Doctor found guilty of having sex with his practice monitor, two patients and the fiancée of another patient

An Ontario doctor has been handed an interim suspension pending a final order after he was found guilty of having sex with two patients, the fiancée of another patient and with a nurse who had been hired to be his practice monitor and chaperone during appointments with female patients—all within a 19-month period.Dr. James Edward Roland McInnis, a family physician who practised in Wasaga Beach and Angus—about two-and-a-half hours’ drive north of Toronto—has denied engaging in sexual abuse and unprofessional conduct, while admitting that he failed to maintain the standard of practice.He had been disciplined on two previous occasions for boundary violations involving female patients and colleagues and since 2011 has been required to have a practice monitor present when he sees female patients, according to the summary of reasons of findings issued recently by the Ontario Physicians and Surgeons Discipline Tribunal—the disciplinary arm of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.The tribunal found Dr. McInnis sexually abused a female patient who had a drug addiction and whom he supplied with hydromorphone pills and syringes. According to the tribunal’s reasons summary document, on multiple occasions Dr. McInnis dropped off these drugs and supplies at the patient’s hotel room, where Dr. McInnis masturbated. The two had sex at a later date in the apartment of the patient’s friend.Evidence presented during the investigation showed the patient had received a text with explicit sexual content through a mobile app called CoverMe, which disguises the sender’s phone number and provides encryption for voice and text communications. The message was sent two days after Dr. McInnis installed the CoverMe app on his cell phone, but denied that he sent the text or any other messages to the patient through the app.His adult daughter subsequently testified that it was she who had downloaded the app on her father’s phone because the screen on her own phone was broken and it was difficult to text. According to the daughter’s testimony, she used the app to send private texts to her boyfriend and that she had used her father’s phone and iTunes account to purchase and install the app.The tribunal did not find the daughter’s testimony credible.“The fact that the app was downloaded on Dr. McInnis’s phone, his email address was associated with the account, the username and password for the app were stored in a note on Dr. McInnis’s phone, and the app was deleted at Dr. McInnis’s request make it more likely than not that the CoverMe app was installed on Dr. McInnis’s phone for his own use,” wrote the tribunal.Read: Cancelled: Doctor guilty of sexual abuse of paraplegic patient stripped of licence and ordered to pay $90,000 in costsThe tribunal also found that Dr. McInnis had sexually abused his practice monitor (referred to in college documents as “Nurse C”), with whom he also had a patient-physician relationship. Dr. McInnis denied having had sex with the practice monitor and said she had fabricated the sexual relationship to cover up her addiction to hydromorphone—an accusation the tribunal rejected.“We accept Nurse C’s evidence that she delayed telling the College in her early interviews because she was embarrassed, ashamed and knew she had done something terribly wrong,” wrote the tribunal. “There is no evidence that Nurse C had a drug addiction to hydromorphone . . .. The most compelling reason to believe Nurse C is the adverse consequences that she would expect to experience because of her relationship with Dr. McInnis. Losing her job was only one. Given these consequences, we do not believe that she would fabricate their relationship.”The tribunal also cited as evidence numerous texts and phone calls between the two parties—with some calls “very late at night”—and the nurse’s familiarity with the bedroom and bathroom in Dr. McInnis’s house, as well as with some intimate details of his personal medical history.With regards to complaints involving a second female patient and the fiancée of a male patient, the tribunal found Dr. McInnis had engaged in disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional conduct.Read: The Doctor’s Lawyer: Character matters, even off-dutyWhile Dr. McInnis asserted he and the patient did not have a physician-patient relationship when they started dating, the tribunal found that he did start texting and making advances towards the patient the day after she came in for an appointment.“Dr. McInnis offered to take (the patient) to Las Vegas, pay for her passport, buy her a new dress, and stay in a five-star hotel,” wrote the tribunal. “He told (the patient) he would treat her better and adore her more than anyone before him. He called her sexy girl, darling, and sweetheart.”On the same evening Dr. McInnis sent the patient these texts, his receptionist deleted the patient’s chart note from the appointment and also removed the appointment from the system. The following day, the receptionist deleted Dr. McInnis’s diagnosis of the patient as well as the medical history from the patient profile.At the same time, Dr. McInnis called the patient’s pharmacy and asked to discontinue all refills of medications he had prescribed to her. He also advised the pharmacy that the patient would have a different family physician going forward.“It does not matter whether it was mid-appointment or post-appointment when he terminated the physician-patient relationship,” wrote the tribunal. “The issue is whether there was a physician-patient relationship and we have found that there was . . .. Within one hour of the medical appointment, Dr. McInnis contacted (the patient) by text and began personal communications with her. The next day, he was using terms of endearment and promising to take her on lavish trips to Las Vegas and the spa.”During the investigation, the patient also testified that Dr. McInnis had given her Percocet for recreational use and that they had both used it and “mixed it with music and sex.”Read: ‘A decisive error’: Surgeon who was suspended for five years over sexual abuse charge is acquitted by special tribunalIn another complaint, Dr. McInnis was accused of having a sexual relationship with a woman engaged to one of his patients. The patient learned his fiancée had had an affair but did know with whom, and sought the help of Dr. McInnis who, like him, had a background in the military and had become a friend.“(The patient) testified he went back to see Dr. McInnis two more times. On the third visit he was in a mental health crisis. He could not stop thinking about (his fiancée’s) affair, could not sleep and needed someone to talk to,” wrote the tribunal. “(The patient) testified that Dr. McInnis would not look at him and was sweating profusely. He wondered why Dr. McInnis had not referred him for counselling when he felt his reaction was serious and that he was experiencing PTSD symptoms.”During the investigation and hearing, Dr. McInnis denied having an affair with the patient’s fiancée, who became pregnant and had an abortion. The tribunal did not find his denial credible.“When Dr. McInnis decided to have a sexual relationship with (his patient’s fiancée), he should have terminated the physician-patient relationship with (the patient),” wrote the tribunal. “In failing to do so, he engaged in disgraceful, dishonourable and unprofessional conduct. Not only did he not terminate the physician-patient relationship, he continued to treat (the patient).”A penalty hearing will be scheduled, concluded the tribunal.Read: Suspended for three years: Doctor blew the whistle on his own sexual misconduct

Doctor found guilty of having sex with his practice monitor, two patients and the fiancée of another patient

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