A Pembroke doctor is accused of sexually abusing two patients under his care.
Allegations of Dr. Baxter’s professional misconduct are being reviewed by the Discipline Committee of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. Dr. Baxter is a 70 year old physician who practices in Pembroke, Ontario.
Patient A and Patient B became the Pembroke doctors patients in or around 1989 and 1992 respectively. It is alleged that Dr. Baxter engaged in a sexual relationship, which included sexual intercourse, with “Patient A”. Dr. Baxter is also accused of sexually touching “Patient B” during a medical appointment, having personal relationships with the two patients and providing inaccurate or misleading information to the College during their investigation.
Dr. Baxter is allowed to continue to practice while the investigation is underway. He is limited to treating a maximum of 45 patients a day. A clinical supervisor will oversee his work for a 6-month period. During periods of moderate clinical supervision, Dr. Baxter will be observed directly at his practice for one half day which includes observation of a minimum of 10 patient encounters every meeting and is to be a mix of pediatric patients and patients being prescribed opioids. Dr. Baxter will also engage in professional education in opioid prescribing, well-baby care, management of chronic conditions, and medical record-keeping.
The hearing date for the matter before the Disciplinary Committee for College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario is May 3rd to 7th, 2021. If the panel finds Dr. Baxter committed an act of professional misconduct by sexually abusing a patient, his certificate of registration will be revoked.
It’s not the first encounter Dr. Baxter has had with the Disciplinary Committee. In 2017, concerns were raised that Dr. Baxter may be trading prescriptions for narcotics, for sexual favours and landscaping work from patients, and that he took patients away for the weekend and took them to “strip joints.” These allegations were brought to the College’s attention through a mandatory report from another physician reporting what one patient reported about other patients. These very serious allegations turned out to be untrue, but the Committee was concerned that Dr. Baxter had a history similar in nature to the allegations and that he acknowledged some of the alleged boundary crossings including allowing patients to live in his home and paying for one patient’s cell phone.
You can read the full report online here.