A medical doctor is facing a murder charge and the community is in shock in Hawkesbury, ON, located on the Ontario-Quebec boundary between Montreal and Ottawa.
The Ontario Provincial Police has charged a physician in connection with an investigation into a number of suspicious deaths at the Hawkesbury and District General Hospital. On the evening of March 25, members of the Hawkesbury OPP station were called to the Hawkesbury and District General Hospital.
Brian Nadler, age 35, and a resident of the Montreal suburb of Dollard-Des-Ormeaux, has been charged with one count of First-Degree Murder, under the Criminal Code of Canada.
Police have not released more details regarding the nature of the deaths. According to CTV, Bill Dickson, OPP spokesman, said "I can’t get into a lot of the evidence, but I can tell you the investigators who were on the scene, they had enough information and evidence" to charge Nadler.
The accused remains in custody following a bail appearance before the Ontario Court of Justice on Friday afternoon. Nadler’s next court appearance is scheduled for April 6.
The investigation by the Hawkesbury OPP Crime Unit, under the direction of the OPP Criminal Investigation Branch, is continuing and is looking into the circumstances surrounding other recent suspicious deaths at the hospital.
Background and record
According to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, Nadler graduated from McGill University in 2010 and was certified as a specialist in Internal Medicine in 2019. Nadler was first issued a certificate to practice in Ontario by the CPSO in 2020.
Previous to being certified in Ontario and practicing at the Hawkesbury hospital, Nadler completed a fellowship in Geriatrics at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine. According to the Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners, Nadler was licensed in Nevada from Sept. 24, 2018-Sept. 23, 2019. At a meeting of the board on September 7, 2018 when his application to practice in the state was approved, Nadler explained to the Nevada board why he had been suspended from a previous fellowship in Saskatchewan.
College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan spokesperson Caro Gareau confirmed that Nadler had practiced in that province.
According to CPSS records, Nadler was licensed as an intern/resident in Saskatchewan from 2014-2018. In July 2018, he was charged by the CPSS with unprofessional conduct. One charge alleged that Nadler added a reference to a medical record without noting the date and time of the addition. Another charge alleged that he had used unprofessional language to refer to a colleague with whom he had a disagreement.
The matter was resolved when Nadler agreed to take courses in professional ethics and medical record-keeping, and to provide a letter of apology to the CPSS council. In November 2018, Nadler had complied with those obligations and the CPSS decided not to proceed further with the charges.
