Ontario doctor suspended after patient dies, review into professional misconduct

Justice scale drawn on a doctor's clipboard with stethoscope. (Getty Images)

An Ontario neurosurgeon specializing in pain medicine is facing a six-month licence suspension following a review of his alleged medical misconduct, which includes a patient’s death after a nerve-blocking procedure and an explicit order to stop performing the injections was allegedly broken.

In a Feb. 9 decision made by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO), a five-person panel delivered the penalty against Stefan Joseph Konasiewicz, who has clinics in Toronto, Hamilton and Newmarket and was previously the subject of a year-long medical supervision in connection with separate allegations of professional incompetence in 2022.

‘A lack of judgment, skill or knowledge’

Following that supervisory period, Konasiewicz’s practice was reassessed by a CPSO-approved assessor who claimed the neurosurgeon “failed to maintain the standard of practice in 12 of 15” patient charts.

“His treatment plan did not change depending on results obtained. He repeated multiple injections without change, weekly or biweekly, even when there was evidence that the treatment was ineffective,” a summary of a April 10, 2024 report reads.

The review went on to say that while Konasiewicz did not expose any of those 15 patients to harm or injury, “he displayed a lack of judgment, skill or knowledge in 8 out of 15 charts, including performing sciatic nerve blocks and paravertebral injections for conditions where they were not indicated.”

Months after the report’s release, Konasiewicz performed a series of nerve blocks on a 70-year-old patient he had been seeing since 2015 for neck and shoulder pain.

The patient, referred to as “Patient A,” collapsed after the procedure and died. The report noted that the patient had a history of cardiac issues.

‘Significant risks to patient safety’

A separate review into that patient’s death found that Konasiewicz’s technique for performing the injections did not meet accepted standards and the improper needle placements presented “significant risks to patient safety.”

“Specifically, there were multiple instances where Dr. Konasiewicz directed needles toward the spinal canal (not the intended target) without confirming their final position using required lateral views or ensuring adequate imaging quality.”

The Office of the Chief Coroner later determined that Patient A had experienced an “inadvertent intrathecal injection of local anesthetics,” meaning the injection went directly into their spinal canal.

It’s unclear if any criminal charges were laid against Konasiewicz’s following the patient’s death.

The penalty issued to Konasiewicz by the tribunal is in line with a joint submission.

“There were serious deficiencies in Dr. Konasiewicz’s decision making as to when and how many injections he performed and most significantly, there were clinical deficiencies in the techniques he used to safely perform these injections.”

The report noted that Konasiewicz admits the facts regarding the reassessment of his practice and his care of Patient A.

The CPSO barred Konasiewicz from performing similar injections in the aftermath of the patient’s death. However, the province’s physician watchdog said it had received a letter on May 5, 2025 from a patient who claimed Konasiewicz was still administering the shots.

The doctor was handed a suspension on May 12 as a result of the breach. The six-month extension of his suspension serves to address the goals of “specific and general deterrence,” the report read.

In addition to the suspension, Konasiewicz will be required to appear before the panel to be reprimanded. He will also be required to retain another clinical supervisor, at his own expense, for a 12-month period when the suspension is lifted.