Advisory Council pleased Dr. Hanley has finally been stopped

December 4, 2007

The Provincial Advisory Council on the Status of Women is pleased a former St. John’s psychiatrist who had sex with a patient will no longer be able to practice in Canada.

“This move was long overdue,” says Leslie MacLeod, President of the Provincial Advisory Council on the Status of Women. “Our province’s College of Physicians and Surgeons sounded the alarm about Hanley two years ago. It should never have taken the New Brunswick College this long to determine the man was not fit to see patients in its province.”

In November, 2005, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Newfoundland and Labrador notified their counterpart in New Brunswick they had suspended Dr. James B. Hanley’s NL license to practice medicine. Hanley was under investigation for having sex with a patient. They also notified the New Brunswick College that Hanley had entered an undertaking not to practice in New Brunswick or any other jurisdictions where he held a license.

The NB College ignored both Hanley’s suspension and undertaking. He was permitted to continue practicing at CFB Gagetown.

In March, 2007, the NL College found Dr. Hanley guilty of professional misconduct and took away his license. The New Brunswick College then suspended his license on an interim basis. This month, the New Brunswick College finally announced its decision to strip Hanley’s license.  

“Although we are glad Hanley has finally been stopped,” says MacLeod, “this is not a happy ending. Canada still does not have a national protocol for enforcing suspensions. As it stands, this could easily happen again.”

The Provincial Advisory Council is currently working with The Coalition of Provincial and Territorial Advisory Councils on the Status of Women to lobby for a national system of information sharing and sanction enforcement. In the coming weeks, the Coalition will make several recommendations to government officials and Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons across the country.

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Media Contact:

Leslie MacLeod
President/CEO
709 753 7270
lesliemacleod@pacsw.ca