Citizens rally behind MD
accused of abuse and incompetence

Win loose or draw, Rideau Lakes'
Dr Shiozaki knows who his friends are

By ILINA STRANBERG

Allegations of sexual abuse against physicians by patients are not as uncommon as could be hoped, but what is uncommon is the outpouring of appreciation and support -- backed by a $35,000 defence fund -- patients in Ontario's Rideau Lakes Township have publicly shown their beloved family physician Dr Ian Shiozaki. The chips are down right now for Dr Shiozaki, who faces allegations of professional misconduct and incompetence from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO). The allegations were filed following the investigation of a former patient's complaint.

The citizens of Rideau Lakes were alerted to the situation after an article appeared in the Brockville Recorder & Times last April. The story reported that a former patient of Dr Shiozaki's had filed an allegation of sexual abuse against him -- three years after the alleged abuse took place. Lurid as the newspaper report was, there were clearly extenuating circumstances which will doubtless come out at the hearing, now rescheduled for April. In this sense it recalls the unfortunate case of Dr Abelsohn who received so much publicity in the lay press at a similar hearing earlier this month.

Dr Shiozaki's patients immediately rallied to his support and formed an action group called Concerned Citizens for Ian Shiozaki (www.rideaulakes.net/shiozaki) to lobby for him to not lose his licence. The group is steering clear of the sexual abuse allegations and focusing on the claims of incompetence. "As his patients, we don't know anything about the other part," says spokesperson Beth Moores, "but we all know from experience that he is, in fact, a very competent, very knowledgeable, very skilful and extremely caring doctor. We're lucky to have him and we don't want to lose him."

Her husband, former Newfoundland premier Hon Frank Moores, was instrumental in the organization of the defence group. "I know how difficult it is to get competent doctors in rural areas like this one," he says. "The Rideau Medical Centre in Newboro had 10 doctors in 10 years before Ian arrived. He's extremely competent and he's not just a doctor here -- he's an integral part of this community."

Dr Shiozaki is a native Torontonian who, for the past 22 years, has lived, practised and raised his family in Newboro, Ontario, a 19th-century village of a few hundred people on the Rideau Canal. He's a slight man with a reserved demeanour whose above-and-beyond brand of dedication is the stuff of local lore. Like the 30 or 40 times he's ridden in ambulances along with his patients to hospitals in Kingston or Ottawa.

"There's no one like him," says Mary Lou Bryden, a retired elementary school teacher and the Elgin Area Coordinator of the Concerned Citizens. "He's treated my parents, my sisters and their families, my husband and our children.His competence is beyond reproach... We've never had a doctor like him before and we'll never get one again." The area is already underserviced; a five-year-old medical facility in the neighbouring village of Portland has been operating with a shortage of physicians for more than two years.

The Township Council formally passed a resolution expressing concern and forwarded it to the College. Hundreds of patients have sent testimonial letters to the College and a petition in circulation currently carries almost 1,500 signatures, collectively representing more than 4,000 individual patients. The group raised over $30,000 through donations, auctions and other fundraisers and retained top criminal lawyer Michael Code to support the legal counsel appointed by the Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA). That lawyer is now Brian Greenspan; the original CMPA lawyer, Paul Milliken, was replaced in August 2003 when the College cited a possible conflict of interest.

Dr Shiozaki's hearing before the CPSO Discipline Committee, initially slated for September 2003, is now set for April 2004.