An orthopedist paid by the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) does not hesitate to recruit patients for his private clinic, a practice run by certain doctors who seem to find a very profitable way to practice their profession in an environment , where the waiting lists on the public network are endless.
In an interview with QUB Radio, Rosemont’s deputy for Quebec Solidaire, Vincent Marissal, confided that he had recently experienced this situation.
“My orthopedist’s secretary offered me an operation at a private clinic in early December. The catch on the bill: $35,000. A price that she describes as special because I have to have both hips replaced,” he said at the microphone of Benoît Dutrizac.
Currently, Mr. Marissal has to use a cane to get around and his situation prevents him from living a normal life, but like so many others in his situation, he has been patient for a year now.
If he refuses surgery at a private clinic for more than $30,000, he will have to endure his pain for at least six more months before his orthopedist returns to the public system.
“That’s unacceptable. I have the luxury of waiting. I can move about my work. But a trucker who can’t work anymore, he will pay. He has no choice,” said Mr. Marissal.
The temporary exclusion of doctors is not a new phenomenon. But this example raises an obvious ethical question, according to the Rosemont member.
He wonders how many doctors use their situation to build a customer bank that they can then operate privately.
“In the end, the government seems to be doing well in this situation because it’s helping to reduce waiting lists,” the Rosemont MP said. According to Vincent Marissal, this could explain the government’s silence. According to him, one can wonder if the consultation paid for by the RAMQ only served to inflate the list of clients of certain doctors. “Very lucrative customers.”
“I refuse to go private on principle. It’s a way to get past before everyone. I really believe in the public system,” he said, adding that if someone decides to go private, their name is no longer on the waiting list, much to the government’s delight.
At this time, Mr. Marissal has no intention of filing a complaint with the Federation of Medical Specialists of Quebec. However, he has every intention of asking questions to the Minister for Health and Social Affairs, Christian Dubé.
The medical association and the specialist medical association rejected our interview request.
– With the collaboration of André-Sylvain Latour
Listen to the interview with Véronique Godbout, President of the Orthopedic Association of Quebec in the show by Benoit Dutrizac, which is broadcast live every day at 1 p.m. via QUB radio :