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Toronto doctor sentenced for abusing sedated patients

Jetboogieman

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A Canadian doctor who sexually assaulted 21 sedated patients while they helplessly watched has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.Anaesthesiologist George Doodnaught, 65, abused the women, aged 25 to 75, while they were in his care.
The victims testified that they had been conscious when Doodnaught kissed, fondled and assaulted them, but they were unable to move.
All but one of the attacks occurred at North York General Hospital in Toronto.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-26346745

Sometimes.... sometimes you wish death by hanging were still an option.

 
Asshole! Paralyze him and make him spend the rest of his life watching others do for him.
 
From CTV article on it, Though they don't explicitly state why they mention he will appeal. Generally you never do your whole sentence in Canada.
George Doodnaught sentenced to 10 years for sexual assaults during surgeries | CTV News

All in all a thoroughly despicable human being.

He will appeal the conviction, not the sentence - the sentence is basically as per judicial guidelines.

I don't dispute the testamony of the victims, but two points seem strange to me - one, there was evidence that the drugs used to sedate patients during such operations has been known to cause hallucinations in some patients and his defense was that none of these assaults actually took place - two, I personally find it remarkable and hard to credit that 21 patients could be assaulted in this manner in active operating theatres, often with claims that the Dr. put his penis in the mouths of the victims and other incredible claims.

I believe, if true, that the hospital and all the staff who were involved have to be somewhat complicite in some of these cases - the doctor was accused of these crimes at the hospital level, prior to the police becoming involved so how the hell was he allowed to continue without some oversight of his actions in the operating room - even just video targetted to where he worked would have saved several patients from this trauma.
 
He will appeal the conviction, not the sentence - the sentence is basically as per judicial guidelines.

I don't dispute the testamony of the victims, but two points seem strange to me - one, there was evidence that the drugs used to sedate patients during such operations has been known to cause hallucinations in some patients and his defense was that none of these assaults actually took place - two, I personally find it remarkable and hard to credit that 21 patients could be assaulted in this manner in active operating theatres, often with claims that the Dr. put his penis in the mouths of the victims and other incredible claims.

I believe, if true, that the hospital and all the staff who were involved have to be somewhat complicite in some of these cases - the doctor was accused of these crimes at the hospital level, prior to the police becoming involved so how the hell was he allowed to continue without some oversight of his actions in the operating room - even just video targetted to where he worked would have saved several patients from this trauma.

Yes the convictions not the sentence, sorry I should have made that clearer in my post.
As to the rest, perhaps you have some points but without having the benefit of all the details it is hard to comment.
 
I don't dispute the testamony of the victims, but two points seem strange to me - one, there was evidence that the drugs used to sedate patients during such operations has been known to cause hallucinations in some patients and his defense was that none of these assaults actually took place - two, I personally find it remarkable and hard to credit that 21 patients could be assaulted in this manner in active operating theatres, often with claims that the Dr. put his penis in the mouths of the victims and other incredible claims.

A very good point, I considered that myself.

I've been in the hospital many times in my life and never once was I alone with one member of staff for very long, there's always other staff about and it's a busy place.

There were 9 people in the operating room when my wife had her C-Section and that was a rural hospital in Alberta.
 
He will appeal the conviction, not the sentence - the sentence is basically as per judicial guidelines.

I don't dispute the testamony of the victims, but two points seem strange to me - one, there was evidence that the drugs used to sedate patients during such operations has been known to cause hallucinations in some patients and his defense was that none of these assaults actually took place - two, I personally find it remarkable and hard to credit that 21 patients could be assaulted in this manner in active operating theatres, often with claims that the Dr. put his penis in the mouths of the victims and other incredible claims.

I believe, if true, that the hospital and all the staff who were involved have to be somewhat complicite in some of these cases - the doctor was accused of these crimes at the hospital level, prior to the police becoming involved so how the hell was he allowed to continue without some oversight of his actions in the operating room - even just video targetted to where he worked would have saved several patients from this trauma.

