Edmonton family doctor sanctioned for unprofessional conduct

An Edmonton doctor was sanctioned by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA) for unprofessional conduct.

Dr. Tarek Motan, an obstetrician, gynecologist and family physician, admitted to failing to comply with the CPSA's conflict of interest standard of practice.

Between August 2015 and November 2017, Motan accepted "rebates from pharmaceutical manufacturers based on prescribing certain fertility drugs to his patients," according to the CPSA.

"Dr. Motan also referred his patients to a specific pharmacy to facilitate payment of the rebates, offered a portion of the rebates to the pharmacy and did not disclose to his patients that he was receiving rebates for the drugs he was prescribing."

Motan is suspended from practice for six months, which began on Oct. 18.

Motan was ordered to use the after-tax income he received from rebates to settle a class-action lawsuit filed against him by one of his patients or donate the money to the University of Alberta’s Division of Reproductive Endocrinology Education Fund.

He was also ordered to complete a course on ethics and boundaries, which the CPSA said he has finished, pay a $5,000 fine and cover 50 per cent of the costs of the investigation and the hearing.

In 2021, Motan sent out a letter to patients admitting to the rebates.

He also said in the letter he "on occasion prescribed high doses of fertility medications to patients, which, in my judgement, improved the chance of a successful outcome."

At the time, one of his former patients told CTV News Edmonton he had prescribed her "the maximum recommended dosage, which is double the maximum starting dosage."

The CPSA's investigation did not find that the care Motan provided patients was inappropriate.