Physician, heal thy self.
November 2009

Last Thursday’s Globe and Mail contained a piece on the arrest of “ Canada ’s sports doctor to the stars” for illegally importing and selling drugs.  I gather both the drugs and the act of importing and selling said drugs are illegal.  What makes this a big story is the physician in question – Dr. Galea – has the likes of Olympic figure skater Patrick Chan and gold medalist Donovan Bailey in his stable.  High profile names to be sure.

The thing is, this story – this entire issue – should not have been such a big deal. It would not have garnered the attention it did if Dr. Galea and his lawyer, Mr. Preobrazenski, had even the faintest idea of how to manage an issue.

It’s as if they decided to check off every box in the ‘what not to do’ column.

First, the good doctor’s lawyer stated to the media, “This isn’t Ben Johnson.  These aren’t steroids.”  Double whammy there.  Bring up the name of this country’s biggest sporting embarrassment (check) and use the ‘s’ word (check).  No one mentioned steroids until the lawyer did.  Hell, the search warrant was sealed, the cops weren’t going to get into specifics.

Not content with repeating negatives, Galea’s lawyer then went on a tirade about “not being charlatans with cancer cures…super-agents, propping up their athletes with super-enhanced drugs…” Huh?

I could go on but suffice it to say the only thing the lawyer did correctly was spell his name to the reporter.  From there it was all down hill.

Then there is Dr. Galea.  Clearly out of his element, he started getting into specifics about what he does to treat Patrick Chan.  Yikes!   Then he raises the World Anti-Doping Agency and admits the stuff he’s using isn’t approved by Health Canada .  Apparently because the College of Physicians and Surgeons is okay with it he can use it, so he got his assistant to order it.  Yup, that clears it up. (the College backed him up in subsequent coverage but that’s irrelevant at this point as the damage was done.)

I have no doubt Dr. Galea is a fine doctor.  Some pretty high-profile people trust him.  I have no doubt his lawyer is, well, a lawyer.  What they aren’t, however, are experts on communication. 

Had the good doctor jumped up on our examining room table, we’d have told him to:

• State your innocence.  Emphatically
• Don’t have others speak for you (lawyers, plumbers, psychics)
• Don’t repeat negatives, or worse, introduce negatives or horrible imagery and references to national disgraces
• Keep things high level.  Tell the world your practices are consistent with the Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons, and that you’re looking forward to clearing your name and to getting back to helping people

That’s just about what should have been done.  There are plenty of things he should be doing right now and going forward (just in case you’re reading this, Dr. Galea):

• Hire some professional communicators (yes, we’re available)
• Commit to being the lone spokesperson on this.  Tell your lawyer to focus on lawyering
• Figure out your message; that one thing you want people to hear from you until this (hopefully) is cleared up
• Reach out to every one of your high-profile clients and re-assure them you’re legit and tell them to direct any calls about you, to you
• Talk to the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Anti-doping folks and any other stakeholders you can think of and ensure everyone is on the same page so you don’t start running into conflicts
• When you file your statement of defence, post it on your Facebook page.