London, Ont.-area psychiatrist suspended after sharing conspiracy theories with patient
A psychiatrist working in London and at a St. Thomas, Ont. hospital has been suspended for 12 months after inappropriate communication with a patient.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) found Dr. Nina Leah Desjardins violated physician/patient boundaries and communicated inappropriately with a patient and his wife. She had been treating the patient for a year-and-a-half starting in July 2017.
The CPSO ordered Desjardins be suspended for 12 months, undergo education, practice supervision and pay costs.
According to the CPSO report, she communicated with her patient about a mistrust of psychiatry, conspiracy theories and QAnon, among other things, and continued the communication through Twitter direct messaging for weeks.
The patient began to refer to Desjardins as his 'guru" and 'master,' and the college found the relationship and their communication contributed to the patient's paranoid state and eventual hospitalization in Feb. 2019.
In addition, Desjardins reportedly did not disclose the online communication to hospital staff and did not communicate with the patient's family as expected about his irrational behaviour.
In addition to the professional sanctions, Desjardins has been ordered to see a therapist monthly for at least two years.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Canada's favourite sport to watch is hockey, survey shows
The 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs have already delivered a fever level of fan excitement in Canada.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.