Censured MD Daya working in Burlington Fertility Clinic

[Hopes2BaMommy]

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/807973

July 15, 2010
Joanna Frketich
The Hamilton Spectator
A prominent fertility doctor who performed unnecessary and obsolete surgeries on dozens of women at Hamilton Health Sciences is back working in this area and has run into at least one former patient.

Dr. Salim Daya is practising at NewLife Fertility Centre in Burlington on Plains Road East with restrictions on his medical licence.

There are few fertility clinics in the Hamilton-Burlington area; as a result, one former patient had a traumatic encounter with him.

The 36-year-old Hamilton woman was referred to Daya nine years ago and underwent surgery.

She is not one of the 93 women found to have received an outdated, invasive and in some cases unnecessary surgery on their uterus called Tompkins metroplasty between January 1998 and April 2003.

She is also not one of the 189 women who won a settlement in 2007 of around $37,000 each in compensation from Daya and the hospital for surgery done between 1990 and 2004.

But she's been uneasy about the surgery she received ever since Daya resigned and the hospital went public with its concerns over the inappropriate surgeries in 2004.

Her family doctor referred her to NewLife to get a second opinion on Daya's care. She went to the clinic last week and says she came face to face with Daya.

"I was shocked when I saw him," said the woman, who asked not to be identified to keep her fertility issues private. "I thought, 'What is he doing here?'"

The meeting upset her so much that she wanted to make sure other former patients are aware he's working at the Burlington clinic.

"There's probably way more women like me," she said.

Neither Daya nor the medical director of NewLife responded to interview requests from The Spectator.

In the past, Daya has said he did nothing wrong while working at HHS. Many patients stood behind the internationally renowned expert in helping women suffering from repeat miscarriages and stillbirths. One even said at the time that, "He's got the hands of God," and that she'd still have the procedure if he recommended it.

After his resignation, he worked at ISIS Regional Fertility Centre in Mississauga. Medical director Dr. Mathias Gysler told The Spectator in 2007 the clinic severed its ties with Daya, but he would not reveal why.

Gysler said at the time he informed the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario of the reasons.

Gysler was not available for comment yesterday.

HHS also reported Daya to the college and at least one patient has said she reported him as well.

The college will not reveal details of any of its investigations. It has only made public three restrictions placed on his licence on Feb. 20, 2006, that are still in place today.

He can not perform the Tompkins metroplasty procedure, he must obtain a second opinion from a specialist before doing any type of metroplasty, and prior to performing unsupervised surgical procedures he must advise the college and undergo an evaluation and if necessary extra training.

After ISIS, he went to NewLife Fertility and reported to the college that he was working primarily out of its Mississauga location with hospital privileges at the Milton site of Halton Healthcare Services.

However, the college only updates the information once a year so it isn't reporting yet that Daya is working at NewLife Fertility's Burlington location and let his privileges at the Milton hospital lapse in April.

He does not have hospital privileges at Burlington's Joseph Brant Memorial, Hamilton Health Sciences, St. Joseph's Healthcare or Halton Healthcare Services.

He is also now retired from McMaster University following a long-term, voluntary leave of absence from his position as a professor.

"The fact he's in Burlington bothers me," said Elizabeth Jansen, a former patient who didn't take the settlement. She has an ongoing lawsuit against Daya and has made a complaint to the college.

"But I'm not really surprised," she said. "I had some idea he'd work here again sometime."

jfrketich@thespec.com

905-526-3349


http://www.cpso.on.ca/docsearch/details.aspx?view=5&id= 31386/

http://www.ratemds.com/doctor-rating.../Hamilton/Daya