The doctor who spurred a review of the cross-province licensing system in the Atlantic region pleaded not guilty in a Nova Scotia court Monday to sexually assaulting a patient earlier this year.
Sanjeev Sirpal’s lawyer Stan MacDonald entered the plea on his behalf at the courthouse in Amherst, N.S. Dr. Sirpal, 39, who lives in Terrebonne, Que., was not present at the hearing.
A young woman, whom The Globe and Mail is referring to by her initials, MW, because her identity is protected by a publication ban, told police that Dr. Sirpal sexually assaulted her at the emergency room at the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre on Jan. 14. In an interview, she said she called an ambulance to take her to the hospital that night because of excruciating pain that she later learned was a tumour on her spine.
Dr. Sirpal is facing criminal charges for allegedly sexually assaulting six patients at his former workplaces, including MW and two other female patients at the same emergency room in Nova Scotia on Jan. 8 and March 4. In New Brunswick, he faces two accusations of sexual assault at Sackville Memorial Hospital, and one accusation at Edmundston Regional Hospital between 2024 and 2025.
Dr. Sirpal has not yet entered a plea in the other cases.
Sexual-assault allegations against doctor spur review of cross-province licensing system
None of the allegations have been proven in court. Dr. Sirpal’s lawyer, Mr. MacDonald, declined to comment Monday.
The Globe recently reported that criminal charges against the family physician prompted regulators to review the Atlantic Registry, the first interprovincial physician registry in the country, which the Canadian Medical Association has held up as a model for pan-Canadian licensure.
As a member of the Atlantic Registry, Dr. Sirpal had been permitted to practise in Nova Scotia under his New Brunswick licence. Gus Grant, the registrar and chief executive officer of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia, has said the case is deeply troubling and may warrant changes to the Atlantic Registry.
The College of Physicians of Quebec revoked Dr. Sirpal’s licence in 2022 after finding he provided false information about his professional background when applying for his medical licence. The decision said he failed to disclose that he had previously been dismissed from medical school at the University of Miami for unethical conduct in 2008. The investigation by the Quebec college into Dr. Sirpal arose following three notifications alleging concerns with his professional conduct, one of which was an allegation of sexual misconduct against a female patient.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of New Brunswick, which had already provided licensure to Dr. Sirpal months earlier, reviewed the Quebec decision and determined those same concerns were not present in his licensure application in that province, said college registrar and CEO Laurie Potter.
New Brunswick regulator reviewed Quebec decision before allowing Sanjeev Sirpal to practise medicine
Dr. Sirpal was subsequently recommended by the New Brunswick college to join the Atlantic Registry, a regional licensing framework that streamlines mobility, allowing doctors to practise in the four Atlantic provinces with one licence.
Shortly after he was admitted to the registry, he began working at the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre’s emergency room in Amherst, a small town in northwestern Nova Scotia in 2023. At the time however he had been criminally charged in Laval, Que., with assaulting his former girlfriend and trying to get her to forge a document to obstruct the investigation that led the Quebec college to delicense him.
After a complaint in March, the New Brunswick college placed restrictions on Dr. Sirpal, including that he needed a chaperone when examining breasts or genitals. At that time, he was removed from the Atlantic Registry.
Four months later, based on new information, the college suspended Dr. Sirpal, pending the outcome of an investigation.
On Monday, Crown attorney Mary Ellen Nurse advised the court the alleged sexual assault of MW will be prosecuted by indictment, which means it will be tried as a serious crime. The trial was set for Nov. 10 and Nov. 12, 2026, at the courthouse in Amherst.
The Nova Scotia cases return to court in Amherst on Jan. 19. The New Brunswick cases will also appear before the court in the new year.