Ontario Pharmacists now gradually becoming Apothecaries; diagnosing and treating.

New law allows Pharms to give immunisations and repeat prescriptions without consulting the MD

The Ontario Health plan also pays pharms $50 a year to give 30 min. advice to those taking over three medications.

OBITUARY of LATE ONTARIO NEUROLOGIST  O.S.KOFMAN J

Shmool Ben Benjamin Ve Bertha Death Date: Friday, June 15, 2012 Yahrzeit Date: 25 Sivan 5772 Funeral Date: Sunday, June 17, 2012 Funeral Time: 03:00 PM Funeral Place: Holy Blossom Temple Cemetery: Holy Blossom Memorial Park Cemetery Section: Shiva Address: 82 Woodlawn Ave. W., Toronto, Ontario, M4V 1G7 Shiva Direction & Info: Yonge St., south of St. Clair Ave. W., turn right (west) on Woodlawn Ave. W. Notice: KOFMAN, OSCAR SAM MD, FRCPC, FACP. Dr. Oscar Kofman died at home yesterday at age 89 after a long illness. He is survived by his beloved wife and partner in life H. Joyce Kofman (nee Frankel) with whom he shared an extraordinary 62 year marriage of adventure and love. He leaves behind four children who, with their partners, adored him: Barbara (Ted Percival), Betsy (John Bascom), Jim (Elske Kofman), Jeffrey (Michael Levine) of London, England. There was a very special place in his heart for his six grandchildren: Samantha and Graeme Ash, Michael and Dr. Karen Bascom, and Joshua and Gregory Kofman. He was predeceased by sister Virginia Kane, and brothers David and Dr. Sydney Kofman. Oscar Kofman was fast- tracked through medicine at the University of Toronto during W.W.II and went on to do Post- Graduate studies in neurology in Philadelphia and London, England. He returned to Toronto in 1951 as one of the first five fully-trained neurologists in Canada. He established the neurology services at Mt. Sinai Hospital and later Scarborough General while simultaneously serving on the neurological staff of The Toronto General Hospital and The Hospital for Sick Children. In a 50-year career that paralleled the growth of neurology he conducted seminal studies of treatments for Parkinson's Disease and two major studies on the impact of mercury poisoning on native populations in Northern Ontario and Northern Quebec. In his more than 40 years of teaching he was one of the longest-serving faculty members in the history of the University of Toronto School of Medicine. While he was dedicated to his career, he made it very clear that his family was his most significant legacy. He lived every minute of every day of his life to the fullest and days before he died he told his family he was content. His family would like to extend a special thanks to Dr. Fenton and his dialysis nurses Fay, Rose and Carmen who cared for him with tenderness and professionalism for more than four years. Services will be held at Holy Blossom Temple (1950 Bathurst St.) on Sunday, June 17th at 3:00 p.m. Private interment will follow. Visitation and shiva following interment on Sunday (6:30-9:00 p.m.) and visitation on Monday (5:00-9:00 p.m.) Memorial donations may be made to The Parkinson's Society of Canada 1-800-565-3000 or to The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario 1-888- 473-4636. Charity: The Parkinson Society Of Canada (800) 565-3000 The Heart & Stroke Foundation of Ontario (888) 473-4636   COMMENT: Obituaries in CMAJ & OM Review were scant. Dr.Kofman was a physician who practiced with a love of medicine . He was independently wealthy and married into the Frankel Steel family. His Late sister Virginia ("Pepi") married the Late Toronto ENT surgeon Louis Allin KANE, whose father owned a good bit of Oshawa. He practices out of a magnificent mansion ALTONA on the N/E corner of Spadina & St.Clair. Now demolished by his ENT son for development into several townhouses.The Kane family lived on a double lot on Kilbarry rd in Forest Hill.

Problem with Google site. CPSO verdict on Dr.B. YAZDANFAR case.

See CPSO site for full details of Dr.B.YAZDANFAR case. $219,000 billed for partial CPSO legal costs. 2 year "suspension" APPEALED to Divisional Court.  Yazdanfar Cosmetic clinic still fuctioning with large newspaper ads.

OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY payment by Govt. Insurance.(OHIP)

For a year now OHIP has paid $63 for OCT.tests.Now billing explained in the Ontario Medical Review of Jan. 2012 p 25-27.

The Ontario Liberal Govt Minister of Health Dr.D.Matthews PhD(Sociology U.Western Ont) MPP London Cenral North blocked investors planning to set up an OCT clinic ($60-80,000 for one OCT) by refusing payment unless the test is performed by the patient's Primary Ophthalmologist or technician. According to the present Law, an Ontario resident cannot be billed for an Insured Service.

OCT (eg Carl Zeiss Ltd. "Cirrus") is paid for "medically necessary" conditions such as:

 "Glaucoma monitoring" or if patient has Clinical  Glaucoma, a Glaucoma Family History in the "immediate family".,or Ocular hypertension. Max 2 x year

Retinal disease or "Vision loss unexplained by dilated fundus exam." Max. 6 x year.

