Hospital settles civil suit
North York General Hospital has settled a civil suit filed by 26 women who claimed to have been sexually assaulted by an anesthetist.
The lawyer for the accused doctor, 62 year old George Doodnaught, says he is concerned that people “may draw an adverse inference” against his client before he has stood trial.
In March of 2010, Doodnaught was charged with three counts of sexual assault and an additional 26 charges of the same nature were brought against him on Sept. 30. None of the charges have been proven in court.
In a statement released by the hospital this March, North York General said it “respects the fact that the criminal investigation is still ongoing.”
In a previous statement released last March, when the original charges were laid, the hospital said, “We are shocked and devastated that anything like this could have happened to patients while in our hospital.”
Doodnaught is not currently working at North York General or any other hospital or clinic, according to Kathryn Clarke, spokeperson for the Ontario college of Physicians and Surgeons. As a condition of his bail he is permitted to continue to practice medicine under certain bail restrictions.
“Those restrictions are that he have no direct or indirect contact with any female patient and that he not be in any hospital or clinic recovery room,” Clarke said in an interview.
His bail conditions also stipulate that Doodnaught must be under direct visual supervision of a licensed physician when in the presence of male patients.
Clarke said the college is investigating Doodnaught, adding that he has been registered with the college since 1979 and has never faced disciplinary proceedings before now.
Doodnaught will face the 29 criminal charges against him during a preliminary hearing scheduled for late October, says his lawyer, Brian Greenspan.
“I look forward to how preposterous the settlement will seem when Dr. Doodnaught is vindicated,” Greenspan said when reached by phone.
Darcy Merkur of the law firm Thomson Rogers, which represented the 26 recipients of the settlement said he thought the agreement “was fair and sensitive to their needs, so we’re pleased with the outcome.”
The hospital stated that the settlement was reached with the interests of its patients in mind.
“In entering this agreement, the hospital was intent on resolving claims in an equitable manner that avoided a lengthy legal process for its patients,” North York General Hospital said in a press release. “This represented our willingness to move forward with the claims in a manner that was respectful and sensitive to our patients.”