VICTORIA – A British Columbia doctor who texted an unauthorized photo of a patient’s catheter site along with a joke to somebody not involved in the case has been fined $20,000.
The province’s College of Physicians and Surgeons says in a news release that Dr. John Joseph Kinahan, a urologist from Victoria, B.C., has admitted to the misconduct.
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Details on when and where the incident occurred were not provided, although the college says it received a complaint from the patient and a breach-of-privacy report from the Island Health authority.
The college says the patient was unconscious when the photo was taken by Kinahan who used his personal cellphone.
Besides issuing the $20,000 penalty, the college has written Kinahan a formal reprimand, suspended him for six months starting Jan. 1, 2016, and ordered him to attend a clinician-patient communication program.
He must also further his education in the areas of ethics, boundaries and professionalism.
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