OPTOMETRISTS can bill patients directly: usually $75

OHIP does not pay for
Confocal Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscopy (cSLO) 
Any physician or sSLO clinic can bill patients directly.
(eg Heidelberg Engineering Inc "HRT")

ORNGE CEO Dr.C.F.MAZZA replaced by Mr.I.W.DELANEY

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The Canadian Press

Date: Wednesday Jan. 25, 2012 5:42 PM ET

TORONTO — Ontario's troubled air ambulance service got a new board of directors Wednesday after slashing 18 jobs in an effort to reduce costs.
Ian Delaney 67y, past chairman of Sherritt International Corp., was appointed as chairman of the new ORNGE board on the recommendation of the Liberal government.
Other new members include past Ont PC Cabinet Minister Charles Harnick QC, BA(York), LLB(Windsor), Cert.Civil Litigation of Counsel Public Affairs, Patricia Lang, former president of Confederation College, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre CEO and president Barry McLellan and Maneesh Mehta of the Central Local Health Integration Unit.
Patrice Merrin of CML HealthCare and Patricia Volker of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario have also been appointed to the board.
"I have every confidence that the newly appointed members will provide the right leadership for the organization," Health Minister Dr."Deb" Matthews PhD (U.W.O.) MPP London Central North said in a statement.
The announcement came a day after ORNGE axed 18 middle managers and shut down its charity organization, J-Smarts, which educates children about cottage country safety.
"In an effort to contain costs and to re-direct our focus, including our resources, on the front-line delivery of patient care, ORNGE's corporate office has been restructured including the immediate termination of eighteen office staff positions from various back-office departments," interim president and CEO Ron McKerlie said Tuesday in a statement.
"Due to privacy issues, we are unable to comment any further on the specifics of these human resource matters."
Matthews cleaned house at the agency earlier this month after months of controversy surrounding its questionable business practices, posh headquarters and high executive salaries.
She replaced CEO Christopher Frances Mazza MD (Tor.89) FRCP(EM 94)-- who was paid $1.4 million a year -- and the entire board of directors.
The sweeping changes came after the auditor general and the Ministry of Finance both sent audit teams into ORNGE, which receives about $140 million a year from the province to operate a non-profit air medical rescue and transport service.
The ministry's Emergency Health Services Branch is also investigating 13 incidents related to air ambulance transports -- three of which involved deaths.

UK GPs' PENSIONS

GP on pension of £140,000 a year... while 20 others draw more than £100,000 each

By Sophie Borland
Last updated at 7:55 AM on 20th January 2012

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Bank balances in rude health: Many GPs retire on an annual pension of £46,600

A GP has retired on a pension of nearly £140,000 a year in a package worth more than £4million.
He is one of 20 family doctors with annual pensions of £100,000 or more, according to figures released under a freedom of information request.
This week the British Medical Association threatened to take industrial action in protest at plans to make doctors retire later and contribute more to their pensions.
But figures obtained by the Mail reveal that the pensions of GPs are among the most generous in the country.
The average male family doctor retiring at 60 receives an annual pension of £46,600 – compared with a public sector average of £7,541.
Two thirds of private sector workers do not even have a pension and the average is just £1,400 a year.
Doctors’ pensions will rise considerably in future thanks to the huge increase in average salaries on the back of a notoriously generous contract struck in 2004.
A doctor aged 24 today can look forward to a pension of £70,000 a year from the age of 68.
The former GP with the highest current pension received £137,159 last year, as part of a pension pot that would have cost £4.16million to buy privately. He will receive £144,291 a year from April, as the payments rise in line with inflation. That means in retirement he will be picking up the gross average earnings of six private-sector workers

According to the freedom of information release, another family doctor receives an annual retirement sum of £135,230 as part of a pot that is also valued at £4.1million.
The average pay of GPs stands at just under £106,000 although some earn as much as £770,000 a year.
Their pensions are based on their average earnings throughout their careers – not their final salaries, as with most other NHS workers including consultants.
But the Government wants to change the pension schemes of all doctors so that they contribute more from their salaries into the pots – and retire later.
On Wednesday the BMA officially rejected these plans and threatened to take industrial action.
This could include an all-out strike or only seeing patients in emergency or refusing to carry out overtime. The association will hold an emergency meeting next month to decide on what action to take – provided the Government does not back down on its pension reforms.
The Mail obtained figures for annual pension payments to retired GPs from the NHS Business Service Authority. We then asked Hargreaves Lansdown, the financial service firm, to provide an estimate of the value of these pension pots.
A BMA spokesman said: ‘The vast majority of doctors will not receive pensions anywhere near this level.
‘Over the next five years, the NHS pension scheme will actually provide a positive cashflow to the Treasury of over £10billion.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2089179/GP-pension-140-000-year--20-draw-100-000-each.html#ixzz1k0VLT05m

GP with a focused practice in VISION TESTING.

CPSO recently abolished the phrase "practice limited to..." for MDs with a limited range of practice. Mainly GPs who spend most of their time doing Anaesthetics, Cosmetic medicine, Hospitalist work, Gynaecology & Obstetrics,Musculoskeletal medicine, Palliative medicine,  Psychotherapy, Sport medicine, and VISION TESTING.

OHIP pays only $40 for a` full eye examination. For those 20- 64 y without eye disease, VISION tests for GLASSES are not considered ":medically necessary". Many Ontario GPs are now doing PRIVATE eye tests at between $50-80.

Instruction can be obtained through the Assoiation of GPs with focused practice in VISION TESTING. Average time needed for computerised REFRACTION and TRIAL LENSES is about 15 minutes.

At Rochester MAYO EYE CLINIC, refraction is optional at an extra charge. Refraction is not performed by the Optometrists or Ophthalmologists but by the Ophthalmic assistants across the hall.

For details of the Ontario Association of GPs with focused practice in VISION TESTING.
Chmn. L.Franklin MD
Exec.Sec. Jenna Clermont BA
scandiamed@aol.com