Editorial note: The original article incorrectly stated that Dr. Habeeb Tunde Ali no longer works at Oasis Health System in Cochrane. However, he is still employed with the clinic. A local doctor who practices at Cochrane’s Oasis Health System will have to pay over $70, 000 to Alberta’s medical regulator. Dr. Habeeb Tunde Ali was found guilty of three charges of unprofessional conduct by a Hearing Tribunal from the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA). Ali also was guilty of failing to pay the annual $1,800 fee to the CPSA, failure to co-operate and meet with the CPSA’s Continuing Care Agreement monitor and failure to comply with his obligations as a bankrupt person. Ali unsuccessfully appealed the hearing decision to the CPSA’s council, then appealed, again unsuccessfully, to the Alberta Court of Appeal. Back in 2008, Ali’s licence was suspended after having a sexual relationship with a patient and fathering a child with that patient. A condition for the return to his practice included attending psychiatric monitoring, which he failed to do despite multiple attempts by his doctor to arrange meeting times. Ali also misreported his income to his bankruptcy trustee, claiming only half of what he was really earning. During the appeal to the Alberta Court, the Hearing Tribunal reasoned that the public should expect members of the medical profession in financial difficulty to accurately and honestly comply with bankruptcy obligations. As well, the Hearing Tribunal said the public shouldn’t be expected to support a physician in a bankruptcy position who disregarded his obligations to his creditors while earning a substantial income. Ali is ordered to cover the costs of the investigation into his behaviour and the hearing, set at $70,241. The Cochrane Eagle reached out to Ali but did not receive a reply in time for publication.
