The Doctor

Who is Dr. Melvyn Iscove? It's a simple question with not a lot of simple answers. He was a classically trained pianist, an opera enthusiast, and a longtime supporter of Toronto's arts scene. Letters of support from his hearing describe him as "professional, kind, and considerate." But other former patients have a different story to tell-one of blurred boundaries, and a psychiatric relationship that, according to those patients, left lasting emotional scars.

The Oath examines the case of Dr. Melvyn Iscove, whose medical license was revoked in 2018 for allegedly sexually abusing two patients. When journalist Krysia Collyer first came across Dr. Iscove’s case, it seemed straightforward—until she and her co-producer, Brennan Leffler, began digging. What happened to those two patients was only part of a long, unusual story involving Iscove’s dedication to a largely forgotten 1950s psychoanalyst who believed homosexuality could be cured. The case raises serious questions about Ontario’s medical regulator: Can it be trusted to protect patients, and how does it handle potential cases of so-called “conversion therapy”?

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