Doctors repeatedly disciplined for sexual abuse need stricter oversight, critics say – CBC
CBC News investigation into alleged historical abuse of girl reignites calls for better patient protection
Nov 04, 2024
Some health-care critics and legal experts are calling on the Ontario government to review its medical oversight system after CBC News uncovered a fourth alleged victim tied to Eleazar Noriega, a disgraced pediatrician who stayed employed for nearly 40 years in Toronto through multiple suspensions and disciplinary hearings related to child sexual abuse.
Noriega’s lengthy file, and others like it, point to a need for systemic reform, according to the province’s NDP health critic.
“The physicians that have maliciously hurt patients continue to go scot-free … it has to change,” said France Gélinas, MPP for Nickel Belt in northern Ontario.
Gélinas, along with a Liberal MPP and two legal experts, points to three main issues: the self-regulatory nature of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO), the role of the Canadian Medical Protective Association in shielding doctors, and the limited liability that hospitals face for physicians’ actions on their premises.
“People that have been hurt by physicians are not getting their day in court and are not being compensated the way they should,” said Gélinas.
