Doctor charged with sexual assault of patient
Police have charged an Ottawa doctor with sexual assault after a patient complained about the physician’s actions in November 2016.
The complaint was filed with police in February 2017 by a woman in her 50s who alleged she had been sexually assaulted during a scheduled appointment with the doctor.
The assault is alleged to have occurred at the Seekers Centre clinic at 942 Merivale Rd., when the doctor was alone with the patient.
Richard Nahas, 44, is charged with one count of sexual assault.
Wearing a blue blazer and white collar shirt, Nahas appeared in court by video Thursday afternoon to hear the charge against him. He was released on an undertaking with a list of conditions, and is due back in court Sept. 19.
The Seekers Centre said it had no comment on the charge.
A female patient outside of the centre — who preferred to be unnamed — told the Citizen she had heard of the allegations, but had nothing but praise for Nahas, the clinic’s founder.
“Best doctor I’ve ever had,” she said. “He cured my pain. I don’t believe (the allegations).”
Police said they are concerned there could be other victims and are asking anyone who has allegations or information about inappropriate behaviour by Nahas to call 613-236-1222, ext. 5760. Anonymous tips can be submitted by calling Crime Stoppers, toll-free at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).
In June, the College of Physicians and Surgeons ordered Nahas to appear before a hearing accusing him of sexual abuse of a patient. It summarizes the case like this: “Allegations of Dr. Nahas’s professional misconduct have been referred to the Discipline Committee of the College. It is alleged that Dr. Nahas sexually abused Patient A and engaged disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional conduct towards Patient A during a medical appointment in approximately November 2016, including by touching her body, including her genital area, in a manner that was sexual and/or inappropriate, by breaching boundaries, and by making inappropriate remarks and remarks of a sexual nature towards Patient A.”
The college also placed restrictions on his family practice. He may not perform therapy that includes massage or manipulation of soft tissues unless he is supervised by a health professional. He also may not be left alone with a patient.
The person monitoring him must provide reports at least once a month to the college.
Earlier this summer, Nahas was also cautioned about a different aspect of his practice. The doctor had been using chelation, a therapy used to remove heavy metals such as lead from the body. It involves injecting the body with an amino acid that binds to the metal so that it can be flushed away by urinating.
The college wrote that “a family member of the patient complained to the College that Dr. Nahas is providing complementary medicine to the patient without a medical indication to do so, including recommending chelation therapy for heavy-metal poisoning on the basis of non-scientifically validated urinary testing, and further that Dr. Nahas is profiting from his unethical practices.”
The decision said Nahas admitted he had kept incomplete records, and that he told the college he uses chelation only after more conventional medical approaches have failed.
About 10 years ago, Nahas was part of a large Canada-U.S. study to assess the use of chelation in treating heart disease.