Bedside Manners

Canadian nurse reprimanded for asking gay patients about fisting, bottoming history

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The British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives has ruled against a nurse practitioner charged with serving the gay community in the Canadian city of Vancouver. A panel determined that Paul Perry had committed professional misconduct and incompetent practice in his treatment of gay men.

The Tri-City News reports that investigators uncovered a wealth of evidence of misconduct including Perry soliciting unnecessary detailed sexual histories from patients, “coming out” stories, and patient histories of sexual abuse or trauma. The investigative panel also found that Perry used non-clinical descriptions in his notes, which were also riddled with mistakes.

Related: University doctor accused of performing unnecessary rectal exams on male athletes for decades

“The sexual history the respondent gathered was unclear and includes inappropriate nonclinical descriptors such as ‘bottom’ and ‘fisting,’” the decision read.

The college further found that Perry may have retraumatized a patient after soliciting a detailed history of his past sexual trauma. Perry failed to provide the patient with any referrals to support services for further treatment. Perry also provided inadequate psychological counseling to patients–something he was not qualified to administer. The board also found that he had not followed best practices when prescribing medications, did not require adequate testing to determine a diagnosis, and failed to refer patients to specialists for additional treatment.

The college has yet to issue any disciplinary action in the case.

The case of Paul Perry is just the latest in a series of cases of healthcare professionals taking advantage of gay men. Last year, the University of Michigan initiated an investigation into a campus doctor who performed unnecessary rectal examinations on men. In 2019, the University of Southern California investigated a similar case where a doctor performed unneeded rectal examinations on gay men, presumably to humiliate them about their sexual orientation.

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