Pierre Dupont was on probation when he became a chiropodist after being banned from dentistry

The College of Chiropodists of Ontario put Pierre Dupont on probation when he first started working in the province, after he was banned from dentistry in Quebec, but then gave him a licence without consulting his supervisor, an experienced podiatrist.

"They never contacted me during his tenure here. They did not contact me after he left," said David Greenberg, an Ottawa podiatrist who has been practising since 1973.

Dupont had done his internship with Greenberg when he was studying podiatry at the University of Quebec in Trois-Rivires. That was after he was suspended for life by the Ordre des dentistes du Qubec for costly mistakes and decided to change professions.

In January 2000, Rjane Davidson, 71, was having dental implants done by Dupont when she stopped breathing in the dental chair and couldn't be revived.

Working under supervision

When Dupont applied for a licence to practice in Ontario it seems the college took an unusual step in giving him a restricted licence with strict conditions that he work under Greenberg'ssupervision at his clinic.

"I find it curious, I couldn't understand why I was the supervising person and before they gave him a licence they wouldn't ask, especially during his probationary period, and given his history, why they wouldn't have asked me," Greenberg told Go Public Tuesday.

"It wasn't my determination to make. It was done, it was a fait accompli once he was done from here and I found out they gave him a licence, it was done,"he said.

According to Greenberg, it was the registration committee at the College of Chiropodists of Ontario that put the restrictions on Dupont's licence.

Felecia Smith, the CAO and registrar for the college, had previously refused to discuss Dupont with the CBC when inquiries were being made about the case of Erika Brathwaite, a patient of Dupont's who filed a complaint after a problematic procedure.

Today, Smith sent Go Public a statement saying the college "must not only be conscious of its role to protect the public interest but also be fair to any applicant."

As reported Monday, according to the organization's requirements for registration as a chiropodist: "The applicant must not have been found guilty of professional misconduct, incompetence or incapacity, in Ontario in relation to another health profession, or outside Ontario in relation to chiropody or another health profession."

'You do not have all of the facts'

Smith'sstatement, however, goes on to say, "It does not mean that if an applicant has a finding of professional misconduct in another profession ... that the applicant can never be registered as a chiropodist in Ontario."

Smith also saidthe application and all of its relevant facts must be considered by the registration committee and that is "precisely what occurred in this case."

In a second statement today, Smith said, "You do not have all of the facts.Unfortunately, those additional facts cannot be provided given the confidentiality of the process, as is required by the governing legislation."

The Quebec college says its Ontario counterpart never asked about Dupont's standing and the first it heard he was providing health care again was when it was contacted by Go Public.

All of this is worrisome to Karyne Laplante whose mother, Murielle Godbout, was given a high dose of adrenalinwhen she went to see Dupont for implants when he was a dentist in Quebecand suffered for the rest of her life from the complications.

"I want him to be fired without any permit to practise any kind of medicine. He was a dentist and could reinvent himself as a podiatrist. He still has the right to administer medicine, he still has the right to do surgery. No. Go do computers, sweep a factory," she said.

Since the Go Public story was published Monday, more of Dupont's foot patients have contacted CBC with complaints.

With files from Rosa Marchitelli