At the end of his disciplinary hearing, in October 2019, Dr. Monette was found guilty of having had a sexual relationship with a patient in his office at the Coaticook Medical Clinic, as well as of having exchanged sexual text messages with the same patient for two and a half years.
In a decision rendered at the end of September, the College’s Disciplinary Council “finds that the respondent has carried out introspection since his two periods of removal” and that “his risk of reoffending is low”.
Dr. Monette also stated that he regretted the actions for which he was found guilty and admitted to having made serious errors. He has also completed all the hours of continuing education required for the period from 2019 to 2023.
The sentence on appeal
After being found guilty of two counts, Dr. Monette first received a 12-month disbarment for having a sexual relationship with his patient, and another five months for the text exchange, to be served consecutively.
As soon as the sentence was known, the assistant trustee of the College appealed the decision to the Professional Tribunal, emphasizing that the sanctions imposed were not severe enough.
The trustee’s appeal found itself stuck in the maze of the legal system, so much so that Dr. Monette had time to complete his 17 months of disbarment, without the appeal being heard.
He therefore regained his right to practice in April 2021 and was immediately hired by the CIUSSS de l’Estrie-CHUS to work at the Lac-Mégantic Hospital.
He worked there without incident until March 2022, when the court finally allowed the complainant’s appeal. Dr. Monette saw his expungement for the sexual relationship increase from one to four years, while the sanction for the exchange of text messages increased from five months to two years. This time, however, both sanctions could be served at the same time.
Without further ado, Dr. Monette was once again disbarred. He had to leave his position for the remaining 30 months of his radiation, which ended on October 6, 2024. Dr. Monette can practice without limitation and he now works at the Lac-Mégantic Hospital.
Other delisting in 2016
In a completely different case, Dr. Monette had already been dismissed for six months, in 2016. While he was on night duty at the emergency room of the Coaticook Hospital, he refused to get up to examine a patient despite the information reported by the night nurse.
He had also prescribed “without prior clinical evaluation, remotely and in a patient potentially allergic to morphine, a high dose of a powerful opiate intravenously”.
