A family doctor has been suspended for three months after telling a transgender man they were a ‘biological woman’.
Dr Raymond Brière — who had been practicing for more than four decades in Montreal, Canada — was found by a complaints body to have acted in an ‘inappropriate and disrespectful manner’ after telling a patient that they were genetically female during an argument about the risks of hormone drugs.
During an appointment in mid-2022, the patient asked the Dr Brière for a prescription for testosterone therapy to help them transition into a man.
The individual said they were ready to take the next step and had already undergone a social transition by changing their pronouns to he/him.
Dr Brière initially noted he had never helped a patient become a man before, and then warned that testosterone therapy could make them more aggressive.
Pictured above is the clinic in Montreal, Quebec, where Dr Raymond Brière worked. He has been in practice for more than four decades and previously had an unblemished record
The patient disputed this, telling the doctor that their medical opinion was based on ‘stereotypes’.
Dr Brière has more than 700 patients in Montreal. The trans man — who has not been named — was one of his patients since 2018.
Dr Brière then suggested the patient could take testosterone via a gel that is rubbed into the top part of the arms or into the armpits.
But this was again rejected by the patient, who said they were only willing to use testosterone injections — which can cause a body to ‘masculinize’ more rapidly.
The pair then had an argument about the patient’s pronouns, with the patient repeatedly requesting that they are referred to as ‘he/him’ while the doctor said they were ‘biologically a woman’.
In a recording, which the patient took on their cellphone without the doctor’s knowledge, Dr Brière said that if a genetic analysis of the patient’s chromosomes was carried out they would be found to be ‘genetically a woman’.
The doctor also told the patient that their change in gender was ‘in your brain’ and that their body would remain genetically female, still having the two XX chromosomes rather than the XY chromosomes that men have.
He added that: ‘A patient until today, [but] you were a woman, dear madam’.
Dr Brière also refused to use the pronouns, saying that he was only being asked to do so because the patient believed his ‘circle is the absolute truth’.
The patient and doctor then decided that the patient should seek a consultation with a different physician.
But while Dr Brière was organizing the new appointment they had another dispute about pronouns, which concluded with the doctor refusing to book the new appointment and telling the patient to organize it themselves.
In a disciplinary document from the Medical College of Quebec, the panel sided with the patient.
Dr Brière accepted both charges against him — of behaving in a disrespectful manner and not setting up an appointment with another doctor.
But he said that the attitude of the patient ‘denotes, at best, a problem or the non-existence of the mutual trust necessary for the professional relationship’.
The disciplinary panel said it was the ‘doctor’s obligation’ to establish and maintain a relationship of trust with a patient.
They added that if a patient ‘believes that their gender identity does not correspond to the sex appearing on their birth certificate, they can request that they be referred to by the identity they express’.
‘The medical encounter must then take place while respecting this gender identity,’ they said.
The council added: ‘There is no indication that the patient is “difficult”, that is to say demanding, finicky, scrupulous or anxious.
‘On the contrary, he remains calm and listens to the respondent most of the time.’
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