CORNWALL – A Cornwall doctor has given up her licence to practice medicine as she faced a disciplinary hearing over allegations of professional misconduct and incompetence in her care of patients.
Dr. Sheridan Reavely-Diaz, who last worked at the Pitt Street Medical Center (1335 Pitt Street), was facing a disciplinary hearing before the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons.
The 68-year-old doctor had been ordered to stop practicing in November 2019 after she was unable to find a supervisor, pending the outcome of the hearing. She had been licenced since 1990.
Reavely-Diaz pled no contest to the facts on Oct. 8, 2020 and entered into an undertaking with the college where she agreed to resign and not apply or reapply to be registered as a doctor in Ontario or any other jurisdiction.
Based on the agreed statement of facts and the admission, the college found that “she failed to maintain the standard of practice of the profession and engaged in conduct” that “would reasonably be regarded by members as disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional,” the decision reads in part.
The agreement notes that Reavely-Diaz was registered to practice in Texas and Louisiana but the Louisiana licence expired in June 2020 and she agreed to resign her licence in Texas as part of the agreement.
Reavely-Diaz had faced several complaints that she failed to do testing and follow up on a patient with “yellowing eyes, weight loss and extra abdominal weight.” There were also allegations of delayed referrals for testing and suddenly stopping another patient’s medication.
“At times, Dr. Diaz’s medical care was substandard due to diagnostic errors…inappropriate treatment including use of antibiotics and medication prescribing errors, failure to follow-up, and failure to provide preventative care for patients,” the statement of facts reads in part.
Accusations of lax medical record keeping were also on file. Based on a third party review, another doctor found that 28 of 28 patient files reviewed did not meet the standard of practice for record keeping. The review “identified a risk of harm” to 21 of the 28 patients reviewed.
A search of Diaz’s CPSO file shows a string of problems with the treatment of patients back to 2016.
In addition to revoking her licence to practice medicine Reavely-Diaz also had to pay legal costs of $6,000 to the college following last month’s hearing.