When a patient books a consultation, nobody can know what it’s for. That is true. But after the doctor sees her and she tells him that she wants medically unnecessary liposuction, he sure as hell knows why she was there on her way out. And it’s on her way out that OHIP is billed.

And I don’t think that it’s completely false to assume that OHIP pay’s for unnecessary procedures. The CBC recently reported on a doctor that was forced to give back $2.5 million dollars because he was billing for unnecessary procedures. Why? Because there is no accountability in the system. You have absolutely no way of knowing how many things are being paid for. If these Plastic surgeons send a patient for a blood test, does the lab ask why they are seeing the doctor and then make them pay? No they don’t. It also comes out of our pockets. There are likely hundreds of little things like that that add up to millions of wasted funds each year.

So thank you for posting your propaganda but please don’t assume that the readers of this blog are stupid enough to believe that a medically trained Plastic surgeon is too dumb to know when he should or shouldn’t bill OHIP. Or that it’s some kind of innocent mistake. That’s like going into a restaurant and not paying for the meal because you weren’t sure if you were going to order that steak or not on your way in. You go in. You order, the waiter then knows what you want and he gives you the bill. It’s really no more complicated than that. Even a doctor cold figure it out.

And while I may agree with you about the possible hypochondria in our society and media, please don’t try to put this on patients. As citizens our duty is to work, obey the law and pay our taxes. In return our government promises us healthcare. If a person wants to go see a doctor because they have a cough, it’s their right. If they choose to take an unnecessary vaccine because it makes them feel safer, it’s their right. They’ve done their duty and that is exactly what the system is for.

But it is illegal for a plastic surgeon in Toronto like Dr. Fielding to line his pockets with our tax dollars for a liposuction consultation and who knows what other procedures. The law is absolutely and unequivocally clear in that matter. The disturbing thing is that the College of Physicians and Surgeons did not take any action. They just sat around with their thumb up their ass while this was being admitted. It’s their job to protect us and our funding. If they are doing nothing, what does that say about the system as a whole? How safe are you really when the Doctors seem to be able to decide what to do and what not to do. Does it end with the money or does it apply to other areas? Who is watching the watchdog?

However, to say that ohip pays for ‘unnecessary liposuction’ is completely false. It doesn’t even pay for ‘necessary liposuction’. Liposuction procedures may be part of a necessary procedure, masectomy, or what have you, but that PORTION of the surgery is paid for by the patient. NOT by OHIP.

The real large scale loss of funds is closer related to the people who see the doctor every time they get a flu or a paranoia enduced shot of h1n1 and the like. Consider.

That’s what bugs me about this. These guys are being paid by us to protect the public but they don’t seem to care and they don’t really “have to” do anything. They just do what they like because they’re not an official and accountable government organization. Self policing doesn’t work. These doctors are completely abusing our healthcare system. I do not want to pay for someone’s unnecessary liposuction while my parents get second rate treatment because our hospitals can’t afford new equipment or enough nurses.

This is absolutely disgusting. I don’t want to complain to the CPSO and have them brush it under the rug. I want our government to pull their reigns in and stop these plastic surgeons from stealing our tax dollars. If this guy can go on the stand and admit to OHIP fraud and nobody does anything, it’s clearly a much bigger problem than the CPSO can handle or they’d have done something already.

anyone can complain to the CPSO and they HAVE to act o it!
If this bugs you

COMPLAIN, make a formal complaint and they have to act

you can appeal to the Health Disciplines Bopard too, all free, and get the Star into the act