MONTREAL – Montreal cardiologist Mark Jeffrey Eisenberg has had his medical licence suspended for a week after pleading guilty to accepting an illegal payment for medical services.
The Collège des médecins du Québec found Eisenberg guilty of violating the code of ethics by accepting money to treat a patient in the public health system.
He will also have to pay a fine of $1,500.
The College launched an investigation after the Montreal English newspaper, The Gazette, reported doctors at several Montreal hospitals routinely accepted bribes from patients to fast-track services to publicly-funded health care.
When the College concluded its 14-month investigation in February, it revealed that two cardiologists – Eisenberg and André Pasternac – will face a disciplinary hearing in connection with black market practices.
Fingered by a mass murderer
Turns out it’s the only case before the College, and it originated as a complaint from Valery Fabrikant, the notorious mass murderer and a vexatious litigator.
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Fabrikant has been serving a life sentence since 1992 for killing four Concordia University colleagues and wounding a receptionist during a shooting spree.
Fabrikant unsuccessfully sued the two cardiologists to recover “gifts” he said he paid them while incarcerated for providing him with the “necessary cardiac care … when and if needed.”
Court documents show Eisenberg accepted a $1,500 “gift” from Fabrikant, and Pasternac took $5,000. The money was eventually returned.
Legal claims dismissed
Fabrikant’s legal claims have been dismissed by Quebec Superior Court, the Quebec Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Canada.
The College, however, concluded there was sufficient evidence to continue with disciplinary charges against the two cardiologists.
After much contemplation, Eisenberg agreed to plead guilty to cashing two cheques totalling $1,500 from Fabrikant’s wife, College documents show.
A tenured professor of medicine at McGill University and a cardiologist at the Jewish General Hospital, Eisenberg did not respond to a request for an interview.
Eisenberg told the College that Fabrikant had offered him $10,000 for a coronary procedure called an angioplasty – which he did not need.
When Eisenberg refused the money and the medically unnecessary operation, Fabrikant became insistent and threatened to tattle on the other “gifts.”
Doctor regrets his actions
Eisenberg said he regretted accepting the money, which he called a momentary lapse of judgment. “Unfortunately, I really had no idea who I was dealing with until it became an impossible situation,” he said.
Officials at the Jewish hospital and McGill University said they had no comment on the issue.
Pasternac, who worked at the Montreal Heart Institute for 35 years, is also expected to face sanctions in disciplinary hearing in the near future.
In a previous interview, Pasternac said that he was also harassed repeatedly by Fabrikant.
He said he felt had no choice because the patient is a convicted murderer.
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