Patient alleges Sydney doctor asked invasive sex questions, showed up at her job

A second patient testifying at a professional misconduct hearing against a Sydney, N.S., gynecologist says she was so uncomfortable with him, she refused to return to a follow-up appointment even though she thought she was seriously ill.

The woman, whose name is protected under a publication ban, told her story to a College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia panel in Bedford, N.S., on Tuesday, the second day of the hearing.

The panel is investigating accusations from two former patients of Dr. Manivasan Moodley, who is accused of inappropriate comments and touching.

The woman, who is being called C.D. in the proceedings, was referred to the doctor in 2017. She said she thought he was fantastic during her first appointment.

She said he was helpful and even walked her to the blood collection area of the Cape Breton Regional Hospital.

"I felt confident that whatever was going on would be taken care of and I was in the right hands," she said.

The woman said she does not recall her second visit to the doctor, even though she had an invasive procedure.

Inappropriate questions

It was during her third visit that C.D. said things took a dramatic turn for the worse.

C.D. told the panel Moodley started asking pointed questions. She said he asked how she looked after herself, and then specified he meant if she used her fingers or a sex toy.

She became so uncomfortable that when he requested another physical exam, she lied and said she was menstruating.

C.D. said Moodley then asked to do an ultrasound.

On the table, she pulled her pants down to her hips, but said she kept her thumbs in her pants to keep the physician from pushing them down further with the ultrasound wand.

She said he didn't give her paper to keep the gel from getting on her clothes. Instead, she said he rubbed the gel off using tissues.

During the ultrasound, C.D. said the physician commented that he liked that her underwear was the same colour as her lipstick.

"I'm just not sure why he made a comment like that in a professional setting," C.D. said.

The woman said Moodley told her he found a mass during the ultrasound that was later diagnosed as an ovarian cyst. Given her history, she immediately thought it was cancer. He said she needed another ultrasound to investigate further.

She said her head was spinning when he started asking more questions.

C.D. said he wanted to know her living arrangements and if her children could hear her if she screamed during sex.

I didn't want to see him or be seen by him again.- C.D., former patient

"The thing I remember most is how uneasy I felt," she said. "I didn't want to see him or be seen by him again."

C.D. said she called her mother as soon as she got in her car, thinking she could be seriously ill, and felt unnerved by the appointment.

"I was very concerned I might not be around for my kids," she said.

C.D. then got a number for the hospital and left a message for the administration department, wanting to report Moodley's behaviour and immediately get a referral to another physician.

She said she tried a number of times to reach the officials over the next week.

At some point, while she was at work, her co-worker informed her a man was asking to see her. She looked through a window and said she saw Moodley. She told the hearing she asked her boss to help her leave discreetly through a private door.

In his cross-examination, Moodley's lawyer, Robin Cook, focused on C.D.'s memory, saying it was questionable that she had no recollection of her second visit, even weeks after it happened.

He also questioned if she was listening to Moodley clearly when she thought she had a serious illness.

Cook said Moodley will share a dramatically different version of events when the doctor testifies on Thursday, including that Moodley could not have walked the patient to the blood clinic because he was treating someone else.

Patient submitted complaint

C.D. did go through with her complaint at the hospital, which Dr. Angus Gardner investigated.

At the time, he had administrative duties to look into complaints such as wait times and physician conduct.

Gardner is also an ob-gyn and he recruited Moodley. He recently became Moodley's supervisor when he had licensing issues. He acknowledged it was a difficult position to be in. He told the hearing he tried to be objective, but it would have been easier if Moodley had been a stranger.

Gardner said it was a he-said-she-said situation and with no witnesses, there was no way to determine the truth.

He described C.D. as a "reasonable, sensible person."

Doctor denies all allegations

He said Moodley denied all the allegations, and Gardner thought some of it could be chalked up to miscommunication.

Gardner did say if the underwear comment was true, it would have been a "puzzle" as to why Moodley said it.

It was Gardner who suggested some of the concerns might have come down to cultural differences because Moodley worked in South Africa previously.

Gardner put a caution note on Moodley's file, but said it was not meant to determine guilt. He said it was to document the accusation in case another patient ever came forward.

Why complainant went to the physicians college

C.D. was at first satisfied with the handling of her complaint, but said when she found out Moodley had denied all her accusations, she decided to go to the college.

Like the first patient, C.D. was asked if her decision to file a complaint was racially motivated. Moodley's lawyer pointed to social media posts she shared with memes about Muslims. She was also asked if she knew the other accuser. C.D. flatly denied both suggestions.

On the first day of testimony yesterday, the first complainant, A.B., who is also protected by a publication ban, testified Moodley touched her inappropriately during a pap test and made comments and asked her questions that weren't appropriate.

Moodley's defence begins on Wednesday.

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