College fines Manitoba doctor $110K for falsely accusing colleague of assault

A rural Manitoba doctor won't be able to practice medicine for six months and has been fined $110,000 after he allegedly made up a story about how he was attacked by a colleague.

After a hearing that spanned five days in May 2016, an inquiry panel found Dr. Tahseen Mahdi guilty of two counts of professional misconduct.

The alleged misconduct took place in August 2013 and was reported in January 2014. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitobapanel ruledMahdi falsely accused a colleague of trying to strangle and attack him in his office.

"You stated to the police you were surprised by an attack by Dr. [A], who came from behind you, choked you with his hands, said 'you better drop the charges or you are going to lose your life,' and pushed you to the floor," reads a description of the case in the inquiry decision.

Under the College of Physicians code of conduct, doctors must "avoid impugning the reputation of all colleagues for personal motives."

The college ruled Mahdi and his colleague, referred to as "Dr. A" throughout the inquiry, presented "starkly different" accounts of what happened on Aug. 1, 2013.

Mahdi'slawyer said in the weeks before the attack,the doctors were involved in two disputes over scheduling of shifts in the emergency department of the hospital where they worked.

"The first incident was a confrontation between the two men on July 17, 2013, in which Dr. A was belligerent and threatening towards Dr. Mahdi and had physical contact with him. That incident was witnessed by at least three other members of the medical staff at the hospital," the inquiry report reads."The second incident occurred on July 23, 2013; Dr. Mahdi asserts that on that day, he was threatened by Dr. A."

One of seven witnesses, whoworked at the hospital with Mahdi and Dr. A, testified he was at a meeting with the doctors about their disagreements over the scheduling system in July 2013.

Dr. A said Mahdi was incompetent, the witness said, and allegedly told Mahdi,"I am going to beat you. I am going to throw you down. I am going to send you to hell." The witness said Dr. A was "out of control" and at one point punched Mahdi in the chest.

Mahdi reported the incident and RCMP began investigating Dr. A.

Dr. A admitted to the inquiry panel he was "highly emotional" during the meeting and toldMahdi,"I will beat you," although he denied punching Mahdithat day.

Dr. Aaltered the scheduling system in the days after the meeting, the inquiry panel heard, inserting his name to work certain shifts in the emergency room when Mahdi was scheduled to work.

Dr. A also denied assaultingMahdion Aug. 1,2013.

The inquiry panel couldn't find any proof Dr. Aassaulted Mahdi, describing Mahdi's descriptions of injuries he sustained as "unclear and unconvincing."

The college reprimanded Mahdi and is forcing him to cover a "substantial portion of the costs of the investigation" in two payments of $55,000 the first by Aug. 31 this year, the second by June 30, 2018.

Mahdi had already served a two-month suspension at the time of the ruling. He will serve another four months before he can resume practising medicine. The suspension begins Sept. 1.

He also has to complete a medical professionalism and ethics course by the time the suspension ends on Dec. 31.

CBC News reached out to Mahdi but has yet to receive a response.