UPDATE: A B.C. man wanted on a Canada-wide arrest warrant and accused of “thumbing his nose” at the law by practising dentistry illegally and under unsanitary conditions has been given three months in jail for contempt of court.
Lawyer Brent Olthuis, representing B.C.’s College of Dental Surgeons, said the B.C. Supreme Court found Tung Sheng Wu in contempt of court in civil, not criminal nature, for defying a 2003 injunction that ordered him to stop practising dentistry in Metro Vancouver without a license. The court also awarded special costs to the college, as the costs of investigating and processing this case has been significant — more than $140,000 to date.
Although Olthuis argued a criminal, rather than civil, contempt conviction, he is “very happy with the outcome” since the jail term is appropriate for Wu.
“On the degree of intention here, this is contempt of the highest order,” said Olthuis.
“So we have a defendant who is at least subjectively — not publicly — deliberately thumbing his nose at the court’s authority for years, (starting) in 2003 until … he stopped in spring of this year.”
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A complaint led the dental college’s investigators and RCMP to raid in May Wu’s Burnaby clinic, where they found unsanitized dental supplies and equipment.
The college shut the clinic down, and the Fraser Health Authority urged Wu’s patients to get tested for blood-borne viruses.
The health authority has contacted more than 450 people who say they were Wu’s patients. So far, all the preliminary test results have come back negative for infection, said spokeswoman Erin Labbe.
Wu was ordered to appear in court on contempt allegations in August, but he did not show up, prompting the dental college to apply for a nation-wide warrant.
A search of Wu’s car that month indicated he was planning to set up shop again, possibly in Toronto, the college said.
Jerome Marburg, Registrar and CEO of the College of Dental Surgeons of BC, says three months is a significant sentence even though it’s not what they asked for.
He says Wu has gone into hiding and is taking active steps in evading the college and the court. The college also says it has evidence that Wu has transferred a substantial amount of money overseas.
“He’s prayed on the vulnerable,” says Marburg.
Marburg says people should check the registration of their dentist online.
He is also encouraging Wu’s patients should see a qualified and registered dentist to check Wu’s work, especially around orthodontics.
With files from the Canadian Press
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