The doctor was known as a "touchy-feely" guy and so his proximity to the patient was not cause for suspicion.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/11/19/george-doodnaught-guilty_n_4300456.html

The judge rejected the evidence of defence experts who suggested patients under conscious sedation could have hallucinated the sexual assaults. He said Crown evidence that such hallucinations are "virtually unheard of" is entitled to considerable weight.

Dr. George Mashour, an anesthetist who has researched awareness of patients during conscious sedation, said that while sexual hallucinations with the drugs Doodnaught used have been reported, they're very rare and only occurred with much higher dosages than Doodnaught used, McCombs wrote.

Mashour testified that the odds are "vanishingly rare" that the drugs caused the patients to believe they were molested. If the drugs were to blame, he testified, he wouldn't expect them all to relate to a single doctor.

I agree this could have been avoided had the hospital taken the earliest reports of his behavior seriously. There were 3 reports from 2006-2008, but the hospital didn't act.
 
Why the **** wouldn't a hospital act IMMEDIATLY on the first claim of sexual molestation? An inquiry, investigation, anything?


What is this, the Catholic Church?
 
Why the **** wouldn't a hospital act IMMEDIATLY on the first claim of sexual molestation? An inquiry, investigation, anything?


What is this, the Catholic Church?

The hospital did "investigate" but no action was taken. This is the public hospital in my community - it has a fine reputation and any time I've accessed it for services for my family it has been first rate and professional. All that said, it could simply be a matter of public institutions always giving the benefit of the doubt to their employee, particularly an employee with a long history of superior service. It's kind of like the stories you hear when a neighbour gets arrested and everyone talks about what a great guy he was and they never saw anything inappropriate, etc. The more outrageous the accusation, the more likely it's going to be discounted if you have positive experience with the person accused and this was pretty outrageous. People in the community can't believe it's possible for this doctor to do what he did without anyone else in the operating rooms not having a clue what was going on, particularly after the first few complaints. Care for patients should be the primary concern and it clearly wasn't here.
 
I can only imagine how many husbands and fathers are currently plotting for the day he gets out.
 
Wow. There is a special kind of asshole.
 
[/FONT][/COLOR]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-26346745

Sometimes.... sometimes you wish death by hanging were still an option.

[/FONT][/COLOR]

You cannot give life sentences/the death penalty for rape (much as I wish you could give the former - I don't believe in the latter under any circumstances).

If you did that, then the sicko would have no logical, legal reason not to kill his victims (remove the only eye witness).
 
He will appeal the conviction, not the sentence - the sentence is basically as per judicial guidelines.

I don't dispute the testamony of the victims, but two points seem strange to me - one, there was evidence that the drugs used to sedate patients during such operations has been known to cause hallucinations in some patients and his defense was that none of these assaults actually took place - two, I personally find it remarkable and hard to credit that 21 patients could be assaulted in this manner in active operating theatres, often with claims that the Dr. put his penis in the mouths of the victims and other incredible claims.

I believe, if true, that the hospital and all the staff who were involved have to be somewhat complicite in some of these cases - the doctor was accused of these crimes at the hospital level, prior to the police becoming involved so how the hell was he allowed to continue without some oversight of his actions in the operating room - even just video targetted to where he worked would have saved several patients from this trauma.

It's an oddly specific accusation to be volleyed against one specific person, though. Are there numerous other instances of patients on this particular anesthetic dreaming they were molested?
 
[/FONT][/COLOR]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-26346745

Sometimes.... sometimes you wish death by hanging were still an option.

[/FONT][/COLOR]
21 victims. 10 year sentence. WTF?

That's less than 6 months per victim.
 
It's an oddly specific accusation to be volleyed against one specific person, though. Are there numerous other instances of patients on this particular anesthetic dreaming they were molested?

No, not numerous - in fact, it's relatively rare, but it does exist. I think the judge got it right when stating that it is so rare it is beyond believability that 21 instances would occur with one doctor. I think it was a convenient defense, once caught - likely he was aware of the incidents through professional journals and thought he could get away with it - like most criminals, if you get away with it once, you try again and again until you're caught.
 
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