Regina doctor who operated on wrong side of patient’s mouth suspended

Surgical instruments are used during an organ transplant surgery at a hospital in Washington on Tuesday, June 28, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Molly Riley

A Regina practitioner who removed a piece of tissue from the wrong side of a patient’s mouth was suspended for one month.

According to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan (CPSS), on May 12, 2022, Dr. Peter Chang met with a patient for a planned procedure to remove a cancerous lesion on the right side of the patient’s mouth.

On June 29, 2022, the procedure went ahead, with Chang removing tissue on the left side of the patient’s mouth – leaving the lesion in place that the procedure was meant to remove.

In a decision published by the CPSS, Chang faced a total of three charges in relation to the procedure.

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They included failing to maintain the standard of practice, failing to obtain informed consent, and providing false or misleading information to the College.

The first two charges stem from the operation itself while the third concerns a response Chang sent to the CPSS after a complaint was filed against him.

According to the decision, Chang told the College in a letter in June 2023 that he had read the CT scan again and had contacted the patient with new findings, urging them that it was necessary to operate on the left side of their mouth.

Chang told the College they agreed and were issued a written consent form for the procedure.

The College rejected this claim, finding that Chang was under the “mistaken impression” that the left side of the mouth was where the procedure was taking place and the alternative sequence of events were meant to disguise that.

The penalty hearing, held on Jan. 23, 2026, called for a written reprimand, a fine and a one-month suspension for Chang.

The doctor’s suspension took place from Jan. 25 to Feb. 24, 2026, while his fine totalled $9,007.04.