Springdale doctor suspended for prescribing wrong dose of narcotics and covering up mistakes

A Springdale doctor admitted to a tribunal this week that hemiscalculatednarcotics prescriptions and coveredup the corrections he made to patients' original medical records.

Asfirst reported by VOCM and confirmed by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Newfoundland and Labrador, the college handed Dr. Todd Younga four-month suspension on Wednesday.

On separate occasions, two of his patients overdosed last year after being over-prescribed Metadol, a drug similar to methadone.Both patients had been at remote work sites outside of the province without supervising staff present and had to be evacuatedto a hospital. Both patients recovered.

An incident in 2020 involved a different patient who saw Young virtually.Youngprescribed one of the patient's medications twice, andadmitted to altering the original prescription retroactively and back-dating a letter to cover up his mistake. The patient was not harmed.

The suspension will come into effect on Nov. 10 and will be served in four one-month blocks to lessen the negative impacts of the ruling on his patients.

Young is one of four permanent physicians currently practicing in Springdale at the Green Bay Health Centre, according to N.L. Health Services.He has also run virtual health clinic Medicuro since 2019.

This the second time Young's medical license has been sanctioned. He was handed a 19-month suspension in 2015 for engaging in a three-year sexual relationship with a former patient as well as inappropriate conduct with another patient.

His services weregreatly missed by Springdale residents,someof whom threatened to sue Central Health in 2018 for not reinstating his hospital privileges.

Young declined a request for comment on his latest suspension.

Download ourfree CBC News appto sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for ourdaily headlines newsletter here. Clickhere to visit our landing page.