Do Colleges Cause Physician Suicide? A New Book

Surgeons should not remove normal breasts or amputate healthy legs. Some things should never happen.

In the late 1990s, surgeons confronted wrong site surgery. They said it should be a ‘never event’ and have changed process to make it so.

We can directly relate at least 6 physician suicides to doctors being under investigation by Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons across Canada. Have the Colleges confronted this and changed they way they work?

Blog posts about medical regulation remain popular topics for doctors, for example, Is Self-Regulation Dead? and Concentration of Power – Are Medical Regulators Autocratic?

Dr. Albert Benhaim just published a medical best seller in Quebec: The Execution: A doctor’s battle against moral and institutional harassment.

Dr. Benhaim owns and operates a huge polyclinic. Quebecers are allowed to pay for lab tests and X-Rays, if they choose. A journalist wrote an article that said one of the doctors at the clinic forced her to pay over $300 for tests.

The province investigated and found nothing wrong. The province then demanded to see the clinic’s financial records. The court ruled that it was none of the province’s business.

Unhappy with the outcome, the provincial medical regulatory College picked up the fight. Despite never having had a patient complaint in 30 years of practice, the Quebec College went after Benhaim personally.

The book tells how the College operates in Quebec: multiple summons served during clinics; demands for clinic inspections when doctors are out of town; the presumption of guilt in highly publicized cases.

Benhaim writes about physician stress and suicide, burnout and self-doubt.

To be clear, almost no one goes through what Benhaim did. He fought for years because he could. Most physicians give up and take the punishment.

Every story has its own details. But Benhaim tells what thousands of other doctors have experienced. The book’s zeitgeist reminds me of the dozens of stories doctors share in confidence.

Regulatory Colleges

Something sinister corrupts regulatory Colleges in Canada. And the Colleges do not seem too concerned. But everyone knows there’s an issue. Everyone talks about the need to support doctors: to educate, not obliviate.

If you raise this with someone who works at one of the Colleges, they say that Colleges exist to protect the public, not doctors.

When they run out of answers they say, “Don’t you believe in self regulation? Do you want the government doing it instead?”

Dr. Benhaim shares how the stress impacted his physical and emotional health. Sick doctors cannot provide great care. Oppressed doctors cannot focus on patient needs. But Colleges exist to protect the public.

Sick doctors cannot provide great care. Oppressed doctors cannot focus on patient needs. Click To Tweet

Many good doctors help Colleges perform practice audits and educational reviews. Despite what some people think, the regulatory Colleges do plenty of good things.

However, good things do not buy impunity. We cannot dismiss wrong site surgery because surgeons do many good things. We expect surgeons to confront bad performance and improve. Will the Colleges do the same?

Check out Dr. Benhaim’s book in English on Amazon and French. It is gritty and raw. It is not academic titillation. Start the book early, if you have to work the next day. It will be out in paperback soon.

Could this be the start of a regulatory College overhaul in Canada?

 

 

 

22 thoughts on “Do Colleges Cause Physician Suicide? A New Book”

  1. re: When they run out of answers they say, “Don’t you believe in self regulation? Do you want the government doing it instead?”

    I have been saying NO to self regulation and YES to govt doing it so that Canadian doctors can have the same rights and safeguards that other Canadians have in a court of law.

    1. Great comment, Gerry. When the government has the power to take control of the College at any time, does the College really exist on its own? It exists at the whim and behest of government but without members having recourse to fight back. It is an arm’s length institutionalized potential, and often real, tyranny.

    2. And also another important thing: Why do physician have to fund and organization whose main reason for existence is protecting the public from doctors. It should be funded by the public, i.e. from taxes.

  2. Brilliant blog as always, Shawn. Thanks for always standing up for doctors. And I admire your ability to find the time to read so many books with so little time. This is probably one book that I may not read, as it will make me more stressed out and angry about the CPSO. I hope things will change before more tragedies happen.

    1. I don’t blame you! Thanks for reading the blog. At least you can tell people the book exists!

      Great to hear from you. Cheers

    2. Marian, I was thinking the same thing. That is exactly why I won’t read the book. Just thinking about it makes me queasy.

  3. I believe it is very likely that the College has caused physician suicide. Just as important, the CPSO has caused or contributed to a lot of unnecessary harm to patients and families. I believe the CPSO is a gap in the system that needs to be fixed. The CPSO believes my perception is not reality. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tacyvxbM7dA

    1. Thanks for sharing this, Complainant.

      I suspect your comments only skim a much deeper story. I hope you know that you are not alone. Thanks for taking time to post a comment.

