Edmonton fertility doctor fined and suspended after accepting kickbacks from drugmakers

An Edmonton fertility doctor is facing sanctions after admitting to accepting payments from pharmaceutical companies that he was prescribing to patients.According to the Oct. 2 decision of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta’s (CPSA) tribunal, Dr. Tarek Motan admitted to accepting payments in the form of rebates between 2025 and 2017 for fertility drugs that he was prescribing to his patients, such as Gonal-f, Puregon and Menopur. He also admitted he failed to disclose these rebates to his patients.The issue came to the CPSA’s attention after Dr. Motan had self-reported to the college. In his self-report, he said he “regretted his naivety” and explained he had intended to use the money to fund education programs and research at his clinic. He also maintained that he never benefitted personally from any of the money, nor did he intend to.“Dr. Motan acknowledged what had occurred and expressed his regret in his correspondence to the College and AHS (Alberta Health Services). He apologized to his patients. This is a mitigating factor,” the college wrote in its decision.However, the investigation did not find that the care that Dr. Motan had provided was inappropriate. Given that Dr. Motan had also previously served as a member of the CPSA council, the investigation was conducted by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia in order to avoid any conflicts of interest.In total, the tribunal found Dr. Motan had received gross rebates of more than $1.2 million. After taxes, the net rebates totalled $436,000. This money was put into a bank account under the name of the Centre for Assisted Reproduction Edmonton (CARE). However, CARE was not a separate legal entity and was entirely owned by Dr. Motan’s company. Of this money, $88,000 had been spent on expenses relating to the clinic.In addition, the CBC reported that Dr. Motan was served with a $5-million proposed class action lawsuit alleging that women who were treated at his clinic were overprescribed medication and experienced adverse health effects. None of the claims have been proven in court.In their submission to the tribunal, Dr. Motan’s counsel said the doctor “expressed . . . deep embarrassment for his conduct” and “had taken full responsibility for his actions.” “Dr. Motan also endured intense media scrutiny and may face more. He is named in a class action with further potential financial consequences. He has and will continue to bear the consequences of his actions,” Dr. Motan’s counsel said in their submission.Dr. Motan was ultimately handed down a six-month suspension, a $5,000 fine and ordered to undergo an ethics and boundaries course, which he has already completed.“The hearing tribunal was cognizant that many of Dr. Motan’s patients were seeing him in extremely stressful circumstances and were particularly vulnerable as a result. At least one of the patients indicated they had experienced a loss of trust in physicians because of the arrangements relating to the rebates not being disclosed,” the tribunal wrote.In addition, Dr. Motan was ordered to pay 50% of the costs of the investigation and hearing, which totalled around $28,500.00. As for the money from the rebates, the tribunal ordered Dr. Motan to donate the funds to the University of Alberta’s Division of Reproductive Endocrinology Education Fund unless he uses the money to settle his class action lawsuit.

Edmonton fertility doctor fined and suspended after accepting kickbacks from drugmakers

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