A Labrador West physician has had his medical licence suspended after he asked a woman during a Pap test if she "liked big ones or small ones".
Dr. Adekunle Owolabi has now been suspended for six months and must be chaperoned when seeing female patients for two years once he goes back to work.
According to Toronto Metro, a three-person tribunal established by the provincial College of Physicians and Surgeons found Dr. Adekunle Owolabi guilty Monday of four counts of professional misconduct after a six-day hearing earlier this year.
Four female patients had accused the Nigeria-trained doctor of making sexual comments, and of inappropriate hugging and kissing.
To resume his general practice, Adekunle must take a course on appropriate doctor-patient boundaries. He was also ordered to pay $75,000 in costs related to the investigation and disciplinary process.
In each of the four separate complaints, Owolabi was found to have shown a lack of respect for the dignity and privacy of his patients, constituting professional misconduct.
He has 30 days to appeal the penalties to the trial division of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Owolabi's suspension won't be good news for patients who rely on him. A shortage of physicians in Labrador West has already been blamed for many residents waiting for emergency room care at the Labrador West Health Centre.
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