Allon Reddoch (b. 1950)
Allon Reddoch was born in Liverpool, England and grew up in Wales, New Brunswick and a few small Ontario towns. He was the son of a Methodist minister. He graduated from the University of Western Ontario in 1973 and completed a one-year internship at the Scarborough General Hospital before taking a two-month position as a locum in Whitehorse. The Yukon became their home as Mary Reddoch opened a gift shop and Allon started a thriving medical practice.1)
Dr. Allon Reddoch was appointed the chief medical consultant for the Yukon Workmen’s Compensation Board in 1977.2) Dr. Reddoch was the elected president of the Yukon Medical Association from 1979 to 1990.3)
In 1998, the Yukon Medical Council (YMC) ruled that Dr. Reddoch had failed to appropriately manage the health and care of sixteen-year-old Mary-Ann Grennan. In April 1996, Mary-Ann was admitted to the Whitehorse Hospital with an apparent case of food poisoning from tainted smoked fish. She died three days after admittance from botulism poisoning. Reddoch came under investigation and his name was made public just as he was assuming the role of president of the Canadian Medical Association. He was unanimously elected during the 1998 annual meeting held in Whitehorse. Reddoch resigned the presidency but was immediately re-elected. After a difficult five years, the Yukon Court of Appeal ruled that there was no blatant disregard in Mary-Ann’s case. The case hinged on the definition of unprofessional conduct in the management of one patient whom neither Reddoch nor three other physicians believed to be gravely ill. In 2000, the Yukon Medical Association passed a vote of non-confidence in the ability of the government to run the council that regulated Yukon’s forty-three physicians.4)
Dr. Reddoch closed his medical practice in August 2001 claiming exhaustion from his efforts to seek justice. He remained as a medical advisor with the Yukon Workers’ Compensation Board.5) Dr. Reddoch was elected to the Board of Trustees for the Canadian Medical Foundation in 2018.6)