Nature of Action: Pursuant to section 35(1)(a) of the Health Professions Act (the “Act”), a panel of the Inquiry Committee (the “Panel”) made an order to impose limits and conditions on Yifu (George) Qiu’s registration with CMTBC in order to protect the public.

The limits and conditions on Mr. Qiu’s practice of massage therapy are that he:

• must not treat female patients;
• must immediately post a notice, in a prominent position, on all online booking pages associated with him the following statement:

Yifu Qiu is prohibited from treating female patients, by order of the Inquiry Committee of the College of Massage Therapists of British Columbia, dated June 15, 2023. The order is available on the College website at:

https://www.cmtbc.ca/public-complaints/disciplinary-actions/

• must also post in a prominent place in any treatment room where he provides massage therapy treatment, a notice that is printed on 8 x 11 inch paper and in large font stating in English and the Chinese equivalent:

Yifu Qiu is prohibited from treating female patients, by order of the Inquiry Committee of the College of Massage Therapists of British Columbia, dated June 15, 2023. The order is available on the College website at:

https://www.cmtbc.ca/public-complaints/disciplinary-actions/

The notice is only required to be posted in the treatment room when he is treating a patient.

• must, by 6:00 p.m. every Friday, while these limits or conditions are in effect, provide the College with, or electronic access to, his calendar, including the name and contact information for each patient he treated in the preceding week.
• will be subject to random on-site audits of his practice by a College-appointed inspector to ensure compliance with the orders of the Inquiry Committee, with the frequency and timing of the random on-site audits to be at the sole discretion of the College. Without limiting the foregoing, an inspector may inspect any patient booking process (whether that occurs physically, by telephone, or otherwise electronically) and any file or record of any female patient treated by the Registrant.

Reasons: On April 14, 2023, CMTBC received a complaint from a female patient of Mr. Qiu (the “Patient”). In relation to this complaint, the Panel found that there was a prima facie case of the allegations that, during the provision of massage therapy to the Patient, Mr. Qiu engaged in unprofessional verbal communications with the Patient and engaged in sexual misconduct by engaging in non-therapeutic touching of sensitive areas of the Patient’s body.

The Panel considered the allegations to be serious and found that there would be a risk of recurrence if an interim order were not made. Therefore, it determined that the public must be protected by an interim order during the investigation and pending any disciplinary hearing.

The Panel considered what interim measures should be sufficient and proportionate in this case. Having weighed the different options and the circumstances of this case, and having considered the impact on Mr. Qiu, the Panel concluded that the above-described limits and conditions are proportionate and sufficient to protect the public during the investigation or pending a disciplinary hearing.

Important Note: Limits, conditions and suspensions ordered by the Inquiry Committee under section 35(1) of the Act are made to protect the public during an investigation or pending a hearing of the Discipline Committee. Measures taken under section 35(1) of the Act pertain to allegations which are and remain unproven unless admitted by a registrant or determined by the Discipline Committee.