Toronto doctor who treated patient for cancer they didn't have gets license revoked

Dr. Akbar Khan offered patients a variety of unproven treatments, according to a ruling from the Ontario Physicians and Surgeons Discipline Tribunal.

A family physician in Toronto has had his license revoked after it was found he treated a patient for cancer they did not have.

Dr. Akbar Nauman Khan is the founder of Medicor Cancer Centres Inc., a specialized cancer treatment centre located on Yonge Street, born from Khan’s vision that “government-funded health system was too inadequate to meet the needs of cancer patients," according to its website.

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Khan was first brought to the Ontario Physicians and Surgeons Discipline Tribunal (OPSDT) in February 2022 over allegations that he failed to maintain standards of practice while treating a dozen cancer patients.

Those allegations accused Khan of offering patients a variety of unproven treatments, according to the tribunal, including something called “SAFE Chemotherapy” and a drug called dichloroacetate, which is a drug for metabolic disorders.

“Whether it was ‘snake oil,’ ‘witches’ brew’ or otherwise, whatever it was that Dr. Khan was offering his patients, it was not what he claimed,” the ruling reads.

“In doing so, Dr. Khan set aside his obligations as a physician to uphold the College’s CAM [Complementary and Alternative Medicine] and consent policies, and in doing so, he failed his patients,” the ruling says.

On March 28, the OPSDT revoked Khan’s license after finding him guilty of professional misconduct, including treating a patient for cancer erroneously for more than a year and prescribing medication to a cancer patient that “increased their risk of aggravating the cancer.”

Khan opted not to appear at his hearing and has since been ordered to pay just over $72,000 in costs to the tribunal as part of their ruling.

When reached for comment, Toronto paralegal Uri Kogan said his client denies the tribunal's findings, categorizing them as a "fabrication."

13 MONTHS OF CANCER TREATMENT

The tribunal described Khan’s misconduct as “extremely serious.” In one incident detailed in the ruling, Khan was said to have been treating a patient, referred to as ‘Patient A,’ when he used an “unconventional test in which he had a conflict of interest” to diagnose them with cancer.

The ruling states Patient A did not have cancer – yet, Khan was found to have treated the patient for more than 13 months as such, “ignoring the adverse side effects [they] experienced from the treatment,” it reads.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) initiated an investigation into the complaint, Khan reportedly tried to interfere with the process.

KHAN RISKED AGGRAVATING PATIENT’S CANCER: CPSO

When treating another patient, referred to in the ruling as ‘Patient B,’ the tribunal found that Khan administered chemotherapy against specialists’ advice.

Khan also is said to have changed the patient’s medication, putting them “at risk of aggravating [their] cancer.”

Patient B’s cancer specialists did not have the opportunity to intervene quickly to address the potential harm, the ruling said.

The patient was under the care of Khan for more than three years, it said.

GTA HOSPITAL PRIVILEGES PREVIOUSLY REVOKED

In 2009, Khan had his privileges at Scarborough General Hospital revoked, which court documents show he had held since 1992.

The stripping of privileges came at the recommendation of a panel of his peers serving on the Medical Advisory Committee to the hospital’s Board of Directors, citing a “ lengthy pattern of disruptive conduct” in which he allegedly “repeatedly and often publicly disparaged administrators” while “refusing to participate in a process to address concerns in a constructive and respectful manner.”

Khan applied for a judicial review of that decision later that year, which court documents show the Ontario Divisional Court dismissed. In turn, Khan was ordered to pay $15,000, plus disbursements in the amount of $2,141.50, to the hospital.

MEDICAL LICENSE REVOKED

Khan opted not to participate in the OPDST's penalty hearing, the tribunal said.

“Because he did not participate, we have no evidence of any mitigating factors relating to his personal circumstances or his actions since the misconduct that could reduce the penalty,” it wrote.

“The only relevant considerations on which we have evidence are the seriousness of the misconduct and the fact that Dr. Khan has no discipline finding that predates the misconduct in this matter.”

As a result, the tribunal revoked Khan’s license and ordered him to pay a total of $72,590 in costs.

“Revocation is appropriate here,” the tribunal wrote in its ruling. “It’s necessary to send the message to the profession and the public that a physician cannot do what Dr. Khan did and continue to practice medicine.”

The ruling added that the tribunal does not believe Khan will practice medicine safely if allowed to continue practicing.

Khan was ordered to pay the total amount in costs by March 15. 

With files from CTV News Toronto's Jon Woodward.