VANCOUVER
- A Vancouver family doctor was ordered to stop practising medicine by
the B.C. College of Physicians and Surgeons after it found he did not
have the necessary skill and knowledge.

Dr. Chow Tai, 62, who had
a medical office on Fraser Street, had been registered to practice in
B.C. since 1974. He graduated from medical school in Taiwan in 1971.

Following
an audit and evaluation of his skill and knowledge, a college peer
review committee ruled he should stop treating patients. That decision
was effective at the end of January but the college did not release the
information until Monday due to what college registrar Dr. Morris
VanAndel called "legal manoeuvres."

"Dr.
Chow Tai was actually suspended on an interim basis last September
after a formal investigation was very critical. Patient complaints and
evidence of patient harm have not been drawn to our attention," he
said, adding that the kind of problems noted in the review of Tai's
practice had to do with record keeping, choice of treatments and
routine monitoring of diseases.

Tai, who billed the Medical
Services Commission a gross amount of $238,000 in the fiscal year
ending March 31, 2007, is the first doctor to face action by the
college in 2008.

Last year, 14 doctors were disciplined by the college.

Sun Health Issues Reporter

pfayerman@png.canwest.com