WINNIPEG — A Conservative candidate in the provincial election is facing new restrictions from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba — 10 years after his licence was temporarily revoked for professional misconduct.
Naseer Warraich is running for the Tories in the Winnipeg constituency of Tyndall Park and is featured on the party's website wearing a white coat and stethoscope.
Documents posted on the college's website say Warraich is restricted as to where he can practise, how many patients he can see and how he documents encounters with his patients.
At least one out of every 10 of his office charts must be reviewed by a supervisor.
"Dr. Warraich will not supervise or teach any students in any setting," the college states.
Calls to the college, which does not reveal what led to the most recent restrictions, were not immediately returned Monday. Warraich did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
The Conservative party declined to provide anyone to answer questions regarding the candidate or what prompted the new restrictions. Spokesman Howard May emailed a statement that said Warraich agreed to restrictions in January relating to his "workload, patient volumes and administrative matters."
"These have been published and are publicly available as part of the normal College of Physicians' process," he wrote. "There is no suggestion of professional misconduct."
Warraich's licence was suspended for two years in 2006 and he was fined $16,000 after he co-signed prescriptions for U.S. patients he had never seen. The prescriptions were for up to 20 pharmacies, the college found.
Some of the prescriptions were for animals, although Warraich is not a veterinarian.
The college said during its investigation that Warraich misled the college regarding how long he had been co-signing prescriptions and for how many pharmacies. He also initially told the college he spent 15 minutes reviewing patient information before co-signing a prescription.
The college said that in a later interview, "Warraich stated that, in fact, he had generally spent less time than that and sometimes as little as 20-30 seconds in reviewing each prescription."
May said in the emailed statement that Warraich acknowledged his past mistakes and has been forthcoming throughout the party's vetting process.
"We support his candidacy," May wrote.
