks for patients and others. His misconduct was systematic and sustained over the course of many years and began one year after he received his certificate of registration with the College. It was a flagrant disregard of College policies and the best interests of patients.

19Dr. Abu Kuwaik has no discipline history.

20The twelve-month suspension requested by the parties is supported by the caselaw. There is a suspension range of six to twelve months for treatment of self and family members. The relevant factors to consider when deciding the length of suspension are whether the treatment was for the physician or their family members, the number of family members treated, the length of time they were treated, whether the physician received a financial benefit by billing OHIP, and whether the misconduct involved the improper dispensing of drugs, including the kind of drugs and the quantity. (See College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario v. Kozerawski, 2024 ONPSDT 13, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario v. Hu, 2021 ONCPSD 27, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario v. Rourke, 2021 ONPSDT 45 and College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario v. Guirguis, 2018 ONCPSD 47).

21In this case, considering the number of close family members treated by Dr. Abu Kuwaik (three), the length of time he treated close family members (nine years), the volume and type of drugs prescribed (significant quantity of controlled substances and narcotics), and the fact that he billed OHIP for some of the treatment, a 12-month suspension is appropriate.

22The joint submission on penalty protects the public interest. Dr. Abu Kuwaik is suspended for 12 months. He is required to take a course on professional ethics and record-keeping and has been publicly reprimanded. These terms taken together send a strong message to Dr. Abu Kuwaik and other registrants that serious consequences will result when physicians treat family members and disregard the standards for safe drug dispensing. The Tribunal finds the joint submission on penalty does not put the administration of justice into disrepute and it is accepted for this reason.

Order

23At the conclusion of the hearing, we ordered:

Penalty

1. The Tribunal requires the registrant to appear before the panel to be reprimanded.

2. The Tribunal directs the Registrar to:

a. suspend the registrant’s certificate of registration for twelve (12) months commencing April 10, 2026 at 12:01 a.m.

b. place the following terms, conditions and limitations on the registrant’s certificate of registration, effective immediately;

i. The registrant will, at his own expense, participate in the PROBE Ethics & Boundaries Program offered by the Centre for Personalized Education for Professionals, by receiving a passing evaluation or grade, without any condition or qualification. The registrant will complete the PROBE program within six (6) months of the date of this Order or, if it is not available within that timeframe, at the earliest available opportunity. The registrant will provide proof of their completion to the College, including proof of registration and attendance and participant assessment reports, within one (1) month of completing it.

ii. The registrant shall provide proof of satisfactory completion of the University of Toronto Medical Record-Keeping Course upon the earlier of: (a) within six (6) months of the date of this Order; and (b) within 30 days of receipt of evidence of the registrant’s completion of the Course from the University of Toronto;

Costs

3. The Tribunal requires the registrant to pay the College costs in the amount of $6,000 by May 7, 2026.