      Best regards,

  4. Thanks, Shawn. You are very correct. My experience with the CPSO was very upsetting and non-supportive. I resigned a yr ago.

    1. Yikes. I wonder how many others have done so.

      I hope you’ve found joy in your new direction. I worry for all the patients impacted by institutional decisions.

      Thanks so much for taking time to read and share a comment!

      Cheers

  5. I appreciate that some of you don’t want to read the book because it may make you feel stressed or queasy. I used to think like that as well myself. Worst, I used to think that if a doctor was stripped of his license by the College of physicians, that Dr. must’ve been a bad doctor who did something wrong.

    Boy, was I naïve!!!

    After what I went through, I think all physicians should read my book. Talk about it with your friends and take a stand. Don’t close your eyes and don’t turn your head to this awful problem because tomorrow, you may be the next victim or the next target of the College of physicians.

    1. Thank you, Dr. Benhaim!

      You make a solid point. We have to face the angst of this very troubling situation. Most of us just try to keep our heads down and hope it never happens to us.

      Thanks again, Albert. I hope this chapter in your marathon closes soon.

      Highest regards,

      Shawn

    2. Very valid points, Dr Benhalm. Sorry for what you had to go through. I hope things are better now. I will consider your suggestion. The only time when I have a moment to read is before going to bed. Those sleeps are not going to be very refreshing, I am afraid. All the best to you.

    3. Thank you for the book and for showing me I should have the courage to read it. There are many laws and regulations that make good people run afoul. We need to start where we can and by showing people that badly written laws and badly run organizations can be very detrimental to life!
      Yours in confidence
      Dr. Oz

  6. I personally know two doctors who have committed suicide and one who gave up medicine and another who left the province . 4 others were forced into retirement under a cloud of “ shame “. No awards for all the good they had done their entire life ! When we reprimand a staff member we think of three good things they do before telling them the one they can improve . That’s been shown to improve morale and change behaviour and get buy in . Plus it’s kind . Why no kindness for us ? When we see patients – even patients who are known criminals , abusers , addicts and unreasonable we still treat them with respect and try to see how they ended up being this way . We give patients kindness ,compassion , empathy even if we don’t condone their addiction /abuse . Where is that empathy and compassion for us ?

    1. Wow. Oh my…this is not good. Thanks for sharing this, Zoey.

      I agree. Kindness has vanished. Envy reins. However, many patients still appreciate the care we provide. It used to outweigh the challenges we face, but at some point everyone breaks.

      Thanks so much for sharing such a powerful comment!

      Cheers

    2. Zoey, it was support from good Docs like you that I didn’t end up in Panama or the back 40 ;0)
      Having been to the valley of shadows I can help those walking through it now. Otherwise we will find more colleagues leaving or worse… dead

  7. The college is meant to protect patients/ the public. How many physicians are there who don’t rely on their own best judgement , experience and evidence based medicine in the face of patient demands for fear of patient complaint and reprisal ? In such scenarios no one is protected.

    1. Brilliant question, Debbie!

      I’ve asked many people: Does regulation drive quality and service? How does it help patients? Does it harm patients? Is there a better way to support outstanding quality and service besides making doctors live in fear of the regulators?

      In a land of rules, we live to serve rules, not patients.

      Thanks for taking time to post a comment!

      Cheers

  8. Pingback: Les Collèges causent-ils le suicide des médecins? Un nouveau livre - Harcèlement moral et institutionnel

  9. I have come to believe that the College investigative process can be very harmful to a doctor’s mental health and I will never complain to the College again. In my experience and the experience of other complainants, it failed to help us. I suffered additional unnecessary physical and mental health harm from the College’s investigative process and I feel terrible knowing that catastrophic harm happened to others after my complaint.

    We need an organization which can respond to complainants safely and effectively. Both the College and the tort system cause unnecessary harm to both doctors and patients.

    Falling through the cracks – Greg’s story – tells of how a patient fell through the cracks. Today, learning is being done because the family did not want to have any one doctor investigated; they just wanted to have lessons learned.

    I think it is best for patients and families to simply tell their stories in a manner they can be heard and have the cracks in the system investigated rather than any specific doctor. I would like to see an organization such as Health Quality Ontario replace both the College and the civil justice system. In that way, lessons could be learned, gaps in the system better addressed, and healing promoted. http://gregswings.ca/fttc-trailer/

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