Jail psychiatrist quits under fire

Keith Paul

Friday, June 1, 2001 | 10:52 a.m.

A psychiatrist who treats inmates in Clark County resigned Thursday before an investigation was completed into allegations that led to him being barred from practicing medicine in two other states.

Dr. Gilles Desmarais was being investigated by Prison Health Services, his employer, regarding allegations made against him in Massachusetts several years ago.

"His resignation, which provides for 30-day notice, was submitted during the course of our investigation," Lawrence Pomeroy, a PHS official, said in a release.

Desmarais, a licensed psychiatrist in Las Vegas since 1989, was disciplined by the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine in 1994 for allegedly having sex with a patient in late 1974 and early 1975, when he was practicing in that state.

Desmarais -- for the next month or until a replacement is found -- will continue to treat inmates at the local jail, officials said. PHS contracts with Clark County, Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas jails to provide medical treatment for inmates.

Desmarais, 65, admitted he married and later divorced the woman, but he denied that he had sex with her while she was his patient. But in 1993, before the Massachusetts board announced its investigation, Desmarais chose not to renew his medical license in that state.

The board proceeded with the probe and in December 1994 ruled that he could not renew his license. Desmarais had not practiced medicine in Massachusetts since 1985. He also was barred from practicing in Arizona after that state discovered he did not disclose the Massachusetts ruling.

Metro Police investigated the allegations several years ago but, after conferring with prosecutors, determined it was a non-issue, Undersheriff Richard Winget said last week.

However, Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, said the allegations should have been an issue.

"A reasonable person might conclude, and apparently the company realized what our officials did not, that Dr. Desmarais' background made him particularly ill-suited to practice psychiatric medicine in a jail," Peck said. "The problems at CCDC, North Las Vegas and Henderson jails are much broader than Dr. Desmarais, and nobody should think they can be fixed by the departure of one person.

"The problems will continue to fester as long as those who run the jails remain blind to the them and indifferent to the cost they exact in human suffering," Peck said.

Desmarais could not be reached for comment. PHS officials declined to comment further.

Desmarais was originally hired by EMSA Correctional Care, which in 1999 was bought by Prison Health Services, a Tennessee company.