$180,000 in damages, plus costs, for B.C. doctor victimized by malicious claims

NANAIMO, B.C. – Doctors treat the ill in Port Alberni, B.C., but only the B.C. Supreme Court could cure the ill will that developed between several physicians in that Vancouver Island city.

Three doctors in the city have each been ordered to pay $60,000 in damages to their colleague, Dr. Magdy Fouad, for a series of vicious, untrue accusations against him, including an unfounded claim of a serious criminal offence involving a patient.

In her recent ruling, Justice Deborah Kloegman finds Dr. Shane Longman, his wife, Dr. Elizabeth Hankins and fellow physician Dr. Akushla Wijay launched the campaign against Fouad shortly after he arrived at West Coast General Hospital in Port Alberni in 2009.

Although Fouad had held senior positions at other Canadian hospitals, his judgement and competence were questioned from the start and the abuse did not end, despite being vindicated by several investigations.

Each of the three defendants has been assessed $50,000 in general damages and a further $10,000 in aggravated damages, with Kloegman pointing to all three doctors snickering together at the start of the trial as just one expression of their malice and animosity toward Fouad.

Fouad’s request for an injunction to halt further bullying tactics has been adjourned, with the court offering to reconsider if the trio resumes their defamatory ways.