On December 13, 2024, the Ontario Physicians and Surgeons Discipline Tribunal (“OPSDT”) of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (“CPSO”) released a decision for a physician, Dr. Shahab Nahvi, who resigned his certificate of registration and undertook never to re-apply in any jurisdiction for registration as a physician.
The OPSDT found that this family and emergency medicine physician had drugged his patient/employee with the date-rape drug, flunitrazepam (Rohypnol) and Lorazepam, and then drugged himself after the fact to try to avoid being caught.
Based on the parties’ joint submission, the OPSDT delivered a reprimand and ordered the payment of costs to the College.
The patient was a patient of Dr. Nahvi between October 2015 and January 2021. In August 2019, she was hired to work as a Registered Nurse and receptionist at Dr. Nahvi’s clinic in North York.
On May 21, 2021, Dr. Nahvi asked the patient/employee if she wanted to order pizza for lunch.
When the patient entered the room, the pizza was laid out and there were two cups of orange juice already poured. She noted that her glass of juice was already full, but when she went to drink it, Dr. Nahvi poured more on top. Without her knowledge, before she entered the room, Dr. Nahvi had added a quantity of two sedative drugs, Flunitrazepam (brand name Rohypnol, aka “roofies”) and Lorazepam (brand name Ativan) to the food and drink he prepared for her.
In Canada, Flunitrazepam is no longer prescribed or approved for use, and it is illegal for anyone to possess it. This is largely because it is a drug commonly used to facilitate sexual offences. The Centre of Forensic Sciences Toxicology department states that Flunitrazepam is a potent benzodiazepine that can be used in the short-term treatment of insomnia or as a premedication for surgery.
The patient consumed orange juice and two or three pieces of pizza. Within about 15 minutes, she began experiencing symptoms of significant physical and mental impairment. She told Dr. Nahvi she was feeling sleepy and dizzy. He told her he was also feeling unwell. Dr. Nahvi grabbed her wrist and said she should go downstairs. He told her she was probably hot on the first floor, and there was a couch to lie on in one of the basement rooms. She recalled finding this odd, as she was already on a couch in the doctor’s room.
Dr. Nahvi assisted his patient to a room in the basement of the clinic where cosmetic injections were typically performed. She was dizzy and did not have the strength to get up.
The patient had very little memory between 1:00 and 9:00 pm, when she woke up in her own bed in her pyjamas, with no knowledge of how she got home or how she had changed clothes.
The clinic had a video surveillance system which was reviewed by the Tribunal. It showed that the patient was in the basement room in an impaired state for approximately two hours. During that time, Dr. Nahvi went in and out of the room seven times.
At no point during the two hours that the patient was in the injection room did Dr. Nahvi take steps to get medical assistance for her, despite her sedation, staggering and slurring.
On the morning of May 22, the patient could not balance or walk well. There were multiple bruises on her leg, which she suspected were sustained from falling. She had a friend over who noticed her condition and was concerned. He took her to a nearby medical clinic. She later attended a hospital to give blood and urine samples for toxicology screening. These samples tested positive for Flunitrazepam and Lorazepam.
Dr. Nahvi was interviewed by the police on May 27, 2021 in relation to this incident.
On the uncontested facts, the OPSDT found that Dr. Nahvi surreptitiously administered two drugs, one of which is colloquially known as the “date rape drug,” to his employee and former patient. When she became noticeably unwell, the physician did not seek medical attention for her. Over the next week, he took a series of steps to conceal what he had done.
Decision Date: December 13, 2024
Jurisdiction: Ontario Physicians and Surgeons Discipline Tribunal
Citation: College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario v. Nahvi, 2024 ONPSDT 31 (CanLII)
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