Wendy Wagner

The moving party defendants brought a motion to dismiss the plaintiff's action under s. 137.1 of the Courts of Justice Act, which was dismissed as meritless.

The responding party plaintiff sought costs of the motion.

The court found that the plaintiff's claim had none of the indicia of a SLAPP and there was no public interest in protecting the impugned expression.

The presumption against awarding costs to a successful respondent under s. 137.1(8) was rebutted, and costs were awarded to the plaintiff in the amount of $44,320.57.

The appellant physician appealed decisions of the Discipline Committee of the College of Physicians and Surgeons finding her guilty of professional misconduct and incompetence following the death of a patient who underwent high-volume liposuction.

The Committee found she breached standards of practice regarding extraction volumes, informed consent, and post-operative care, and that her website advertising violated regulations banning testimonials and superlatives.

The Divisional Court dismissed the appeal, upholding the Committee's findings on the standard of practice, its evidentiary rulings, and its conclusion that the advertising ban was a justified limit on freedom of expression under s. 1 of the Charter.

The penalty restricting her practice to acting as a surgical assistant in a hospital was also upheld as reasonable.