GP is struck off for imposing his religious views on a vulnerable patient

A Christian GP has been struck off the UK medical register for exploiting a suicidal patient’s vulnerability by imposing his religious views on her, significantly risking her health.

Thomas O’Brien, 56, “soaked” the patient with religion, which strongly influenced her to stop her antidepressant and blood pressure medicines, a panel of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service found.

“Patient A” had anxiety, depression, and a borderline personality disorder related to childhood abuse. O’Brien was a locum GP at Cobridge Community Health Centre in Stoke-on-Trent in August 2012 when he made a house call on the patient.

O’Brien and his wife befriended Patient A, visiting her home, entertaining her at their house, giving her religious materials, and inviting her to religious meetings. O’Brien told her that the devil “was having a real go at her” or words to that effect, the panel found.

Patient A told the panel that the GP had said his wife had a different way to help her without medicines. O’Brien, who did not attend the hearing and was not represented but made written submissions, said in a statement that his wife “did Bible based counselling and could help [the patient] to understand some of the very issues she was struggling with.”

The panel found that O’Brien had said “words to the effect that psychiatrists are very dangerous and she should not go to see them.” After missing two routine appointments with her psychiatrist Patient A eventually saw him in January 2013, when her health had significantly deteriorated. The psychiatrist reported the GP to the General Medical Council.

The panel concluded that O’Brien had not told Patient A to stop taking her medicines but that she was strongly influenced to do so by the religious “soaking.” Tim Hendra, the panel chair, said that O’Brien showed no insight into his failings and that the panel found him to be a danger to the public.

The GP said in his written statement to the General Medical Council that he would offer spiritual care to a patient again if asked to do so “if I felt, as in this case, that a terrible malaise in that area was the underlying root of much of their presenting disease.”

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