Watch above: Dr. Carlos Huerto is a controversial physician that lost his license after having sex with a patient and stocking up on prescription drugs. Will he be able to practice once again? Amber Rockliffe reports.
SASKATOON – A 72-year-old Saskatchewan doctor who lost his license after having sex with a patient has had his application denied again. On Friday, Dr. Carlos Huerto appeared before the Council of Saskatchewan College of Physicians and Surgeons to request his license back.
In 2003, Huerto was found guilty of engaging in a sexual relationship with a patient, prescribing medication that wasn’t necessary for a patient’s use, and falsifying his financial information.
More than twenty people gathered in the College’s new boardroom on Airport Drive, and spent hours listening to testimonies, and reviewing the many documents Huerto submitted in the hope of getting his license back.
“My job is my life,” explained Huerto, who promised countless times during the hearing he would never engage in misconduct again.
READ MORE: Prince Albert doctor loses licence for having sex with patient
One of Huerto’s witnesses, a Harvard Medical School psychiatry professor, raised eyebrows when he called Huerto’s actions “not unethical.”
Dr. Thomas Gutheil told the council he thought the doctor’s sexual relationship with his patient did not constitute sexual abuse.
Bryan Salte, the college’s associate registrar, said Gutheil’s comments flew in the face of years of council’s deliberation and decision-making.
“When you compare that with the decision of the discipline committee, which described it as being abusive and exploitive and a number of other things, it was a rather striking difference between what this particular witness testified to and the findings of the discipline committee,” Salte explained.
But Alma Wiebe, the lawyer representing the college, said Huerto “refuses to accept facts and take responsibility for his actions” and explained Huerto’s promises to never engage in misconduct again aren’t enough – the College needed evidence of his rehabilitation efforts.
The college said the reasons for the denial will be drafted and submitted to council in June; once adopted, they will be released to the public.
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