Brandon Harder
Regina Leader-Post
A Saskatchewan doctor found guilty of professional misconduct including “sexual impropriety” is appealing that finding.
Dr. Imafidon Izekor once owned and practiced at Northgate Medical Centres in Regina.
In August, he was found guilty of three charges of professional misconduct by the Disciplinary Hearing Committee (DHC) from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan (CPSS). Two of the charges related to incidents with female patients, including a minor.
The charges, brought by the oversight body that regulates the practice of medicine in the province, are professional in nature and are not criminal charges.
A lawyer representing Izekor has filed a notice of appeal with the Court of King’s Bench in Saskatoon, dated Sept. 18.
That court document calls for the DHC decision to be “quashed and cancelled.”
That decision concluded Izekor engaged in sexual impropriety and failed to maintain appropriate professional boundaries with two female patients, aged 19 and 16, representing two charges.
The third charge on which he was found guilty related to unprofessional communication with employees of his clinic. The decision indicates witnesses testified Izekor “yelled at them or others or had heated exchanges with them or others in the workplace within hearing distance of staff and/or patients.”
Izekor’s notice of appeal suggests the DHC was wrong in finding Izekor guilty of the charges.
It further states the DHC made multiple mistakes when it was determining the credibility and reliability of Izekor and two complainants.
It suggests the DHC failed to properly “analyze and reconcile material discrepancies” between the testimony of Izekor and the complainants.
The notice of appeal asserts the DHC failed to give “proper weight” to the “material inconsistencies” in the testimony of the complainants, “as well as to the potential motives to fabricate, to collude, and potential contamination.”
Further, the DHC put “undue weight” on the “deficiencies” in Izekor’s testimony and failed to explain why, the appeal document suggests.
With regard to the unprofessional communication, the document suggests the DHC was wrong to find it “conduct unbecoming” and failed to provide reasons for that conclusion.
Izekor initially faced seven charges brought by the CPSS. However, two charges and three distinct allegations under a third charge were withdrawn by the CPSS. These included allegations of sexually assaulting an employee, falsifying records, influencing or attempting to influence people, and having people work in his clinic who were ineligible to work in Canada.
Additionally, Izekor was found not guilty of two other charges and several distinct allegations under a third charge. These included allegations of further sexual impropriety and failing to maintain boundaries with a patient, sexually assaulting an employee, making inappropriate comments to staff and engaging in controlling behaviour.
A penalty hearing for Izekor, originally scheduled to take place in September, has been rescheduled to November, according to a CPSS spokesperson.
