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A BC massage therapist who failed to renew her liability insurance and then ignored the regulator for a year afterwards has been suspended for three months and ordered to pay $7,110.

According to a June 14 College of Massage Therapists of BC decision, Joanne Argatoff performed 63 massages on 31 different patients during a three-month period without insurance.

The decision said Argatoff is in her late 30s and had been practicing for seven years when from October to December 2019 she didn't have professional liability insurance coverage.

The massage therapist then failed to respond to the College on 13 different occasions.

"The proven conduct was serious and did not involve a single instance of lapsed judgment or a single missed communication. The conduct occurred multiple times over many months," the regulator said in the decision. "Failing to respond to your regulator is a very basic principle which all registrants ought to be aware of and comply with, and certainly a seven-year registrant ought to so do."

The decision said Argatoff contacted the College and said she was "extremely overwhelmed," had trouble reading and understanding legal emails and was anxious about responding to them.

The College gave her a time extension and the opportunity to provide medical evidence but she didn't get back to them.

"(Argatoff) acknowledged that she practiced without insurance for which she said there was no excuse, and that ignoring important deadlines was unprofessional for which she was remorseful," the decision read. "However, she continued to ignore deadlines and communications from the College without any detailed explanation at the time."

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It's not the first time Argatoff has had issues with the regulator.

In August 2022, the regulator conducted an undercover investigation and found her West Vancouver clinic dirty and a dog was present.

"The investigators observed that the reception area was dimly lit, dirty, cluttered, and had a strong odour; additionally, the was a dog lying in the same area," an earlier decision read. "The kitchen contained garbage and dirty dishes. The inspectors asked about a back room in the clinic, and Ms. Argatoff admitted that a friend had been sleeping there; she proceeded to wake him, and he left."

The regulator found her patients' records weren't up to date and ordered an immediate suspension. Her licence later expired at the end of 2022.

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The College ordered that if Argatoff reapplies she will face a three-month suspension and ordered her to pay costs of $7,110.

"The (College) stressed a strong need to send a clear message to Ms. Argatoff and other members of the profession about the importance of cooperating with the College and maintaining professional liability insurance," the decision read. "The requirement to cooperate with the College is foundational to the College’s ability to regulate the profession and act in the public interest."

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