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By Cam Lee

Doctor reprimanded

College of Physicians and Surgeons penalizes former Humboldt, Saskatoon doctor

Feb 10, 2020 | 3:10 PM

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan (CPSS) has penalized a physician who once worked in Humboldt and Saskatoon for not meeting industry requirements when prescribing marijuana and for billing concerns.

The college charged Dr. Meshack Zwane in September 2018. He was working at Natural Health Services in Saskatoon during the period in question in 2017.

“He practiced in a facility that was assisting individuals to obtain prescriptions for marijuana, and the charges said that he had failed to follow the appropriate requirements in order to authorize people to obtain marijuana,” CPSS Associate Registrar and Legal Counsel Bryan Salte told northeastNOW.

Salte said there were also concerns in respect to billings, in that a substantial part of the patients’ visits were billed for larger amounts than justified.

Zwane admitted to charges of unprofessional conduct laid by the CPSS council members at a previous meeting.

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The doctor is not currently licensed, and Salte said he currently resides in South Africa. If Zwane wants to practice medicine in Saskatchewan again, he is required to take courses on the ethics of professionalism, a prescribing, and medical record-keeping.

Zwane was fined $15,000 at the Jan. 24 council meeting. He must also reimburse the college $8,726.75 for ‘costs of and incidental to the investigation and hearing’ Salte said.

Salte said it is the first time a physician was charged with prescribing cannabis inappropriately.

The college council meets five times a year, and Salte said it’s relatively common for there to be penalty hearings during those meetings.

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cam.lee@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @camlee1974