DO NO HARM - Not the case here.

 

I can’t speak for other jurisdictions in Canada or other countries but in Ontario an upsetting trend has been going on with doctors and their patients for over a decade. I’ve been working in various treatment centres for over 16 years and started noticing this occurrence with some of my clients as well as with fellow members of my 12 Step Fellowship several years ago.

 What I’m talking about is people going to their doctors to seek help with their drinking/drugging and the doctor reporting the person to the Ministry of Transportation who subsequently takes away that person’s driver’s license. Not only is this punishing someone for a crime they haven’t committed (i.e. – driving under the influence) it is telling them they shouldn’t reach out for help because there will be negative consequences right away. I first reached out to my physician for help around 1998. I had not yet started to drink and drive (that would come later along with an arrest). He treated me like someone with a disease and not a criminal. As a result, I didn’t think twice about being honest with him until the day he moved away. He helped me begin my journey into sobriety as well as treating some severe mental health issues I was going through. When I did get sober, I tracked him down to make amends for showing up to his office drunk one day. If he had reported me and my license was revoked, I would have had much more stress in my life which would have caused a great deal of anxiety and depression. How did I deal with such things back then? By drinking/drugging.

 Speaking of mental health – there was a recent article in the Toronto Star about how doctors are now reporting patients to the Ministry of Transportation who come to them with signs of depression. These people subsequently lose their license as the MTO feels they may become dangerous drivers. What happens when these people lose their license? They become even more isolated thus leading to greater depression. This chaos has got to stop. I also heard on the radio (I really hope it isn’t true) that doctors, in Ontario, get $35 for every person they report to the MTO who lose their license. If this is, in fact true, I am a truly disgusted.

Dave the Dude