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Optometrist guilty of misconduct - Clarence Valley Daily Examiner

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ODwire.org NewsBot said:


Optometrist guilty of misconduct
[SIZE=-1]Clarence Valley Daily Examiner[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]GRAFTON optometrist David Ford has been found guilty of professional misconduct because of a sexual relationship he had with a patient in 2009 and 2010. The Health Care Complaints Commission recently prosecuted Mr Ford before the Optometry Tribunal of ...[/SIZE]





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Wow, pretty harsh for just hooking up at work :eek:. Is this the typical punishment for such an infarction?
 
I suspect there's more to the story than they are printing. Also, it seems to me the laws in Australia may be different than in the US?
 
Sarah Ito said:
What punishment did the patient get? I think if it's for two years... I heard a story about a female optometry student who entered the exam room and the male patient was naked. Whose fault is that?
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I guess it depends on whether she decided to join him.
 
Jeff Guthrie said:
Compared to what would happen in Ontario: Mandatory revocation of ones licence to practice optometry (or any other health profession).

"Do you treat your spouse? If you do, you should stop."
http://www.collegeoptom.on.ca/conte...=1&sys-Class=Document&sys-ID=88&sys-Attr=File
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Wow, #2/ii leaves no room for fun at all, sheesh :eek:.

A friend told me about a Peds doctor who was fired from their group practice because he was hitting ot off with 2 moms. Guess who dimed him out? The receptionist, who was getting no play. Smh. But I do not think he had his license revoked etc.
 
Smh? What does that mean?
 
We need an icon for that one.
 
Jeff Guthrie said:
Compared to what would happen in Ontario: Mandatory revocation of ones licence to practice optometry (or any other health profession).

"Do you treat your spouse? If you do, you should stop."
http://www.collegeoptom.on.ca/conte...=1&sys-Class=Document&sys-ID=88&sys-Attr=File
Click to expand...

I'm surprised that there hasn't been a push to allow for a spousal exception. Technically, if the spouse of a doctor came to the doctor and said "does this look like anything to you?" while pointing to a skin tag, the doctor could lose their license for saying either yes OR no. I am quite sure that the legislature never intended that application of the law.

In fact, that report makes reference to three cases of licensure revocation due to doctors treating spouses. I wonder how many revocations have been made under that statute for sexual relationships with patients?
 
Antonio Campbell said:
Wow, pretty harsh for just hooking up at work :eek:. Is this the typical punishment for such an infarction?
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This would require the relationship to go downhill and the patient to be upset with the OD and to get even they complain to the licensing body. It has happened in Ontario more
than once.

Which is why, when I mentor students from the school at Waterloo, I warn them
specifically about this item and tell them, if you want to date a patient, first transfer their file to another OD or risk the consequences if the relationship breaks up. Something they do not learn in practice mgt courses or from our college. And out licensing college has
zero tolerance for these cases.

And then there are the OD's that date their px's who are also their employees.
And when they break up, Look out !
 
sajnu thomas said:
What did he exactly do, other than the obvious?

I better call my wife and tell her that i can no longer be her eyecare provider.
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Complete story : http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/nsw/NSWOPT/2012/1.html

Be careful reading the bottom half , I could not finish it - I will wait for the movie.


We had an OD in Ontario who committed a similar violation of the act, and when the patient got upset
with him...it ended up at our college .

What's that about....a women scorned ...
 
It's not our college, it is the province that has dictated "zero tolerance" on sexual relations with a patient.

I have a dentist friend who is up in arms over it. Their college has reported to them that anyone can file a complaint, not just the patient. The implication is that an irate patient or colleague/competitor could have you charged with sexual misconduct while you are still in a happy relationship.

My understanding is that the government has no interest in creating a spousal or and other exemption to this rule.
 
Gregory Wilson said:
It's not our college, it is the province that has dictated "zero tolerance" on sexual relations with a patient.

I have a dentist friend who is up in arms over it. Their college has reported to them that anyone can file a complaint, not just the patient. The implication is that an irate patient or colleague/competitor could have you charged with sexual misconduct while you are still in a happy relationship.

My understanding is that the government has no interest in creating a spousal or and other exemption to this rule.
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This is an unreasonable intrusion by the government into people's personal lives.
 
I employed an OD at one time while next to Lenscrafters who before joining me, while at a different LC location, began a relationship with a patient of his. I attended their wedding, and they are still happily together after 25 years with 2 grown children.
 
Michael Hobuss said:
I employed an OD at one time while next to Lenscrafters who before joining me, while at a different LC location, began a relationship with a patient of his. I attended their wedding, and they are still happily together after 25 years with 2 grown children.
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I'm generally on the fence about optometrists having relationships with patients.

I don't think that the same unequal power dynamic applies in the case of an optometrist as it would with a primary care physician, a gynecologist or say someone like a psychologist or psychiatrist.

However, I can't fathom that the Ontario legislature intended to keep doctors from offering advice or treatment to their spouses.
 
Ken Elder said:
I'm generally on the fence about optometrists having relationships with patients.

I don't think that the same unequal power dynamic applies in the case of an optometrist as it would with a primary care physician, a gynecologist or say someone like a psychologist or psychiatrist.

However, I can't fathom that the Ontario legislature intended to keep doctors from offering advice or treatment to their spouses.
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In the example I described, from what I understand, it was the patient who took the lead.
 
Gregory Wilson said:
It's not our college, it is the province that has dictated "zero tolerance" on sexual relations with a patient.

I have a dentist friend who is up in arms over it. Their college has reported to them that anyone can file a complaint, not just the patient. The implication is that an irate patient or colleague/competitor could have you charged with sexual misconduct while you are still in a happy relationship.

My understanding is that the government has no interest in creating a spousal or and other exemption to this rule.
Click to expand...

You are correct, the ONT gov't wrote the law. And the complaint goes where ? To the
College, and complaints / discipline decides based on the facts. And the end result will be that there is zero tolerance from those that investigate/discipline .

You are correct re : spouse . You are not supposed to examine an immediate family
member according to the original OHIP guidelines, and you are not supposed to examine
your spouse also due to the possibility of a sexual misconduct complaint.

Now tell me how many OD's , MD, OMD, DDS do not examine/treat their spouse or
immediate family members ?
 
Ken Elder said:
I'm generally on the fence about optometrists having relationships with patients.

I don't think that the same unequal power dynamic applies in the case of an optometrist as it would with a primary care physician, a gynecologist or say someone like a psychologist or psychiatrist.

However, I can't fathom that the Ontario legislature intended to keep doctors from offering advice or treatment to their spouses.
Click to expand...

I know of a psychologist who was the patient who seduced his optometrist. That's a different twist, but some people can really manipulate. The encounters happened at his office, although he was her patient. So many gray areas on this topic.
 
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