Warning: This story contains details that may disturb readers. Discretion is advised.
A Calgary neurologist who pleaded guilty to and was convicted of sexually assaulting his patients is now being sued by a number of those victims.
Dr. Keith Hoyte was sentenced in September 2020 to three years in prison after pleading guilty to 28 counts of sexual assault.
In a statement of claim filed in April, 17 of Hoyte’s victims are suing the disgraced doctor, each seeking $160,000 in damages.
The women’s identities are protected by a publication ban and they cannot be named.
In the statement of claim, one of the women stated she visited Hoyte’s office in the 1980s seeking treatment for chronic migraines. When she arrived in Hoyte’s office, she was told to undress completely and not provided with a gown to cover herself, and was told to lie on an exam table that didn’t have paper on it.
She stated that Hoyte said he was going to check her reflexes, and proceeded to use a pin to touch her all over her body, including fondling her breasts.
Other women whose accounts were documented in the statement of claim — who saw Hoyte for various reasons over a couple of decades up until 2013 — reported being told to undress to various degrees of nakedness, with some being provided a gown, which Hoyte then pulled down to reveal their breasts, and fondled them, often without explanation of why.
The statement of claim calls the incidents “sexualized examinations” of the patients and goes on allege he touched the women sexually without consent, intentionally causing the women to sustain harmful or offensive contact, and failing to meet the standards of physician care.
The women are seeking compensation for years of psychological issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, flashbacks, panic attacks and stress. The women also say they’ve needed therapy and other treatment, and have and will continue to pay out of pocket for expenses related to their trauma.
None of the civil claims against Hoyte have been proven in court.
Global News reached out to the lawyer representing Hoyte but did not hear back by time of publishing.