Five women sue MD now on trial for sexually assaulting five other patients Suit also names Ste. Anne clinic, hospital, RHA, Shared Health
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/06/2023 (824 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A doctor on trial accused of sexually assaulting five female patients is now being sued by five other women who allege their complaints about the doctor to health authorities were ignored.
Dr. Arcel Bissonnette was a family physician practising out of the Seine Medical Centre and Saint-Anne Hospital between 2004 and 2017 when the five women suing him allege he sexually assaulted them during medical examinations.
“The plaintiffs state that upon filing complaints with the clinic and/or health authority, insufficient efforts or no efforts at all were made” to investigate the claims, notify Southern Health, or provide “timely” reports to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba, the women allege in a statement of claim filed last week in Manitoba Court of King’s Bench.
Also named as defendants in the statement of claim are the Seine Medical Centre, Saint-Anne Hospital, Southern Health and Shared Health.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Dr. Arcel Bissonnette was a family physician practising out of the Seine Medical Centre and Saint-Anne Hospital between 2004 and 2017 when the five women suing him allege he sexually assaulted them during medical examinations.
All five women allege Bissonnette “sexually assaulted and battered” them during medical examinations that left them “physically, emotionally and mentally distraught.”
One woman alleges Bissonnette sexually assaulted her when she was 32 and then examined her again as the doctor on call when she visited the Saint-Anne Hospital later that same year suffering severe abdominal pain.
Bissonnette, the woman alleges, performed “a painful and excessively long pelvic examination, which was conducted without explanation and which frightened (her).”
The woman alleges Bissonnette administered her drugs with no explanation, which “incapacitated” her and resulted in her being hospitalized for seven days. The woman alleges she was only released from hospital after her mother contacted her former family doctor, who reviewed her medical file and provided a correct treatment plan.
The woman alleges Bissonnette subjected her to “stalking behaviours” following her release from hospital, including driving by her house and staring at her when encountering her in public, “which has caused her mental and emotional distress.”
In 2017, more than 10 years later, the woman alleges she made several attempts to report the incidents to Sainte-Anne police.
“By the time the Sainte-Anne Police Department returned her calls, she had moved (out of province) and was asked to provide a video statement to the RCMP,” says the statement of claim.
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One longtime patient said she had always been satisfied with the treatment Bissonnette provided her until he allegedly sexually assaulted her during a 2017 physical examination.
“Until the time of the incident, (the woman) had trusted Dr. Bissonnette with her health care,” said the statement of claim. “Following the incident, (she) lost her trust in physicians to care for her well-being.”
The woman says she immediately reported the incident to a clinic director who delayed addressing it with Bissonnette for several months.
“After (the director) addressed Dr. Bissonnette, he offered to facilitate an in-person meeting where Dr. Bissonnette would (apologize) to (the woman), which she refused,” the statement of claim alleges.
The woman went on to report Bissonnette’s actions to Sainte-Anne police “due to the clinic’s lack of investigation into the incident,” the statement of claim alleges.
The women allege Seine Medical Centre or Southern Health made no effort to establish a critical incident review committee following reports of misconduct to themselves, police or the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba.
“The clinic and/or health authority failed to protect subsequent patients from sexual assault and battery by Dr. Bissonnette by continuing to allow him to (practise) on their premises,” the statement of claim alleges.
“The clinic and/or health authority failed to protect subsequent patients from sexual assault and battery by Dr. Bissonnette by continuing to allow him to (practise) on their premises.”–Statement of claim
The women allege they have suffered injuries including post-traumatic stress, alcohol addiction, depression and thoughts of suicide, humiliation and emotional and mental distress.
The allegations have not been proven in court and Bissonnette is considered innocent.
The women were among six complainants in a criminal trial last January that ended abruptly with all charges stayed against Bissonnette after prosecutors concluded late disclosure in the case left them with no reasonable likelihood of conviction.
By that time the trial had been adjourned four times in one week after Bissonnette’s defence team raised concerns about missing evidence: the notebooks of the lead Sainte-Anne Police Department investigator.
Bissonnette is currently on trial accused of sexually assaulting five other patients. Closing arguments in the case are set for June 15.
A third trial involving 10 alleged victims is set for February 2024.
dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca
Dean Pritchard is courts reporter for the Free Press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 2019. Read more about Dean.
Every piece of reporting Dean produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
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