Former patients of doctor charged in Hawkesbury, Ont., murder struggle with news of arrest

The last thing Francoise Pilon Poisson of L'Orignal, Ont., expected to hear was that the doctor she had seen several months earlier had been charged with first-degree murder.

Dr. Brian Nadler, a specialist in internal medicine, was arrested Thursday night in connection with an Ontario Provincial Police investigation into several suspicious deaths at the Hawkesbury and District General Hospital. He was charged the next day.

Pilon Poisson spent a week under Nadler's care during her cancer treatments.

"I trusted him [one] hundred per cent," she told CBC Ottawa.

"He was very gentle, very professional and very caring. So that's why I'm shocked."

• OPP calls murder charge against doctor a 'traumatic experience' for Hawkesbury
• Doctor charged with murder after multiple deaths at Hawkesbury, Ont., hospital

The charge laid Friday has yet to be proven in court, but Poisson said if what he's accused of proves true, she's grateful to be alive. Nadler, who lives in the western Montreal suburb of Dollard-Des-Ormeaux, is set for his next court appearance on April 6.

"I didn't sleep last night. I mean, just like it keeps coming back because I don't understand why if it's true that he did that," she said.

Accusations difficult to reconcile

Nadler treated Sebastien Fournier in February. Fournier said Nadler was "very professional and very attentive to details."

"I was very shocked and troubled with that situation because he was my doctor, and I can't put those things together with the accusations and the doctor I met." 

• What we know so far about Brian Nadler, the doctor charged with 1st-degree murder
• 'Shock and disbelief' in Hawkesbury, but locals have faith in hospital

Fournier told Radio-Canada that his feelings about the hospital, however, haven't changed. He had an appointment there as recently as Friday, and said he's "happy with that service that we have in our community in Hawkesbury."

Teresa Beaulne, Nadler's patient during her visit to the emergency room, told CBC Ottawa she doesn't remember much of her experience with him other than "he did well with me."

"I don't remember the injury I had at that time, but yeah, I liked him," said Beaulne.

Nadler remains in custody. His lawyer, Alan Brass, told CBC News last week that his client maintains his innocence.