Committee: Discipline
Decision Date: 16 Jul 2014
Summary:
On July 16, 2014, the Discipline Committee found that Dr. Andre Gagnon committed an act of professional misconduct, in that the governing body of a health profession in a jurisdiction other than Ontario has found that the member committed an act of professional misconduct that would, in the opinion of the panel, be an act of misconduct as defined in the regulations. Dr. Gagnon admitted the allegation.
Dr. Gagnon is a psychiatrist who focuses his practice on child and adolescent psychiatry. Dr. Gagnon was Patient A's psychiatrist from April 1994, when she was 14 years old, until February 2009 when Patient A was 28 years old. Dr. Gagnon's treatment of Patient A and interactions with Patient A took place in Québec, where he practices medicine. Patient A was a vulnerable patient with mental health issues that were difficult to treat. Between 2003 and February 2009, Dr. Gagnon violated therapeutic boundaries with Patient A.
In October 2011, Dr. Gagnon was found guilty by the Collège des médecins du Québec ("CMQ"), the regulatory body for physicians and surgeons in Québec, of having breached the Code of Ethics of Physicians in relation to his conduct with and treatment of Patient A. First, Dr. Gagnon was found to have transgressed the limits of the professional relationship, in particular after resuming psychotherapy with Patient A in 2003, and to have abused his position of authority with a vulnerable young person. In particular, he failed to remain neutral and independent, and failed to reinforce respect for a strictly therapeutic environment. He thereby breached and violated therapeutic boundaries, in an increasingly serious and intense manner, and allowed an emotionally intimate relationship with physical proximity to develop. This was similar to a "father-daughter type of relationship".
Dr. Gagnon was also found to have failed to take into account his own capacities and limits, in particular during the period from 2003 to 2009. He failed to consult with a colleague or to take into account a colleague's opinion regarding his diagnosis and therapeutic approach for Patient A.
Dr. Gagnon failed to refer Patient A to a colleague or other health professional, in particular after May 2008, although she was not making progress in regards to her condition. Dr. Gagnon consulted a colleague who treated his own distress with the situation. The CMQ found that Dr. Gagnon's relationship with Patient A was without any sexual connotation.
Dr. Gagnon pleaded guilty to professional misconduct before the CMQ, which accepted a joint submission as to penalty. As a result, the CMQ ordered that Dr. Gagnon be suspended for a period of three months, and that Dr. Gagnon publish, at his own expense, a notice of the CMQ decision in a newspaper in the area where he practised. He was also ordered to pay costs of the proceeding against him.
Therefore, the Committee ordered and directed that:
1. the Registrar impose the following terms, conditions and limitations on Dr. Gagnon's certificate of registration:
a. Dr. Gagnon shall successfully complete, at his own expense and before the end of 2015, education approved by the College regarding boundaries in the doctor-patient relationship.
2. Dr. Gagnon appear before the panel to be reprimanded.
3. Dr. Gagnon pay the College its costs of this proceeding in the amount of $4,460.00 within thirty (30) days of the date of this Order.