A west Edmonton family doctor is having his licence revoked by Alberta’s medical regulator after being found guilty of “unprofessional conduct.”

A hearing tribunal of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta ordered the man’s practice permit be cancelled as of May 15 and that he pay all of the investigation and hearing costs totalling about $66,544, the college said in a news release.

David Odugbemi, a licensed doctor in Alberta since 2004, had 13 separate complaints issued against him with the college. In its decision dated April 15, the hearing tribunal said these complaints were related to Odugbemi’s “obstetrical care, medical advice regarding weight loss and prescribing practices for opioid and benzodiazepine drugs.”

After an investigation of the complaints, the college entered into an agreement with Odugbemi in February 2015 consisting of several terms in order to resolve the concerns from “several significant complaints.” These terms included an assessment, weight loss training as well as improvement in quality of charting and care.

But, the hearing members found the doctor failed to meet several of these aspects and demonstrated a “pattern of ungovernable conduct based on his repeated acts of non-compliance.” This included failing to improve the quality of care provided to patients for chronic disease management. As well, the tribunal found Odugbemi failed to comply with restrictions on the number of patients he could see from March to December 2015 and January to June 2017. Terms from the agreement capped the number of patients he could see to 50 per day and 250 per week.

“He has become ungovernable and no longer worthy of the privilege of being a regulated member of the college,” complaints director Dr. Michael Caffaro said in his submissions to the three-member tribunal that heard the case in November 2018.

The tribunal found Odugbemi’s repeated non-compliance demonstrated unprofessional conduct under the Health Professions Act