New college data may shed light on issue of sexual abuse by physicians.

During a recent conference on physician health that was cosponsored by the CMA and American Medical Association, physicians learned that there had been an increase in the number of reported cases of abuse of patients by physicians in Ontario. The increase occurred after new legislation made the reporting of suspected sexual abuse mandatory in the province in 1994. Dr. Laurel Dempsey said there was "a considerable body of opinion" at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario that there would be a backlog of cases waiting to be reported once the new law took effect. However, it won't be possible to tell if this backlog actually exists until data have been gathered for at least a few more years.