Editor’s note: The following story contains graphic content that some readers may find disturbing.
Editor’s note: The following story contains graphic content that some readers may find disturbing.
A provincial discipline tribunal is now weighing whether a Sarnia doctor should be suspended or have his medical license revoked.
The Ontario Physicians and Surgeons Discipline Tribunal heard arguments Friday about penalizing Dr. Syed N. Ali, who the panel found in Decemberon a balance of probabilities, engaged in professional misconduct when, on June, 22 1999, he sexually assaulted a doctor friend in her home.
While Ali was never criminally charged, a 2017 Superior Court civil decision ordered Ali to pay $680,000, including damages and legal costs. A 2018 appeal was dismissed.
A tribunal publication ban prohibits disclosing anything that would identify the complainant.
Representatives for the college and Ali agreed the internist should pay $124,440 to cover the cost of the 12 days of proceedings.
Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons counsel Carolyn Silver argued for Ali’s license to also be revoked.
“Dr. Ali came into the complainant’s house and raped her. That is what this committee has found,” she said,
Silver also noted the decision found Ali engaged in professional misconduct by not recusing himself from discussions about the doctor’s privileges at Sarnia’s hospital, where he maintained a position of authority over her.
“The public conscience would be shocked, I submit, if this member were allowed to remain in the profession,” said Silver, noting Ali has not admitted guilt nor sought any help or counselling.
Ali’s representative, Anne Tardif, argued Ali’s otherwise clean record over 32 years practicing medicine in Ontario, as well as the hefty financial penalty paid through the civil court process, makes a 10-month suspension more appropriate. She also said the significant time that had passed – roughly 23 years ago – “since the misconduct without any repetition of it” should be a mitigating factor.
The sexual assault finding “is quite severe and warrants condemnation and denunciation by this tribunal,” she said. “The question, really, is can a suspension achieve that end?”
She also contended revoking a medical license for sexual assault was more appropriate when the offenses involved minors or patients.
The survivor in this case was neither.
Silver and Tardif cited various case results as evidence for their respective positions, but each noted there’s no perfect precedent so the panel will need to weigh multiple factors in its decision.
Typically, a rationale is released within 12 weeks of a hearing date, a tribunal office spokesperson said.
The tribunal’s December decision found Ali came to the doctor’s Sarnia home under false pretenses, tripped her and then tried to force her to perform oral sex.
After she resisted, the decision said, Ali inserted his erect penis in her vagina.
The doctor screamed and pushed Ali away before fleeing the room, the decision stated.
Semen on a rug, where the doctor tested she saw Ali masturbating after the assault, was matched with DNA from a mug Dr. Ali was drinking from at Sarnia’s hospital, the decision said.
Ali has repeatedly refused to provide a DNA sample, including for the tribunal, the decision noted.
An impact statement from the doctor, read by Silver, said “Dr. Ali’s assault and subsequent actions devastated my life and my career,” and added she’s suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and depression as a result.
“I want the committee to understand that I am not seeking revenge or retribution,” Silver read. “I have dedicated my whole life to the practice of medicine. I want to make sure that the current and future generation of female doctors, especially racialized women, do not have to suffer as I did.”
Ali continues to have “courtesy privileges” at Bluewater Health, a spokesperson recently said, noting Bluewater Health is awaiting the college’s decision and direction.