Nurse loses licence over affair with patient

Man took his own life after suing CAMH

Paola Loriggio

A nurse formerly employed at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health will lose her licence after she admitted to having sex with a patient while she worked there, a disciplinary panel ruled yesterday.

The nurse admitted that "she sexually abused the patient by engaging in sexual intercourse ... among other things" during the man's in-patient and outpatient treatment, according to an agreed statement of facts presented at her disciplinary hearing. She was fired in 2007 when the affair came to light.

The five-member panel was required by law to revoke her licence and order a formal reprimand by the College of Nurses of Ontario. She had no previous disciplinary record.

Lawyer Kate Hughes, who represents the nurse, told the panel her client is "extremely remorseful" and intends to co-operate fully with the college. The nurse did not attend the hearing and could not be reached for comment.

The patient took his own life in July, just weeks after filing a lawsuit against the nurse and CAMH alleging negligence. His family took over the lawsuit after his death.

Though she was not at the hearing, the man's mother released a statement through their lawyer, Barry Swadron.

"What she did was awful," said Carol Farkas, whose surname is different from her son's. "She made his life complicated, she interfered with his life going forward. There is no way he could overcome what she did to him."

In the suit, the man identifies himself as John and the nurse as Jane, to protect the identity of their child – she had told him she was pregnant, the document says.

The nurse's lawyer, Joseph Colangelo, said yesterday there was no baby. But a court order related to the suit prevents both the nurse and patient from being named.

According to evidence presented at yesterday's hearing, the man was admitted to CAMH in 2004 in connection with criminal charges, but found not criminally responsible on account of a mental disorder. He was discharged and treated as an outpatient in 2006, then readmitted in December of that year. The nurse was not among his primary caregivers, but participated in meetings about his treatment.