CPSA overturns sanctions against Medicine Hat doctor

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta has overturned sanctions against a Medicine Hat doctor following an appeal of his tribunal decision. (Pexels/Gustavo Fring)

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta has lifted the sanctions imposed on a Medicine Hat doctor who was suspended from his practice for more than a year over allegations he had inappropriate contact with a vulnerable patient.

The CPSA said Dr. Ian Gebhardt was sanctioned following a hearing last year in connection with an incident in June 2017.

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The college heard that Gebhardt touched a developmentally delayed patient in a sexual manner.

The patient’s mother testified before the tribunal and Gebhardt’s practice permit was suspended for 20 months.

He was also handed an indefinite chaperone condition, which would require him to have another person present at all of his patient interactions.

‘Serious sanctions’

Gebhardt appealed the sanctions, calling them “unfair and unreasonable,” the CPSA said.

During the appeal, heard in March, the CPSA said the suspension and chaperone order were both “serious sanctions” that the complaints director said were necessary given the nature of the alleged misconduct.

It also heard that the evidence that Gebhardt’s counsel learned about the complainant during cross-examination was given little weight on the outcome of the case.

“Dr. Gebhardt asserted that the hearing tribunal made errors by denying him the ability to test (the patient)’s direct evidence through cross-examination, by relying on hearsay evidence to compensate for the lack of direct evidence and in applying undue scrutiny to Dr. Gebhardt’s evidence,” the CPSA’s council review panel said.

‘Never know with certainty what happened’

The panel also mentioned that the credibility of the complainant was questionable, given that he could not give clear answers about the incident and lied to “avoid getting into trouble.”

“The hearing tribunal rejected the possibility that had blended his memory of his visit with Dr. Gebhardt with memories of sexual interactions with other individuals,” the panel said.

“The panel is mindful that we will never know with certainty what happened on June 6, 2017, but the standard of proof requires evidence to be ‘clear, convincing and cogent to satisfy the balance of probabilities test.’

“The evidence in support of the allegation did not meet that standard.”