Canadian plastic surgeon accused of filming patients without their consent

As per reports, a Canadian plastic surgeon is indicted of videoing thousands of exposed patients in his Toronto clinic without their permission.

Dr. Martin Jugenburg, 45, who likes to call himself Dr. 6ix, “reportedly recorded clients at his two-story hospital in Toronto’s Royal York Hotel and uploaded some of the photos online, the National Post published, quoting a disciplinary tribunal.

The committee accuses Jugenburg, among other things, of letting the film crew to film breast enlargement surgery against wishes of the patient.

“What this case is about is Dr. Jugenburg ‘s repeated infringements of the privacy of his patients, his repeated infringements of the confidentiality of his patients,” Carolyn Silver, a lawyer representing the regulator, told the panel. “And these violations by Dr. Jugenburg involved not only his own patients, but also many other patients who had been seen at his office in downtown Toronto by other physicians who had been allowed to use them.

Jugenburg ‘s lawyer told the committee Wednesday that his clinic had admitted that he had committed gross negligence but had denied other accusations against him.

He said that he’s never allowed a TV film crew to film an operation if he knew that the patient had not consented.

“I understood that she consented to have the crew in the surgery, but only to film,” Jugenburg told The Toronto Sun. “There was no written consent, and in hindsight, it was something I should have done.”

The charges against Jugenburg state that there were 24 cameras installed through out clinic at the beginning of 2017. The Disciplinary Panels document states that two signs – one in the lobby and the other in the operating room – were notified to camera patients, although one was not visible.

“There were no signs notifying patients that they had been recorded during their patient meetings, consultations and/or procedures. [Jugenburg] also did not tell patients that these recordings had been made available to him on his phone” through an app, he said.

Video clips obtained by the control board, uncovered “breasts, buttocks and genitals” of patients, according to the document.

Jugenburg messaged his patients in 2018, trying to explain that the cameras were for “security purposes,” and apologized for not trying to make them clear, the National Post reported.

Last year, the controller ordered Jugenburg to eliminate all cameras from locations where patients would’ve been exposed.

The Jugenburg hearing is scheduled to last till July.