Veterinarians and disputes with the Order of Veterinary Physicians

The profession of veterinary medicine is governed by the Act respecting veterinary surgeons of Quebec, as well as the Professional Code and the Code of ethics of veterinary physicians of Quebec. According to the Act, veterinary medicine encompasses several essential activities related to animal health. This includes examining animals for diseases or health problems, making diagnoses to determine the cause of health problems, prescribing animal-specific medications, treating diseases in animals, and performing veterinary surgeries. As a veterinarian, all of his acts are reserved for you. This profession therefore necessarily comes with legal obligations that can sometimes be difficult to navigate. If you are facing disciplinary complaints, Lambert Avocats can support you by offering you specialized and tailor-made legal assistance. You don’t have to face this alone. Contact our professional law team today to defend yourself against the Ordre des médecins vétérinaires du Québec.

Duties and obligations of veterinarians

General Duties to Customers

As a veterinarian, you have an obligation to act with courtesy, dignity, moderation, objectivity, integrity, availability and due diligence, independence, and disinterestedness. You must also respect professional secrecy. Before agreeing to provide professional services, you must obviously take into account your limitations, your knowledge and your means. It is also mandatory to obtain free and informed consent from customers before undertaking any service. These should be granted in accordance with accepted standards of practice and in accordance with current medical science, and diagnoses should be developed with great care and appropriate scientific methods should be used. In addition, you must refrain from practising your profession under conditions or conditions that are likely to compromise the quality of your services or the dignity of the profession. The same applies to the places where you exercise it; they may not be inappropriate or inadequate except in exceptional circumstances.

Duty to advise and inform

You must report when a customer requires it. To do this, full knowledge of the facts is required, and the nature and scope of the problem arising from the facts of which you are aware must be fully and objectively stated.

End of services

The provision of services may only be discontinued when there are good and reasonable grounds, including, but not limited to:

1. Loss of customer trust;
2. A situation of conflict of interest or doubt as to professional independence;
3. Incitement by the customer to illegal, unjust or fraudulent acts;
4. The client’s failure to pay fees;
5. The client’s lack of cooperation;

The customer must have been notified of the interruption of services within a reasonable time and measures must be taken to ensure that the interruption is as minimal as possible.

Duty of access to information

You must respond, diligently and no later than 20 days after receipt, to any request from your clients to examine their file, obtain a copy of the documents that form part of it or to regain possession of them. The same applies to any request for correction of information. In addition, if you refuse access to these documents to a client, you must notify them in writing of the reasons for your refusal, as well as their recourse.

Duties towards animals

You must provide the necessary care to the animals in your care and exercise the utmost concern for safety at all times. In doing so, any practice or intervention that may be detrimental to animal welfare or that you believe involves unnecessary suffering should be avoided. For example, you may be sanctioned for performing surgery without adequate anesthesia, causing avoidable pain to the animal. These examples illustrate the importance of strict compliance with duties to animals to avoid disciplinary action and to maintain public confidence in the veterinary profession. In addition, you may not lend or use an animal for purposes other than those for which it has been entrusted to you. Except for exceptional reasons, you must obtain the client’s consent before disposing of an animal.

Duties to the public

You have an obligation to promote the protection and improvement of public health and the quality of the environment, taking into account the foreseeable consequences of your opinions, research and work on society, and to promote education and information measures. Finally, you must cooperate in the safe recovery of expired or unused medications, as well as refrain from carrying out or participating in uncontrolled releases of biomedical contaminants into the environment.

Duties to the profession

In addition, all veterinarians must refrain from committing acts that are derogatory to the dignity of the profession provided for in the Professional Code and the Code of Ethics. These include:

1. To be physical, verbal or psychological violence towards a client;
2. Harassing, intimidating or threatening a person with whom you have a relationship in the practice of the profession;
3. Harassing, intimidating or threatening the person who has requested or is involved in conducting an investigation;
4. To communicate with the complainant of the investigation without the syndic’s permission;
5. To claim from a client a sum of money for all or part of a professional service, the cost of which is assumed by a third party;
6. To claim fees for services not rendered or falsely described, as well as to provide or permit the production of fraudulent documents;
7. Selling, giving, administering or distributing an expired medication or an unused medication that has been returned to him or her by a customer;
8. Prescribing, selling, providing or administering drugs not approved by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency or Health Canada ;
9. To buy or sell samples of medicines.

Penalties for non-compliance

A breach of your professional duties, whether it be your obligations to animals, clients or the profession, may result in disciplinary sanctions imposed by the Ordre des médecins vétérinaires du Québec. Here are the main possible sanctions:

• Reprimand: A reprimand is a formal disciplinary sanction that remains on your professional record. It is mainly used to highlight the seriousness of the offence while remaining less severe than a suspension or a fine.
• Fine: A fine can be determined based on the severity of the offense.
• Revocation of License: In the event of extremely serious misconduct, your license to practice may be revoked.
• Temporary or permanent disbarment: For very serious offences, including those affecting the safety or well-being of animals, a temporary or permanent disbarment from the Order may be pronounced.
• Training or supervision obligations: In some cases, the committee may require additional training or require you to practice under supervision.
• Payment of disbursements: You may also be required to reimburse disbursements, including expert fees.

These sanctions are intended to remind you of the importance of ethical standards in the practice of your profession. If you are the subject of a disciplinary investigation or complaint, it is crucial to surround yourself with an experienced legal team to protect your rights and your career. Don’t let a difficult situation jeopardize your career. Contact us today for a confidential consultation.