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The Order of Physicians accuses Dr. Eugénie Izard of having denounced possible acts of child abuse. For this, she risks a suspension of practice by the College of Physicians.
It is a case that caused a stir. In Toulouse, a child psychiatrist was prosecuted by the Order of Physicians after denouncing the alleged abuse of a father on one of his young 8-year-old patients.
“Reporting of abuse” versus “Breach of professional secrecy”
The story begins in 2015, when Dr. Eugénie Izard, sends two reports to the public prosecutor, as well as a report to the juvenile judge, following a suspicion of abuse in one of her patients, then aged 8. year.
The father of the child, outraged, decides to lodge a complaint against the child psychiatrist… before withdrawing her. But the matter does not end there…
In December 2020, the order of doctors decided to prohibit Doctor Izard from carrying out his activity for three months, for “breach of professional secrecyl” and “interference in family affairs“.
A sanction canceled on May 30 by the Council of State, which considered that there was no violation of professional secrecy.
“The pediatrician did not disregard the ethical obligation of professional secrecy” and “the national disciplinary chamber of the order incorrectly assessed the facts submitted to it“, he thus clarified.
Result: the case is referred”before the National Disciplinary Chamber of the Order of Physicians“. The hearing is scheduled for this Thursday, November 24, 2022.
New hearing before the Order on 11/24 following the cancellation of my conviction by the Council of State. The fight continues for the protection of children in France! Press release and call for support! https://t.co/terVOLs4Gk
— Eugenie Izard (@EugenieIzard) November 13, 2022
“Here we go again for a round“, comments, not without irony, the Toulouse child psychiatrist, who claims to have “no regrets“, despite the media coverage of this case.
The law authorizes reports… not the Order of Physicians
Today, less than 5% of reports concerning children at risk come from doctors. In its April 2022 report, the CIIVISE – Independent Commission on Incest and Sexual Violence against Children had denounced the aberration according to which the doctor must be the defender of the most vulnerable, but must respect medical secrecy or the prohibition interference in family affairs. The CIIVISE had recommended that an obligation for physicians to report be enshrined in law, as exists in many other countries, but also requested the protection of reporting doctors against legal or ordinal proceedings.
A few days later, the Order of Physicians had refused this recommendation, testifying to an opposition that leaves doctors who report unprotected and hinders the protection of children in danger.
A totally absurd situation according to Isabelle Debré, president of the association L’Enfant bleu.
“The law authorizes doctors to report any form of suspicion of ill-treatment… But it is the order of doctors that holds back the four irons. And yet: it is the caregivers, in constant contact with the children, who are best placed to detect the signs of abuse. At l’Enfant bleu, we have been fighting for years to encourage them to denounce this childhood violence, while trying to protect them legally.“, specifies the former senator, before adding “If we don’t take care of our children, what kind of society are we heading towards?“.
If the former senator believes that mentalities are changing, she expects a lot “of the new head of the College of Physicians. The Blue Child sincerely hopes for a solution from the Order in practices”.