The business of actress Jacynthe René, Maison Jacynthe, will be entitled to a new trial on charges of illegal practice of medicine. However, the College of Physicians is not giving up and is now turning to the Court of Appeal to restore the first judgment.
Posted yesterday at 2:38 p.m.
Maison Jacynthe was found guilty in March 2021 of two counts of criminal offense under the Professional Code. Judge Nathalie Duchesneau had determined that the company had acted in such a way as to lead to the belief that she was authorized to practice medicine. She had been sentenced to some $18,000. The clinic L’Aube of naturopath Christian Limoges had also been found guilty.
Two videos posted on Facebook were at the heart of the dispute. In these, Jacynthe René and Christian Limoges discussed many health problems in “medical terms”. The naturopath suggested to the public on several occasions to use the technique of colon irrigation “as a solution to improve the state of health”.
“The defendants suggest to any reasonable person that they can diagnose illnesses or provide treatments to cure them, and in doing so, commit an illegal practice of medicine,” concluded the Court of Quebec. In addition, in the videos, Jacynthe René did not only have a “simple role of facilitator”, according to the judge, since she gave advice and attributed benefits to irrigation.
The Superior Court of Quebec, however, quashed the guilty verdicts and ordered a new trial on July 29, essentially for legal technicalities. Justice Alexander Pless concluded that the trial judge had “applied the wrong test to determine whether a violation has occurred”.
Justice Duchesneau’s error of law relates to the “repeated use” of slightly different expressions to define the offence. According to the law, the person must have acted to “give reason to believe” that he practiced medicine. However, the judge sometimes uses other wordings in her analysis, such as “may suggest”, “could believe” or “may lead a reasonable person to believe”.
These standards are not “interchangeable”, according to the Superior Court.
The College of Physicians turned to the Court of Appeal by filing a motion for leave to appeal on August 26th. The College considers that Judge Pless erred in law in concluding that the expression “give cause to believe” had the effect of modifying the nature of the alleged offence.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
In the photo, M.e Catherine Dion-Cliche, lawyer for the College of Physicians.
Me Stéphane Gauthier and Mr.e Catherine Dion-Cliche is leading the appeal file for the College of Physicians. Me Giuseppe Battista and M.e Robert Israel represent Maison Jacynthe.