Nova Scotia doctor Bradley Atkinson suspended from practising medicine

A Sheet Harbour, N.S., family doctor who has long beenunder drug-prescribing restrictions is facing a newinvestigation and has now been suspended from practising medicine.

TheCollege of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia announced Tuesday ithadsuspended Dr. Bradley Atkinson due to a new complaint. The collegewill not detail the nature of the allegation.

Dr. Gus Grant, the CEO of the college, said the suspension is interim, is not the final dispositionand was made while investigating the new complaint.

"In the opinion of the investigation committee it was appropriate in the interest ofpublic safety to impose this suspension on Dr. Atkinson until further notice," said Grant.

History of issues

Atkinson has been under the college's scrutiny before.

He was reprimanded and placed under a number of conditions in November after the college looked into two complaints regarding prescriptions he wrotefor narcotics.The doctor wasalready under drug-prescribingrestrictions dating back to 2008.

The new interimsuspension means Atkinson is unable to practise medicine, but he is responsible for making sure his patients can get reasonable access to theirchart materials.

"This is an extraordinary measure ... This is a measure taken by a committee when it has reasonable grounds of concern for public safety," said Grant.

Previous complaints against Atkinson

In its Nov. 20 decision, the college saidAtkinson was "flippant" and didn't appreciate the importance of the college's discipline process. Italso accused him of poor record keeping and ordered him to take a record-keeping course within the next three months.

The doctor had faced two complaints. In the first,Atkinson prescribed a 60-year-old patient Tylenol #3 in 2014 whilerestricted from doing so.

The second complaint involved Atkinson writingan order for morphine for a patient who was "actively dying."Of that incident, he told the college he "failed to understand the thought process when it turns this compassionate act into a complaint."

In 2008,Atkinson had his medical licence restricted after the college said they had concerns about his knowledge and skills when it came to treating patients with narcotics.

The restrictions were for one year. After that, Atkinson was responsible for getting a letter of support from the college so he could apply toHealth Canada to have his privileges returned.The college said he never did that.