college connection
APPEAL PROCESS
APPEALS STRENGTHEN THE REGULATORY SYSTEM
The College ’ s Complaints , Accreditation and Registration Committees each make decisions about individual member matters . Under the Veterinarians Act , these decisions can be appealed to the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board ( HPARB ). HPARB is a third-party appeal mechanism that allows the parties involved in these matters ( applicants , licensed members , facility directors , and complainants ) to appeal a decision where they are not happy with the outcome .
The College works hard to ensure that all of our processes are fair , transparent , objective and impartial , but it is essential for procedural fairness to have another party who can review decisions when necessary . This system provides accountability to the College ’ s decision-making and allows individuals a right to a “ second opinion ”. HPARB also reviews complaints and registration decisions for all of the regulated health professions in Ontario , 28 Colleges in all . HPARB determines if the College ’ s decisions are reasonable and ensures adequate information has been collected to support the decisions that are being made .
The College is supportive of this appeal process . All parties deserve the right to appeal when they do not agree with an outcome . This accountability leads to a strong committee review system built upon fair practices and reasonability in decision making .
The College ’ s decisions are generally upheld at HPARB . From 2014 to 2016 , no Complaints Committee decisions were returned to the College by HPARB . However , when decisions are not upheld , the College seeks to learn from these decisions and apply these learnings to future case reviews . In the last year , the College has had a few decisions returned for further review . The reasons for returned decisions have been varied and include :
• HPARB was concerned that a decision used very serious language when discussing the case , but that the Committee only gave the veterinarian advice on what learnings would be helpful rather than requiring remediation . This links to our legislative reform initiatives and the inclusion of the ability to require remedial activities in cases that are not serious enough for a discipline referral , but where remediation would best protect the public and help the veterinarian not land in a similar circumstance in the future . The College does not currently have the power to do this in less serious cases .
• Another case was returned indicating the College had not disclosed the full complaints file to the veterinarian . Case law has recently changed in this area and such disclosure is now required . The case in question was completed just prior to the College making this procedural change . In fact , the College ’ s process had already changed prior to the College receiving the HPARB decision indicating the process could be improved .
• In both a registration decision and a complaints decision , parties provided additional information during the appeal process after a matter had been reviewed by Committee . In these cases , the matters were returned to the Committees for review with the further information provided for their consideration .
The College continues to refine our processes and policies based on evolving case law and procedural fairness best practices . Our appeals data is shared publicly in our annual report .
UPDATE ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA AND VETERINARY MEDICINE
The Office of Medical Cannabis has confirmed that the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations do not apply to veterinarians or animals ; the regulations pertain to human healthcare practitioners and access for human patients only .
Much of the focus for veterinarians has been on the use of cannabidiol ( CBD ), specifically CBD oil . Both cannabis and cannabidiol are Schedule II drugs under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act . As veterinarians are included in the definition of practitioner in this Act , veterinarians would be permitted to prescribe either substance if there was a legal pathway to do so . There are currently no approved CBD products for animals .
It is not enough that CBD oil or related
products may be offered through a licensed supplier in Canada – the supplier must also be supplying a CBD product that is approved by Health Canada . Manufacturers would need to complete the approval process to get such a product approved for use in animals .
Animal owners may ask their veterinarians about using products for their animals that contain active ingredients found in the cannabis plant . It is important that the public is aware that :
• There is currently no legal pathway for veterinarians in Ontario to prescribe medical marijuana to animals .
• There are currently no CBD products approved by Health Canada and therefore no legal pathway to obtain these products .
Health Canada can be contacted for additional information on cannabis or CBD products , or on the approval process for products for animals . For more information , contact the Veterinary Drugs Directorate at Health Canada .
4 / College Connection