discipline summaries
Text of Public Reprimand
Right up front, I want there to be no misunderstanding
that had you not resigned and agreed not to reapply, this
Committee, based on the statement of facts submitted,
would have revoked your certificate of registration.
The facts admitted to are nothing short of appalling.
Not only has there been neglect of patients, and failure
to practice within accepted guidelines, but your care has
resulted in tragic consequences to mothers and babies.
Sloppy practice, acts of omission and commission, fly
in the face of the support letters you provided. Your lack
of responsibility and professionalism are inconsistent
with medical practice, and nothing short of separating
you from the profession will allow this panel to discharge its duty.
Dr. JOHN HYUNSIK SHIN
Practice Location: Toronto
Practice Area: Ophthalmology
Hearing Information: Agreed Statement of Facts,
Admission, Joint Submission on Penalty
On April 1, 2015, the Discipline Committee found
that Dr. Shin committed acts of professional misconduct, in that he has been found guilty of an offence
that is relevant to his suitability to practise; and, he
has engaged in an act or omission relevant to the
practice of medicine that, having regard to all the circumstances, would reasonably be regarded by members as disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional.
Dr. Shin admitted to the allegations.
On November 13, 2013, Dr. Shin pleaded guilty to
the charge of fraud over $5,000 pursuant to subsection 380(1) of the Criminal Code. It was alleged that,
between January 1, 2006 and March 20, 2007, Dr.
Shin “did by deceit, falsehood or other fraudulent
means defraud the Ministry of Health and LongTerm Care of money exceeding $5,000 by billing the
Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) for services
not rendered.”
Dr. Shin admitted to the following in his guilty
plea, among other things:
(a) H
e billed OHIP for uninsured eye examinations
and uninsured contact lens fittings;
(b) H
e did not perform contact lens fittings for any
of his patients. His staff did the fittings; and
(c) H
e billed OHIP for 4,495 services from 20032007, the next closest ophthalmologist billed
for 966 services.
With respect to the contact lens fittings, Dr. Shin
had a high volume of billings for the billing code
G424, which is an OHIP billing code reserved for
patients who have at least one of the medical conditions set out in s. 24(1) of Regulation 552 of the
Health Insurance Act (the “HIA”).
An investigation revealed that Dr. Shin did not
provide contact lens fittings for any of his patients.
A prescription was completed by Dr. Shin for the
patient, and the staff did all contact lens fittings. The
patients did not suffer from any of the conditions
set out in the HIA, and thus were not insured for
that service. Thirty-four patients confirmed they did
not obtain a contact lens fitting from Dr. Shin and
that they did not suffer from any of the conditions
eligible for billing.
With respect to the eye exams, Dr. Shin had a high
volume of billings for the code A233, which is an
OHIP billing code for ‘Specific assessment’. An independent expert retained by the College determined
that 222 out of 233 Dr. Shin’s records for the codes
G424 and A233 contained fraudulent billings. The
total amount of Dr. Shin’s fraud was calculated on
the basis of those records to be $43,176.
Dr. Shin made restitution in the amount of
$43,176 to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term
Care prior to his sentencing hearing.
On November 25, 2013, Dr. Shin was convicted
in the Ontario Court of Justice of fraud exceeding
$5,000 contrary to subsection 380(1) of the Criminal
Code and was sentenced to:
(a) A
n eight-month conditional sentence to be
served in the community;
(b) P
rovide a sample of his DNA for the national
database; and
Full decisions are available online at www.cpso.on.ca.
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Issue 1, 2016 Dialogue
47