Doctor hits back against $6 million lawsuit alleging forced sterilization

A Yellowknife physician specializing in obstetrics and gynecology has denied accusations he permanently sterilized, without informed consent, a female Indigenous patient who is suing him for $1 million and the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority for $5 million. Dr. Andrew Kotaska—who spoke about informed consent in obstetrics at a 2017 speaker series hosted by University of British Columbia’s midwifery program—asked the Northwest Territories Supreme Court this week to dismiss the suit against him and award him costs, according to a CBC News report. In his statement of defence, Dr. Kotaska, who received a rural service award in 2019 from the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada, said when he operated on the patient in 2019, he planned to remove her fallopian tube to address her abdominal and pelvic pain but had explained there could be complications which “might justify further surgical interventions.” The patient had also been informed that “circumstances that might arise during the course of the surgery might justify departure from the procedures specifically identified.” The woman gave her informed consent, according to the CBC News coverage of Dr. Kotaska’s statement of defence. Read: What an Ontario academic found researching forced sterilization of Indigenous women for more than a decade But according to an earlier CBC News report, the patient—who is from Tuktoyaktuk on the Arctic tree line—said in her statement of claim that after Dr. Kotaska asked if she would undergo a tubal ligation and her husband a vasectomy, they told him they did not want permanent birth control and were considering having more children. The claim also argued that Dr. Kotaska had ignored colleagues’ warnings that he was not authorized to remove her left ovary and left fallopian tube. The claim alleged the anesthesiologist present during the surgery later noted that during the procedure, Dr. Kotaska said “Let’s see if I can find a reason to take the left tube.” The same anesthesiologist later told the hospital’s then medical director that Dr. Kotaska removed the woman's left ovary and fallopian tube despite the woman's wishes and the details of the signed consent form, according to the claim, which also said the consent authorized only further examination and the possible removal of the right ovary and fallopian tube. The claim also stated that the anesthesiologist noted in his report that he and the registered nurse present "reminded Dr. Kotaska that the plaintiff did not consent" to the removal of the left tube and ovary. The anesthesiologist’s comments in a consultation report “indicate he felt remorse” for the patient, who learned about the permanent sterilization the day after the procedure, according to the claim. Read: Indigenous lawsuit seeks damages from B.C. for disproportionate birth alerts "Dr. Kotaska's conduct was high-handed, oppressive and malicious," the claim stated. None of the allegations in the claim have been proven in court. In his defence, Dr. Kotaska alleged the patient told him twice that she did not want to have any more children. During the surgery, according to the statement of defence, Dr. Kotaska determined that the woman had "pelvic congestion syndrome which ultimately would benefit from the removal of both fallopian tubes." He said in his defence that the treatment for pelvic congestion syndrome, "combined with the two assurances that her childbearing years were over," led him to believe that removing both her fallopian tubes was "in the patient's best interests." Dr. Kotaska is seeking costs against the patient “on an elevated scale” because of "malicious and untrue allegations of racial bias . . . with the intent of damaging [his] reputation." Read: Lawyers for N.B. doctor file lawsuit against province, RCMP and Facebook

Doctor hits back against $6 million lawsuit alleging forced sterilization

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