A physician charged with several counts of unprofessional conduct, including having sex with a patient, has lost his licence to practice medicine.
Dr. Josias Furstenberg had his licence revoked by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan after a disciplinary meeting.
Bryan Salte with the college said Furstenberg was given the penalty after three of the five initial charges of having sex with a patient were amended to providing medical care to a sexual partner, which is still considered unprofessional conduct.
Salte said Furstenberg, who attended the meeting, took responsibility for his actions.
Furstenberg returned to his home country of South Africa last year following the opening of the investigation.
The charges were made public in December, and the misconduct covered a period between 2012 and 2016.
“Dr. Furstenberg then admitted the charges of unprofessional conduct as they’d been amended, and the council then revoked his licence,” Salte said.
“We recognize the impact that improper sexual conduct between a physician and a patient can have on a patient, and it’s something our college takes very seriously.”
Furstenberg also admitted to prescribing large quantities of opioids to a patient, accessing personal information without consent and sharing photographs of patients.
The college was able to investigate the allegations and secured a search order for Furstenberg’s cellphone after a woman alerted them about her daughter’s sexual relationship with Furstenberg in 2017.
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