Cape Breton obstetrician to face suspension in professional misconduct case

A Cape Breton obstetrician-gynecologist found guilty of professional misconduct for a second time has been reprimanded by a disciplinary panel and will have his licence suspended for up to six months.

The order against Dr. Manivasan Moodley comes after a December ruling from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia hearing panel that found misconduct in relation to two patients, and rejected allegations involving a third.

Moodley has also been ordered to take the college’s clinical skills training program. If he successfully completes the program, his suspension will be reduced to four months from six.

Moodley has denied the misconduct allegations against him, and in an interview this week asserted the suspension imposed on him is too harsh and was handed down because he had challenged the accusations against him.

“What came across very clearly last week is that if a physician wants to defend themselves at a hearing, they will get a more severe punishment than admitting guilt up front,” said Moodley, who works at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital.

The panel concluded in its December ruling that Moodley performed an episiotomy, an incision to provide more room for a baby’s head during delivery, in 2020 without the woman’s consent and against her wishes, and then did not tell her.

In a 2017 case involving a second patient who sought to have her tubes tied to prevent her from having children, the committee found Moodley suggested to her the decision should be up to her future husband.

Moodley’s disciplinary hearing ran for 15 days over 2024 and 2025. The doctor, who is originally from South Africa and is of South Asian descent, has said he believes race played a major role in how his case was heard.

His lawyer argued last year that the panel’s treatment of Moodley and his legal counsel was “deplorable and grossly unfair” compared to the “deference” toward the college.

Hearing committee decision

But in its December decision, the hearing panel found there was no evidence the college was motivated by racial prejudice, and rejected the claim that it targeted Moodley in bad faith by making allegations without merit.

“We appreciate that he [practised] for most of his career in South Africa under the apartheid system, and that he could have experienced racial prejudice here in Nova Scotia also,” the decision said.

“However, as a hearing committee under the Medical Act, we must decide, based on the evidence, whether the college targeted him on the basis of his race.”

The hearing panel also said there was no “cogent evidence from which a reasonable, fully informed person would conclude that there is a reasonable apprehension of bias by the hearing committee in this matter.”

Previous suspension, patient support

Five years ago, Moodley was suspended for five months and ordered to pay $325,000 in costs after a panel found he asked questions and made comments of a sexual nature to two female patients.

Moodley said he is still paying down those costs. He could now be on the hook for more money, as a date in late June has been set to determine costs in the current case.

The college would not say this week how much it is seeking. In a statement, registrar Dr. Gus Grant said it will be “addressing the impact of earlier proposed settlements on a costs award” at the next hearing.

While the hearing panel has determined the sanctions against Moodley, it has not yet released its written reasons detailing how it arrived at the punishment.

Moodley said he believes the sanctions against him are tougher because he fought the allegations. He pointed to a 2024 proposal, viewed by CBC News, from a lawyer for the college offering him a one-month suspension and requiring him to pay $50,000 in costs if he agreed to a settlement.

Despite two separate findings of professional misconduct, the doctor said he continues to have the support of many patients. He provided CBC News with testimonials from more than 100 patients or their family members.

Patient Kaitlin Munroe said in an interview that Moodley twice saved her life: first when he removed an ovarian tumour around 2018, and then a year ago when he rushed her into emergency surgery due to an ectopic pregnancy. Last month, he delivered her first child.

“It honestly baffles me,” she said of the disciplinary hearing. “I feel like we are talking about two completely different people.”

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