Radié trois mois pour avoir mégenré un patient trans
www.lapresse.ca
Un médecin de Montréal vient de se voir imposer une période de radiation de trois mois pour avoir adopté « une attitude inappropriée et irrespectueuse » envers un patient trans qui le consultait pour obtenir un traitement hormonal. Le Dr Raymond Brière a répété au patient qu’il était biologiquement une femme « en dépit des demandes explicites de ce dernier de le désigner en utilisant le genre masculin ».

My attempt to translate and paraphrase…

A doctor in Montreal has been suspended for three months for having adopted “an inappropriate and disrespectful attitude” towards a trans patient who consulted him to obtain hormonal treatment. Dr. Raymond Brière repeatedly told the patient that he was biologically a woman “despite the patient’s explicit requests address him using male pronouns”.

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On 17 May 2022, the patient consulted Dr. Brière to get a prescription for HRT. He secretly recorded the session on his mobile phone.

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During the appointment, the doctor mentioned that male hormones could cause aggressive behaviour. The patient responded that those were stereotypes. Dr. Brière said that some women use testosterone gel as a way to say “Hey, boys, I’m the boss!”

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At one point, Dr. Brière said that he had never prescribed hormones to anyone who wanted to “transform into a man”. … The doctor said that the patient was “genetically a woman”. The patient reiterated that he considered himself a trans man. Dr. Brière responded that “if a chromosomal analysis were performed, it would be demonstrated that he had XX and not XY genes”. The patient repeated that he was a trans man. The doctor said, “Yes, in your head.”

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Before leaving, the patient asked to be referred to a colleague of Dr. Brière, which was refused. The doctor also said that he no longer wished to keep him as a patient due to a loss of confidence.

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The patient lodged a complaint to the Integrated Centre for Health and Social Services of Eastern Montreal alleging discrimination and aggressive behaviour. The examiner concluded that there was “a problem with the professionalism and lack of respect towards the patient”, but found no discriminatory behaviour. Dissatisfied with this response, the patient escalated to the College of Physicians. Dr. Brière finally pleaded guilty to two charges. He maintained however that “the attitude of the patient, who recorded the HRT appointment on May 17 2022, conveys, at best, a lack of trust necessary for a professional relationship”.

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The council added that if a patient “determines that their gender identity does not correspond to the sex indicated on their birth certificate, they can ask to be addressed according to their expressed identity. The clinical interaction must then respect this gender identity.”

According to the council, the recording showed that the patient was respectful to the doctor. “Nothing indicated that the patient was ‘difficult’… Rather, he was calm most of the time.”

For the council, the recording highlighted deficiencies in personal qualities of Dr. Brière, “such as the capacity to humbly recognize his limits, listening, empathy, introspection, and recognition of his cognitive biases as well as control of his emotions”. Two periods of suspension of three months and two months, to be served concurrently, were imposed.