psychiatrist gives up licence amid sex allegations
April 7, 2008 News, Psychiatrist 6 CommentsTim Shufelt
Ottawa Citizen
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Faced with accusations of sexual impropriety, a former Ottawa child and youth psychiatrist has promised never again to practise medicine in Canada. Details of the allegations, which he denies, may never come to light.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario said it plans to drop disciplinary proceedings against Dr. Gonzalo Araujo in a hearing scheduled today at the college’s office in Toronto.
Dr. Araujo, a psychiatrist at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario from 1983 to 1994, during which time he is alleged to have had a sexual relationship with a patient, signed an undertaking to the college last month forfeiting his licence for life.
“I … do not admit any of the allegations and deny all of the allegations,” says the undertaking signed by Dr. Araujo.
Attempts to reach Dr. Araujo over the phone and through the law firm representing him were unsuccessful.
In exchange for Dr. Araujo’s signed undertaking, the college has agreed to withdraw the allegations, and will keep information about the complaint confidential, said Kathryn Clarke, the college’s spokeswoman. She said the summary of allegations against Dr. Araujo contain no indication of criminality.
Ms. Clarke said these undertakings are not uncommon. They are generally accepted by the college when the restriction on the doctor “is so significant that it completely eliminates the risk to the public,” she said.
In Dr. Araujo’s case, his self-imposed penalties exceed the maximum the college can hand out in disciplinary hearings.
The tradeoff, however, is a loss of transparency and accountability.
“What you’re not getting is a finding of professional misconduct,” Ms. Clarke said. Nor an admission of guilt, she added. “You have to weigh, in the facts of the case, whether that’s important. If you have guaranteed public safety, that obviously is a key factor.”
According to an Ottawa victims’ rights advocate, those things are important.
“It’s very hard on the victims when the guys just resign and aren’t held accountable,” said Ann Van Regan, who works with the Therapy Exploitation Link Line, a Boston-based organization that helps victims of sexual exploitation by health professionals.
“They’re shocked, of course, and they often feel not heard.”
Dr. Philip Klassen, a psychiatrist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, said some victims are driven by a sense of justice and embrace the opportunity to testify. Others, however, welcome a quick and quiet end to the process.
“We’ve all interviewed victims that really just dread the notion of testifying. People experience an increase in symptoms and dysfunction because of anxiety around testifying, and experience a profound sense of relief at not having to testify,” Dr. Klassen said.
He likened the college’s acceptance of undertakings to settlements in civil suits and plea bargains in criminal courts.
Dr. Klassen said there’s one important difference: Undertakings often do not include any admission of guilt, so the document cannot necessarily be used as the basis to sue a doctor.
According to committee documents, Dr. Araujo is accused of having a “romantic and sexual relationship” with an unnamed patient from early 1984 to around September 1988.
He left the hospital in 1994 to set up his own practice. CHEO treats patients under 18.
The charge of “sexual impropriety” comes from the provincial legislation of the day; that legislation has since been replaced by the Regulated Health Professions Act.
Under the old law, sexual impropriety was punishable by revoking a doctor’s licence for up to one year, after which the doctor would be able to reapply.
Much has changed in the last 15 years, including the role played by the college in addressing alleged sexual abuse by its members, said Dr. Harvey Armstrong, a child and adolescent psychiatrist in Toronto who has co-written reports on sexual abuse in the medical profession for the provincial government.
“Now, the college is more receptive to those kinds of complaints,” he said. “They’re much more supportive.”
The self-regulating authority, which has granted licences to more than 27,000 doctors in Ontario, investigated 42 sex-related complaints in 2006.
Dr. Armstrong believes “the college is probably catching a small percentage of abusers.”
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