In Ontario, if a physician writes even a single prescription for someone, that individual is legally classified as a “patient” under the Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA).

Under this law, any sexual contact after that — no matter the circumstances — is automatically defined as sexual abuse by the physician. This includes cases where:

The physician was in a prior romantic or domestic relationship with the individual. 

The physician was coerced, emotionally manipulated, or physically intimidated and had little choice but to write a script by their intimate partner.

The physician, writes a prescription for their spouse in emergency situation even once.

Currently, as it stands if a physician writes a prescription for someone, and that individual later that same day sexually assaults or inappropriately touches the physician without consent — it is the physician who immediately will lose their medical license, should the perpetrator file a complaint with the CPSO. 

The RHPA requires the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) to revoke the physician’s license with no discretion and publicly label them a “sexual abuser.” There is no room to consider context, coercion, or domestic violence — even if the physician is the actual victim.

This legal gap is harming real people. It punishes survivors. It leaves vulnerable healthcare professionals — especially women and those in abusive relationships — with no protection.

In 2014, the CPSO tried to reform this policy by introducing a category of “sexual impropriety,” but it was rejected. Today, that failure continues to cost lives, reputations, and careers.

We are calling on the Ontario Ministry of Health and the Legislature to:

Reopen the 2014 reform proposal and consult with abuse experts, frontline physicians, and equity advocates
Introduce a clear distinction between predatory abuse and coerced, abusive, or non-consensual circumstances
Grant discretion to the regulatory college when physicians are clearly victims, not perpetrators.

No survivor should be penalized for being abused. No victim should lose their career for enduring harm.

Please sign and share this petition to bring common sense, fairness, and trauma-informed policy back to Ontario healthcare law.