Professional Conduct reports – August 2026

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Recent hearing outcomes

After a hearing held in 2025, a CPSA Hearing Tribunal found Dr. Anike Atigari, a psychiatrist from Calgary, guilty of four counts of unprofessional conduct for:

• Diagnosing a patient without adequately considering relevant information, and dismissing an established diagnosis without an adequate reason.
• Failing to prepare an adequate record of the patient’s assessment or a consultation report for the patient’s referring family physician.
• Failing to undertake adequate assessments of two other patients given the reasons for their referrals, presenting histories and complaints.
• Preparing an inadequate consultation report for a patient’s family physician, which failed to accurately report the history provided by the patient.

The Tribunal reconvened in March 2026 to hear submissions on sanction. After considering both parties’ submissions, the Tribunal ordered the following sanctions:

• Atigari will receive a reprimand.
• At her own cost, Dr. Atigari must participate in CPSA’s Individual Practice Review program with respect to her private clinic.
• Atigari is responsible for a portion of the costs of the investigation and hearing, totalling $15,000.

Dr. Arnold Nzale Nzali, a family physician from Calgary, was sanctioned by a CPSA Hearing Tribunal after admitting to unprofessional conduct, in relation to an interaction in October 2019 with an employee at his clinic while practising in Medicine Hat.

Dr. Nzali admitted to failing to maintain a professional relationship with the employee by asking her for a hug, holding the hug when he knew or should have known she wanted to be let go, initiating inappropriate contact over her clothing, telling her he wanted to be sexually intimate with her and requesting she touch him in an intimate manner.

Dr. Nzali was subsequently arrested and charged with sexual assault under the Criminal Code of Canada and agreed to withdraw from practice thereafter. After the criminal charges were dismissed in 2023, Dr. Nzali returned to practice under specific conditions while CPSA’s internal investigation took place, including a restriction from working alone with female staff members in an enclosed space and requiring a chaperone be present for all encounters with female patients. These conditions have since been removed as they are no longer considered necessary to serve the public interest.

Dr. Nzali admitted to the inappropriate conduct and the Tribunal accepted his admission and a joint submission on sanction. The Tribunal’s orders include the following:

• Nzali is suspended for 12 months, which is considered served to account for the time he was out of practice from 2019 until 2023.
• At his own expense, Dr. Nzali must complete and unconditionally pass a course on ethics and boundaries.
• Nzali is responsible for a portion of the costs of the investigation and hearing, totalling $12,500.

The mandatory, minimum sanctions for sexual abuse or misconduct under the Health Professions Act do not apply in this case, as the complainant was not a patient.

After considering evidence, testimony and admissions on several charges, a CPSA Hearing Tribunal found Dr. Emadalden Alshigagi, a family physician from Edmonton, guilty of the following allegations:

• Failing to maintain appropriate boundaries with a patient. This included exchanging text messages for personal reasons, giving his patient money on multiple occasions, and kissing and hugging his patient.
• Committing sexual abuse (within the meaning of that phrase under the Health Professions Act, or HPA) by having sexual intercourse with his patient on one or more occasions and by attempting to have sexual intercourse with this patient at his clinic.
• Continuing to prescribe medications known for risk of abuse or addiction while the patient was receiving similar medications from other physicians, and of sending prescriptions for these medications to multiple pharmacies.
• Failing to meet the minimum expected standards for maintaining appropriate patient records, as outlined in CPSA’s Patient Record Contentstandard of practice.

One additional allegation of unprofessional conduct was dismissed.

The Tribunal ordered the immediate suspension of Dr. Alshigagi’s practice permit, as required under the HPA for physicians found guilty of sexual abuse.

Following the Tribunal’s order of suspension, Dr. Alshigagi obtained a court order from the Court of King’s Bench on May 29, 2026 to stay (i.e. temporarily pause) his suspension pending the Tribunal’s sanction decision, which will be issued at a later date following a sanction hearing.

To help safeguard the public, robust conditions were placed on Dr. Alshigagi’s practice permit while the initial complaint was being investigated. These conditions, including a CPSA-approved chaperone, will remain in place while Dr. Alshigagi is practising under the Court-ordered stay. CPSA actively monitors compliance with these conditions.

Learnings for the profession