Quebec threatens Montreal surgeon with sanctions, criminal charges for procedure she's done for over a decade
CTV
Quebec recently updated its list of approved surgeries and, despite endorsement from the Quebec Orthopedic Association, limb lengthening was not included.
Dr. Marie Gdalevitch isn't sure if she will have to move her practice out of the province.
For 15 years she's been performing osteotomy, or limb lengthening surgery, in Quebec as both the Chief of Orthopedics at the Verdun Hospital and with a private practice. The procedure involves inserting a metal rod known as a nail into a patient's bone marrow and slowly unscrewing it to have the bone heal in a longer way. The surgery can be used in cases of dwarfism and deformity, but can also be a cosmetic surgery to add a maximum of 8 centimeters to a person's height.
"In Canada this is a very niche specialty," Gdalevitch told CTV News, "in each province, there's probably one person doing a little bit of pediatrics, but for adult deformities and functional problems there aren't many."
Her Quebec patients receive the procedure through the public system, those from out-of-province use her private clinic but the surgery was in a grey zone when it came to Quebec's list of approved private procedures.
"There were urological procedures and spine procedures that have been done in the last 15 years, including osteotomy, that weren't on the list and people were sort of tolerating it," she said.
Quebec recently updated its list and despite an endorsement from the Quebec Orthopedic Association, limb lengthening was not included. It left Gdalevitch reeling.
"The Quebec Orthopedic Association agrees with being able to do this, agrees with being able to do deformity correction, limb lengthening, and even stature lengthening. Between the Collège des Medecins and the Health Ministry it's unclear who took the final decision but somebody there does not agree with this for reasons that I still don't understand."
