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An Ontario family doctor who prescribed ketamine over the phone and asked patients to sign away their right to sue him or make a formal complaint “of any kind” has been suspended from practising for six months.

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Dr. Michael Hart, a past guest of U.S podcaster Joe Rogan who was “cautioned” by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario multiple times dating back to 2016, including over his social media posts, engaged in conduct that would reasonably be regarded as “disgraceful, dishonourable and unprofessional,” according to a recent ruling.

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“What is more, it was disgraceful, dishonourable and unprofessional to ask clients to sign a document promising not to take legal action against him or make a complaint to the college,” the Ontario Physicians and Surgeons Discipline Tribunal wrote.

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“Physicians may not attempt to hinder the College’s regulation of the profession in the public interest by encouraging withdrawal of complaints” or attempting to discourage patients from exercising their legal rights.

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The discipline panel accepted the parties’ joint submission proposing a penalty of a six-month licence suspension, effective July 8, as well as a permanent restriction prohibiting Hart from prescribing ketamine or testosterone replacement therapy upon his return to practice, among other terms and conditions.

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The tribunal wrote that a joint submission must be accepted, unless it is “unhinged” from the circumstances and would bring the college’s discipline process into disrepute.

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According to the college’s records, Hart was previously cautioned six times by its Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee, including over complaints involving his social media posts regarding gender-affirming care and COVID-19.

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“Progressive regulation only protects patients if the physician on the receiving end responds to it, and the (Hart) file shows how long a practice can continue substantially unchanged while the warnings accumulate,” medical malpractice lawyer Paul Cahill blogged.

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In a statement to National Post, the college said that while the complaints committee can make a range of dispositions, some of them remedial in nature, it doesn’t make findings of professional misconduct. “Where a matter requires the determination of disputed facts or involves allegations of professional misconduct,” the case may be referred to the discipline tribunal, which is responsible for adjudicating those matters.

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What most stuck Cahill was Hart providing two patients with a document asking them to promise never to file a lawsuit or a grievance with his licensing college, which the tribunal found was itself disgraceful, dishonourable and unprofessional.

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“I’ve been practising medical malpractice litigation for over 20 years now, and I’ve never come across something like that,” Cahill said in an interview with National Post.