REGINA – A Regina physician has been found guilty of professional misconduct after a disciplinary hearing by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan (CPSS).
Dr. Imafidon Thomas Izekor was found guilty of two charges of sexual impropriety involving female patients – one was a minor – and one charge of disrespectful and unprofessional communication with clinic employees.
In August, the CPSS disciplinary committee determined that Dr. Izekor failed to maintain appropriate professional boundaries during appointments with a 19-year-old and a 16-year-old patient in 2018. A CPSS disciplinary hearing was held over nine days in May.
Patient #1
According to documents from CPSS, in the case of the 19-year-old patient, Dr. Izekor saw her at his Regina clinic in November 2018 and made flirtatious and inappropriate remarks during a medical visit, including: “Are you sure you are sick, cause you look great to me.”
He also questioned her financial independence, saying, “Why do you work so much? You don’t have a man in your life to pay for your things?” and added, “In Nigeria, the men pay for everything for their ‘babies.’ They spoil them. We pay for dinner. We pay for your rent, your groceries. Women don’t break a nail.’”
He also said, “Have you ever considered dating someone professional, a doctor or lawyer, someone older?” and, he said he couldn’t understand why Canadian women date men their age because “they don’t have [expletive].”
Dr. Izekor asked her if she benefited or her boyfriends benefited from her prior relationships.
She said her appointment lasted about 45 to 60 minutes and he asked about her income, hours of work, rent payments, and social life.
He asked for her personal cell phone number and called her from his own phone.
Patient #2
The second charge involved a 16-year-old patient who told the doctor she was a virgin.
During her appointment in November 2018, Dr. Izekor asked her ”How old are the guys you are interested in?” When she told him no more than two or three years older, he said, “Remember age is just a number.”
Dr. Izekor also told her, “In my culture we buy women everything,” and said “You need to find someone who adds value to your life if you want to have sex with them.”
He advised her to avoid “[expletive] boys” her age and find someone “mature and older.”
He said guys her age are “predators/hunters” and he sees them with sexually transmitted diseases often, and said that they “just want to Netflix and chill,” adding, “you should find someone who wants to take you out for dinner.”
Dr. Izekor said, “Guys have needs though,” and at that point made noises and movements to imitate sex, moaning and grunting and rocking his body slightly.
When he did this, the teen said she was “shocked,” “shamed,” and “fearful.”
She said she was “scared” and felt like she was being “groomed.”
He told her she was pretty and could come to his house to get her test results and no one needed to know. He also offered to pick her up for dinner away from her home so she wouldn’t have to tell her mother.
The third charge involved clinic staff.
The committee found Dr. Izekor guilty of disrespectful and unprofessional communication, including yelling at employees in front of patients, criticizing their appearance, and engaging in heated arguments with staff, other physicians, and with patients themselves.
Dr. Izekor was found not guilty on two other charges, including allegations of sexual impropriety with another patient and sexual assault of an employee.
Disciplinary hearing set
A penalty hearing will be held in September.
In March 2022, the college filed seven charges against Dr. Izekor. Two charges were withdrawn and he was found not guilty on two other charges, including sexual assault of an employee.
According to documents from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan, Dr. Izekor is 42 and was born in Nigeria.
He graduated medical school in Lagos in 2009, and wrote his U.S. and Canadian entry exams. He took a job in Canada, and in June 2017 he purchased the Avonhurst Clinic and then added the Northgate and Eastend Clinics.
In his defence, Dr. Izekor said some patients were aggressive, insulting and impatient.
Dr. Izekor denied asking “staff to dress up as if for a date with a boyfriend,” and saying “it was his dream to be surrounded by beautiful women.”
He said the clinics were busy with phones ringing all the time. The traffic at Avonhurst Clinic was 500 to 700 patients a day. He said staff took wrong telephone numbers, didn’t take telephone numbers at all, or made gender errors that resulted in billing errors causing him stress.
He said he “lost his mind” over his staff taking inaccurate information and was afraid a patient wouldn’t receive critical lab results because of misinformation on record at the clinic.
sparks@sasktoday.ca
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