Warning: This story contains sensitive subject matter. Discretion is advised.
A Quebec family doctor, whose life was thrust into the spotlight by a widely-publicized tragedy, is speaking out — frustrated by what she sees as the government’s repeated insinuations that physicians like her aren’t pulling their weight.
Dr. Isabelle Gaston is the former wife of Guy Turcotte, the disgraced cardiologist sentenced to life in prison for the 2009 murders of their two children.
While the Quebec government continues to push family doctors to take on more patients, Gaston says she simply can’t — not with the deep psychological scars she still carries.
Roughly a decade ago, Gaston transitioned from working in emergency medicine to becoming a family physician. The fast-paced, high-stress environment of the ER had become too emotionally triggering in the aftermath of her personal tragedy.
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“When a child screamed, it would take me back to the trauma — to the image of my own children,” she …