Nature of action: An undertaking and consent of the registrant under section 33(6)(c) of the Health Professions Act wherein the registrant voluntarily resigned his registration with the College (effective April 1, 2015) and agreed to never apply for reinstatement of his registration with the College.

Reasons: The College received a complaint from a former female patient of the registrant (the “Complainant”) alleging that the registrant:

1. generally failed to provide adequate draping and, on one occasion, exposed her genital area;
2. generally failed to obtain informed consent for massage therapy treatments in the pelvic, genital and inner thigh areas;
3. touched her buttocks, pubic area and genital area inappropriately and/or sexually while providing her with massage therapy on different occasions; and
4. made comments of an inappropriate, personal and/or sexual nature to her while providing her with massage therapy treatment on several occasions;

In the course of investigating the Complaint, the College received information from another former female patient of the registrant (the “Other Patient”) alleging that the registrant:

1. folded the drape down to expose her entire breasts on one occasion and touched her breasts and nipples inappropriately and/or sexually while providing her with massage therapy on 8 or 9 different occasions; and
2. moaned while working on her chest area and made inappropriate comments and jokes about the size of her breasts.

The registrant admitted to having committed professional misconduct by:

1. failing to document sufficient details regarding the treatments he provided to the Complainant and Other Patient;
2. failing to document any consent discussions that he may have had with the Complainant and the Other Patient regarding the provision of massage therapy around their private areas;
3. engaging in inappropriate conversations of a personal nature with the Complainant; and
4. failing to properly drape/position the Complainant and the Other Patient, which may have resulted in touching their genitals, breasts and nipples as alleged (but which sexual touching is denied).

By engaging in the admitted conduct, the registrant has violated several sections of the CMTBC’s Code of Ethical Conduct and the Standards of Practice, which amounts to professional misconduct.