Committee: Discipline
Decision Date: 16 Oct 2018
Summary:
On October 16, 2018, the Discipline Committee found that Dr. Felipe Eduardo Allendes committed an act of professional misconduct, in that he has engaged in conduct or an act or omission relevant to the practice of medicine that, having regard to all the circumstances, would reasonably be regarded by members as disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional, in that he has breached a term, condition or limitation on a member’s certificate of registration, and in that he has engaged in conduct unbecoming a physician.
Dr. Allendes received his certificate of registration authorizing postgraduate education from the College on July 1, 2010, at which time he commenced his residency in Emergency Medicine at McMaster University. Dr. Allendes' certificate of registration expired on June 30, 2014 in his fourth year of his postgraduate program. He did not complete his residency training.
Terms, Conditions and Limitations on Dr. Allendes Certificate of Registration
As a postgraduate trainee, Dr. Allendes' certificate of registration was subject to the following terms, conditions and limitations:
- Dr. Allendes was to practise medicine only as required by the postgraduate medical education program in which he was enrolled at McMaster University; and,
- Dr. Allendes was to prescribe drugs only for inpatients or outpatients of a clinical teaching unit that was formally affiliated with the Emergency Medicine department and as part of his postgraduate medical education program.
Effective September 1, 2013, until May 2014, Dr. Allendes' terms, conditions and limitations were modified to permit him to practise medicine in the Intensive Care Unit at Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation under supervision.
Prescribing in Breach of Terms, Conditions and Limitations and Diverting Drugs to Himself
In or around 2013, Dr. Allendes commenced an intimate personal relationship with Mr. X. On May 28, 2014, the College received a call from Mr. X, who identified himself as the former partner of Dr. Allendes. Mr. X advised the College that, during their relationship, Dr. Allendes would write prescriptions to Mr. X, including, for sleeping pills (Zopiclone) and Lorazepam. Dr. Allendes would direct Mr. X to fill the prescription and then give Dr. Allendes the medication. Mr. X advised that Dr. Allendes was using Lorazepam and sleeping pills on a daily basis to counter the effects of cocaine which he was using at the time. Mr. X reported that Dr. Allendes directed him to attend smaller independent pharmacies to have these prescriptions filled, hoping these pharmacies would not check whether Mr. X had been prescribed multiple prescriptions for the same medication. In order to avoid detection, Dr. Allendes also directed Mr. X to fill out the prescriptions himself, in Dr. Allendes name, so he could later deny having written them.
Dr. Allendes' conduct regarding these prescriptions to Mr. X was inappropriate and unprofessional.
Moreover, Dr. Allendes issued or authorized these prescriptions in breach of his terms, conditions and limitations which permitted him to prescribe only as required for his postgraduate program or his supervised practice in the Intensive Care Unit.
Dr. Allendes also directed Mr. X to write prescriptions for Lorazepam using Dr. Y's name and CPSO number, rather than his own. Dr. Y was Dr. Allendes' friend and also a postgraduate medical student at McMaster University. Dr. Allendes directed Mr. X to write the prescriptions using Dr. Y's name as the issuing physician, fill the prescription and give Dr. Allendes the medication. One prescription written by Mr. X in Dr. Y's name bears the cellular phone number of Dr. Allendes, so that if any questions were asked of the prescribing physician (Dr. Y), the pharmacist would be directed to Dr. Allendes, not Dr. Y.
Prescribing in breach of Terms, Conditions and Limitations
In addition to prescribing to Mr. X, Dr. Allendes also engaged in professional misconduct by prescribing to Dr. Y. Dr. Allendes issued prescriptions in breach of his terms, conditions and limitations which permitted him to prescribe only as required for his postgraduate program or his supervised practice in the Intensive Care Unit.
March 2014 Nightclub Incident
In the early morning of March, 2014, Dr. Allendes placed a call to 911 while outside the club located in downtown Toronto, alleging that a person was having a medical Emergency. He claimed he was a physician who happened to be on scene and that he was performing CPR and that he required Emergency Medical Services on an urgent basis. He stated that the gentleman overdosed and was with a GCS sign and may potentially need to be intubated, that he was convulsing and may need EMS support, that he was not awake and had shallow breath.In a subsequent call, Dr. Allendes claimed "ineffective CPR in progress".
As a result of Dr. Allendes’ 911call, Emergency Medical Services along with police were dispatched to the scene. When police arrived, it was determined that there was no person in medical distress, and that there was no basis for the 911 call. The police determined that the call had been a fake and that Dr. Allendes had placed the phone call to 911 as he was waiting in line to enter the club and was being denied access. Dr. Allendes was observed to be intoxicated and acting aggressively toward the police officers. Accordingly, he was placed under arrest and charged with being intoxicated in a public place.
Upon arrest, Dr. Allendes was found to be in possession of cocaine and was also charged with possession for the purposes of trafficking. None of these criminal charges resulted in a conviction. The possession of cocaine charge was stayed and the public intoxication charge was withdrawn on November 20, 2014.
Dr. Allendes’ conduct during the incident described above was disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional and conduct unbecoming a physician.
Dr. Allendes’ Leave from the Postgraduate Program and Participation in the PHP
On May 12, 2014, McMaster University placed Dr. Allendes on a leave of absence from his postgraduate program. As set out above, his certificate of registration expired on June 30, 2014. His certificate of registration was not renewed by the College. Dr. Allendes acknowledged early in the College investigation that he suffers from addiction, and sought assistance from the Physician Health Program (the “PHP”). He completed an inpatient admission at Homewood Health Centre to address his addiction issues, and continued in their after program for 9 months. On August 15, 2014, Dr. Allendes entered into a Substance Dependence Monitoring Contract with the Physician Health Program (the “PHP”). One year later, on August 18, 2015, the PHP provided the College with a report indicating that Dr. Allendes continued to be compliant with the his PHP contract and was maintaining a comprehensive recovery program. In or around September 2015, Dr. Allendes decided to leave the country. He informed PHP and on September 20, 2015, the PHP advised the College that it had suspended Dr. Allendes’ monitoring contract because of his departure.
Disposition
On October 12, 2018, the Discipline Committee ordered and directed that:
- the Registrar suspend Dr. Allendes' certificate of registration for a period of nine (9) months, effective immediately.
- Dr. Allendes attend before the panelto be reprimanded.
- Dr. Allender pay to the College costs in the amount of $10,180.00, within thirty (30) days of the date of this Order.