A Richmond family doctor has been suspended by the College of Physicians and Surgeons for three months after admitting to hugging a patient during an examination in his office.
The suspension of Kazem Khazamipour, who runs a walk-in clinic and family practice at 8120 Cook Rd., will be reduced to a month if he meets certain conditions.
Among them is that he has a chaperon in all examinations of a sensitive nature involving female patients, and he participates in a program on ethics, boundaries and professionalism, according to a Tuesday news release by the College.
Of the 10 doctors who were disciplined in the 2013/14 fiscal year, half the cases involved inappropriate conduct, referred to by the regulatory body as "boundary violations."
These include Dr. Earl David Hardin, a Vancouver psychiatrist who admitted to using handholding, hugging and farewell kisses as a "therapeutic approach" during counselling sessions with a patient between 1969 and 2009.
Dr. Timothy Wright of Vancouver resigned from practising medicine for having a personal relationship with a patient.
Dr. Ali Ghahary, also of Vancouver, was suspended for 18 months for entering into a personal/sexual relationship with a patient dating back to 2009.
While Dr. Bradley Allen Fritz, of Vancouver, was suspended for two years for a personal/sexual relationship with a patient in 2004.
And Dr. Andre Jacob de Wit, of Duncan, was suspended for six months for a personal/sexual relationship with a patient in 2011.
Victoria’s Dr. Farrokh Rohani was stripped of his medical licence after being charged with sexual assaulting a 16-year-old patient in 2008.
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