Right to refuse: Appeals board backs doctor who rejected patient with 'aggressive' and 'bullying' mother

An Ontario physician who turned away a patient after being subjected to “aggressive, argumentative, intimidating, bullying, angry, sarcastic and demeaning” behaviour by the patient’s mother had every right to do so, according to the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board. The unnamed doctor—a hematologist who works in a Sault Ste. Marie hospital—informed hospital administrators in 2021 about his “discomfort in being involved” with the patient’s mother, reported CTV News. “In the end I refused to participate in the patient’s care in light of the ongoing antagonistic behaviours of the patient’s mother,” the doctor wrote. Instead, he provided suggestions for other hematology doctors in Toronto who could provide virtual care to the patient, who is in northern Ontario. In making its decision, the board expressed sympathy for the patient and his mother, describing the latter as a “very devoted mother who has had to navigate medical care since her son’s birth.” However, the board added, “physicians also have a right to be treated with respect and not be subjected to verbal abuse, as the respondent felt had happened in this case.” Read: #Docxit on the rise means more trouble for our health system The doctor first met the patient and his mother in June 2020 in the emergency department at Sault Area Hospital. The patient, who is non-verbal, was initially diagnosed with lymphoma, but it was discovered later that he had another condition—one that is rare and which took some time to diagnose. The patient’s mother got upset with the delay in diagnosis and, over numerous conversations in-person and over the phone, became aggressive with the doctor, according to the board’s decision document. She told the doctor he was “failing” at his job. The board noted that the doctor did not document these negative interactions, “which he found highly upsetting,” the board wrote. The doctor attributed this oversight to his uncertainty over whether or not information about a patient’s mother should be included in a patient’s chart. About a year after these negative interactions, a hematologist in Toronto who was treating the patient looked for a specialist to take over care of the patient after he was transferred back to northern Ontario. The Sault-area hematologist declined to take back the patient “as he had experienced what he perceived as disruptive behaviour from the (patient’s mother) during their prior interactions,” the decision said. The patient’s mother filed a complaint with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, claiming the doctor was “unprofessional” in refusing to care for her son “despite knowing there were no other hematologists available in their city to opine on this care.” The college rejected the complaint. Read: B.C. doctors perceive a heavy hand in new act governing health professions

Right to refuse: Appeals board backs doctor who rejected patient with 'aggressive' and 'bullying' mother

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