Dr. Mansukhlal Mavji (Charlie) Parmar is to be reprimanded in writing and charged $2,000 by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC in response to his reading of CT scans and obstetrical ultrasounds despite not being qualified.
In a recent media release the college wrote that Parmar has “admitted to engaging in unprofessional conduct by breaching the requirements of Undertakings to the college dated June 21, 2002.”
Parmar voluntarily restricted himself at that time from performing those duties due to a lack of training. In 2003 Parmar completed training for ultrasound reading and in 2010 for interpreting CT scan readings, but he never submitted this training to the college for approval and never undertook the necessary supervisory period after the training while performing the associated duties.
In February 2011 the BC ministry of health revealed that Parmar had been performing the readings despite the voluntary restrictions and that patients’ health care may have been compromised as a result.
A report written by BC Patient Safety and Quality Care Chair Dr. Doug Cochrane, released in October 2011, stated that Parmar had read around 900 CT scans and 2,300 obstetrical ultrasounds. Of those, 28 CT scans had major discrepancies between Parmar’s reading and an independent second reading and of those, nine patients were “deemed to have had their care compromised because of the error in scan interpretation.”
As of October 2010 Parmar has not been practicing medicine in BC. Since then the college reports that he has “submitted his resignation to the college and is no longer licensed to practice medicine in British Columbia.”
Vancouver Coastal Health officials could offer no comment on the disciplinary action as Parmar is no longer an employee of the health authority.
Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons wrote in an email to the Peak that “it’s good that the college has finally taken action” but that a “$2,000 fine for years of misconduct which compromised many patients’ health doesn’t seem proportional. I hope that implementing the recommendations of the Cochrane report will prevent this kind of failure from reoccurring,” wrote Simons.
