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(PDF)
Version
Media
Release
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW
LAWS CRUSH DOCTORS’ RIGHTS
(July
7, 2009, Toronto, Ontario) – One week ago in a bulletin
to all Ontario doctors, Dr. Douglas Mark, President of the
Coalition of Family Physicians of Ontario (COFP), alerted
them to the fact that one of the most significant pieces of
legislation which governs physician practice in Ontario –
the Regulated Health Professionals Act (RHPA) – has
undergone major revision over the past two years (via Bills
141, 171 and 179). Alarmingly, many of those changes –
which came into effect on July 1, 2009 – give the College
of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) unprecedented
investigative powers, meaning that physicians now have fewer
rights than common criminals. Earlier today, the Coalition
of Family Physicians sent out another bulletin calling on
all Ontario doctors to support their call for the Ontario
Medical Association (OMA) to stand up for doctors’ basic
rights as Ontario citizens and lobby the Ontario Government
to reverse the recent changes to the RHPA.
“We
believe that increasing regulations that fly in the face of
our basic rights as citizens is not the way to attract or
retain physicians in Ontario,” Dr. Mark said. “We’ve
all seen the consequences of the disgraced and disbanded Medical
Review Committee. We can’t allow a similar thing to
happen again to doctors and their families.”
The OMA has expressed lukewarm “concerns” about
RHPA changes, and has not presented a course of action to
be taken other than to participate in the process of legislative
change. Because of this, the COFP Board has sought the advice
of one of the top health law firms in Ontario with respect
to the impact of new provisions of the RHPA and its Procedural
Code.
“We understand that concerns about public safety are
what is driving the actions of the Ministry of Health and
Long-Term Care and the CPSO,” Dr. Mark said. “Obviously,
protecting members of the public from medical incompetence
and errors is vital. However, the fundamental rights of health
professionals must not be overlooked in the process.”
Dr. Mark went on to cite the following examples, which clearly
illustrate how criminals will now have more rights than doctors
under the new laws:
- Criminals
have the right to remain silent, whereas health professionals
are now required to "cooperate fully" with investigators,
who are allowed to observe doctors doing procedures and
to interview them, even with a view to gathering evidence
to use against them.
- Health
professionals can be suspended or have their licence restricted
(albeit on a temporary basis) without a hearing and in some
circumstances without notice to the doctor. Criminals cannot
be legally fired from their jobs because a police investigation
is being conducted.
- Past
suspensions and discipline committee decisions – as
well as current referrals to discipline and even findings
of negligence or malpractice – are available to anyone
who visits a College website or searches the doctor's name
on the internet. Not even convicted criminals have their
history so readily accessible!
- Professionals
and facility operators have obligations to report on their
colleagues in a wider variety of circumstances – including
when they have reasonable grounds to believe that another
professional is "incompetent" or "incapacitated”.
No one is mandated to report to the police if they believe
someone is a criminal! Further, it is unclear how the terms
"incompetent" or "incapacitated” are
defined leaving them wide open to broad interpretation.
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Health professionals who are the subject of complaints could
be required by the new Inquiries, Complaints and Reports
Committee to participate in remediation or other courses,
without any finding of professional misconduct having been
made. That is like the court forcing a suspected drunk driver
to attend rehab before any findings of guilt have been made
against them!
“Our
legal system is meant to protect the rights of the individual,”
Dr. Mark said. “The state must not be allowed to trample
on the rights of its citizens. Similarly, physician regulatory
bodies must not be allowed to run roughshod over the rights
of physicians as citizens under the pretense of patient safety
when the real reasons may be more politically driven than
we are being led to believe.”
The
Coalition of Family Physicians of Ontario, representing front-line
providers of health care, is a grassroots organization dedicated
to the provision of top quality health care to the people
of Ontario. We strive to protect the rights, freedoms and
independence of family physicians of Ontario and to continually
improve the health-care system. To learn more, please visit
the Coalition’s Web site at www.cofp.com.
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Contact:
Stephen
Skyvington
Phone: (416) 985-2239
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