A Winnipeg doctor has had his license temporarily taken away after he performed circumcisions on young patients in an inappropriate manner.
According to a decision from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba, Dr. Ejaz Ahmad performed 18 circumcisions at his private clinic between June 2016 and July 2017, using out-of-date surgical techniques associated with a higher risk of complication.
“Dr. Ahmad behaved in an unprofessional and unethical manner,” the report stated.
The decision said at least six of the procedures resulted in the patients being taken to the emergency room, including one case where a portion of the head of a patient’s penis had to be amputated.
In two cases, Ahmad also asked the parents of the child to lie to emergency room doctors and told them not to say who performed the procedure. The Dec. 14 decision said he told doctors in one instance the procedure had been performed by a “traditional man.”
However, it was one of those doctors at the Children’s Hospital who alerted authorities after multiple patients came in with complications from circumcisions within a 30-day period.
The college said all of the patient’s were recent immigrants who had been referred to Ahmad by community members.
“All of the patients involved were young and vulnerable. Many of the family members of the patients were also vulnerable,” it reads. “Furthermore, Dr. Ahmad’s actions caused many of the patients and their families serious upset and anxiety.”
The circumcisions were performed at his private clinic on Portage Avenue in the West End. He also failed to provide appropriate anaesthetic, and used only alcohol swabs to sterilize the surgical site.
“That is a terrible thing to do to a patient, to not properly anaesthetise them for any procedure,” Dr. Anna Ziomek with The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba said.
“Our goal is to help patients, never to inflict any kind of pain or suffering.”
According to the decision, Dr. Ahmad pleaded guilty on Oct. 15 to professional misconduct, contravening two college bylaws and displaying a lack of knowledge, skill and judgement in the practice of medicine.
The report states Ahmad completed medical school in Pakistan in 1985 and trained in family medicine in Canada in 2003. He was licensed as a Manitoba family practitioner in 2004.
Ahmad admitted to the College that he had not performed the procedure for 19 years and had no additional training prior to resuming the practice in 2016.
He faces a five-month suspension and was ordered to pay more than $24,400 for the cost of the investigation and inquiry.
Ahmad will need to complete an ethics course and has been barred from performing circumcisions until he receives proper training.
“All of those on the panel were horrified by some of what happened here,” Ziomek said.
WATCH: Canadian Paediatric Society on its circumcision policy
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