Source: Toronto Star
Patients about to undergo surgery with Toronto obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Richard Austin have no way of knowing that more than a dozen women have claimed they suffered physical and emotional harm under his care. They wouldn’t be aware that some of Austin’s complication rates and unintentional cuts to internal organs are beyond what are acceptable, according to medical experts.

A search of the website of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario – the doctors’ self-regulatory body – shows an unblemished record. And The Scarborough Hospital where he has surgical privileges does not make data on doctors available to the public. No Ontario law compels physicians or hospitals to reveal details of a surgeon’s performance, such as the number of operations performed, complaints, malpractice suits, settlements or complication rates. But after searching public records at the Toronto courthouse, the Star discovered 14 women have filed suit against Austin since 1991.

Only one of the allegations has been proven in court, and there’s no way of evaluating whether the number of lawsuits is unusual for an obstetrician-gynecologist. The Canadian Medical Protective Association, a publicly funded defence fund that pays patient compensation on behalf of physicians, doesn’t disclose figures on lawsuits by medical specialty.

We don’t know whether the cases were more complicated than usual, or whether the conditions in the operating room were less than ideal. The overall number of suits against Austin is considered by experts to be above average. Paul Harte, one of Canada’s leading medical malpractice lawyers, called Austin’s 14 malpractice claims “significantly higher than average.” [more]