A 40-year-old mother of twins came in February 2010 for a hysterectomy. During the operation, she realized Dr. George Doodnaught’s hands were under her gown, fondling her bare breasts. He French kissed her.
TORONTO – A South Asian anesthesiologist working at Toronto’s North York General Hospital sexually assaulted at least 21 partially conscious female patients while surgical teams operated on them just centimetres away, a prosecutor says.
Blocked from view by a “sterile sheet,” Dr. George Doodnaught abused their upper bodies while unsuspecting nurses and surgeons worked on their lower bodies, David Wright told a judge Monday.
Four women separately complained over several years, but the hospital did not tell police, the prosecutor said in his opening statement, reported the Toronto Star newspaper.
Doodnaught, 64, pleaded not guilty Monday to 21 counts of sexual assault relating to 21 women, age 25 to 75, between 2006 and 2010. The judge-alone trial is expected to last more than two months.
The married father of five had worked at the hospital at Leslie St. and Sheppard Ave. E. since 1981. He is not currently practising, but is still permitted to do so with male patients only.
Many victims complained straightaway to friends and family, who sometimes assumed they had been experiencing hallucinations from the sedatives, Wright said in his opening statement to Ontario Superior Court Justice David McCombs.
Doodnaught was able to commit his assaults virtually hidden behind a 1-by-1.5-metre blue drape that divides sterile from non-sterile portions of the operating room, the judge was told.
The drugs he administered put the women in a state of “conscious sedation” — a twilight state between consciousness and unconsciousness. He also gave them spinal painkillers, which numbed portions of their bodies.
The women were “vulnerable and virtually incapable of moving,” while undergoing such procedures as hysterectomies and knee and hip replacements, Wright said.
In February 2006, a 55-year-old woman complained Doodnaught pinched her nipples and caressed her breasts under her hospital gown, while surgeons worked on a knee replacement.
Dr. Derek Shilletto, the hospital’s acting head of anesthesiology, promised the complaint would be put on Doodnaught’s personnel file and he would be closely scrutinized, Wright said.
Shilletto warned Doodnaught to be “very careful in his approach,” court heard.
“Despite further complaints against George Doodnaught, the hospital didn’t open his file until March 22, 2010 — more than two weeks after he was arrested on three counts of sexual assault,” Wright said.
In December, 2008, a 48-year-old woman complained after she woke up being kissed, court heard. She performed oral sex on the doctor and he fondled her breasts, saying he would later “give her a good f—,” the prosecutor said.
In January 2009, she contacted police, who launched an investigation. “No member of the hospital told the police there had been two previous complaints of sexual assault against George Doodnaught. No charges were laid,” Wright said.
In January 2010, a 62-year-old woman complained to her surgeon, Dr. Robert Brock, after Doodnaught massaged her breasts and kissed her lips “like a lover,” Wright said.
“Brock confirmed to the police that he received the complaint but took no action,” Wright said.
Following two complaints, Dr. Steven Brown told Doodnaught not to use Ketamine, a sedative sometimes associated with hallucinations, court heard.
The prosecutor said Doodnaught told a hospital worker: “I don’t know why these patients are accusing me of this. It must be the drugs. This damn Ketamine.”
A 40-year-old mother of twins came in February 2010 for a hysterectomy. During the operation, she realized Doodnaught’s hands were under her gown, fondling her bare breasts. He French kissed her and put his penis into her mouth, moving it slowly, rhythmically.
She reported the assault, causing the police and hospital to investigate — the fifth complaint since 2006 — and Doodnaught was charged, Wright said.
After the charges were made public, other women came forward with similar stories, some also describing forced masturbation and fellatio.
North York General spokesman Marcelo Gomez-Wiuckstern would not comment in detail about the case because it is before the courts. But he maintained the hospital fully co-operated with authorities once made aware of the complaints.
