Grande Prairie doctor suspended from practice by CPSA tribunal for sexual abuse

College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta logo. (CPSA)

A Grande Prairie family doctor has been suspended from practice after a College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta hearing found she had a relationship with a paraplegic patient constituting "sexual abuse."

On Friday, the college said Dr. Brianne Hudson's permit to practice had been suspended as of Jan. 9, 2023.

She was found guilty on two CPSA charges of having a sexual relationship with a patient between August 2019 and December 2019 and subsequently providing false information on her renewal form with the college.

According to hearing documents, Hudson had a broad scope of practice, including maintaining her family clinic, part-time work at the local emergency room, and helping patients in long-term care.

Unnamed in the proceedings, Hudson met patient X during her residency in 2011, who had "made a positive impression on her."

She then met him again in 2016 when the patient, who was paraplegic after a workplace accident, regularly visited the hospital due to an opioid addiction.

Two years later, Hudson took over the patient's care at the hospital and learned he was incarcerated, facing two to five years.

"She said she became concerned about [patient X's] life if he was sentenced to incarceration," the tribunal documents read, adding she suggested they needed legal counsel, paid their cash bail, and acted as a "liaison" between them and their lawyer.

In return, the patient provided her with a gift, the documents revealed, at which point she began to develop "feelings." Hudson offered the patient a place to live "instead of the shelter."

By August 2019, the relationship "became sexual," at which point she was attending professional boundaries courses after supervisors and the college had already noted concerns.

According to Hudson, she last provided medical treatment to the patient in December 2018. She self-reported the relationship to the CPSA in January 2020, and a third-party complaint about her "personal relationship with Patient A" was submitted in spring 2019.

Hudson then signed an agreement with the college in February 2020 that placed conditions on her practice until the hearing and complaint process was settled.

Those included having a chaperone present for all patient visits, telephone calls, and having another physician present in any clinical practice.

After hearings were held in February and April last year, the college found Hudson's relationship with the patient amounted to "sexual abuse" under the Health Professions Act and that her conduct was "unprofessional" and a "gross failure of professional judgment."

"Dr. Hudson should have recognized that [patient X's] circumstances meant that he was in a highly vulnerable state," the hearing said.

"[Patient X's] vulnerable state and Dr. Hudson's position of authority meant that there was a significant risk of a power imbalance between them in December 2018 and continuing through 2019."

In Hudson's defence, she raised that a new law, An Act to Protect Patients, came into effect in April 2019 that changed the definition of a patient, including any person a physician has treated in the past year. 

The tribunal rejected Hudson's defence and noted that her care for the patient could not "be reduced to a single instance of episodic care."

"She took advantage of an extremely vulnerable, disabled, opioid-dependent individual who was her patient. The Hearing Tribunal cannot accept that Dr. Hudson should be regarded as an exception to the rules that other physicians must abide by."

The college says Hudson is now responsible for taking "reasonable steps" to connect patients in active or acute care with another healthcare provider. 

In a statement provided to CTV News Edmonton, Hudson said she accepts the CPSA outcome and said being honest with the college about her actions was "of great importance.

"It was incredibly important to me to tell the truth about my behaviour," Hudson said. "So important, in fact, that I was prepared to tell the truth even if it meant I would lose my medical license forever."