Doctor who propositioned teen patient over Facebook loses bid to get sentences reviewed by Superior Court

A Quebec emergency room doctor who received a 12-month suspension for propositioning a 19-year-old patient over Facebook has lost his bid in the province’s Superior Court to have his sentence reviewed. Dr. Sebastien Paquin, who works at Hopital Saint-Francois-d'Assise in Quebec City, had argued that the judgement rendered in March 2018 by the disciplinary council of the College des medecins du Quebec should have called only for a two-month suspension, based on laws that were in effect on April 21, 2017, when a complaint was filed against him. According to court documents, Dr. Paquin asserted that the tribunal had erred by applying amendments made on June 8, 2017 to the province’s Professional Code that included more severe penalties for offences of a sexual nature. Superior Court Justice Alain Michaud rejected Dr, Paquin’s application for a judicial review, writing that the discipline tribunal could not redo their decision on the sanction because they found no error or unreasonable exercise of discretion, and that the Superior Court cannot order a reversal either because the rationale behind the decision has the attributes of reasonableness. Read: Quebec doctor loses licence over bare-handed vaginal exams and other issues Because of delays generated by requests for a stay of execution, Dr. Paquin has so far served only three months of his 12-month suspension. His problems began on Dec. 31, 2016, when he sent a friend request over Facebook to a 19-year-old patient who had come to the ER the night before complaining of abdominal pain. The two men corresponded casually on Facebook several times until Jan. 4, 2017, when the discussion turned to sexual topics. According to court documents, the two men shared stories over Facebook chat about their experiences with massages and three-way sex. Dr. Paquin then suggested to the patient that they should get to know each other better and that he wouldn’t say ‘no’ to a trip that included the patient. When the patient stopped responding, Dr. Paquin apologized four times and the patient ended the exchange by writing that he thought it was inappropriate for a doctor to be having such a conversation with a patient. In addition to the 12-month suspension, Dr. Paquin was ordered by the discipline tribunal to pay a $2,500 fine. Read: Psychiatrist suspended for writing baseless doctor's notes to get hospital employees off work

Doctor who propositioned teen patient over Facebook loses bid to get sentences reviewed by Superior Court

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