Skip to main content

Anesthesiologist George Doodnaught, 64, is on trial for 21 counts of sexual assault.

A Crown attorney says an anesthesiologist accused of sexually assaulting 21 women during surgeries administered sedative drugs in doses too low to have caused sexual hallucinations.

Dr. George Doodnaught, 64, has pleaded not guilty to 21 counts of sexual assault.

Each of the women reported that he kissed them, touched them inappropriately or put his genitals in their mouth while they were under conscious sedation, all but one during surgeries at North York General Hospital between 2006 and 2010.

In closing submissions Tuesday, Doodnaught's lawyer suggested that a drug reported to have caused some sexual fantasies may be why women are accusing the "touchy feely" anesthesiologist of molesting them.

Crown attorney David Wright is giving his closing arguments today and says the doses were too low to have caused hallucinations.

He says the fact that 21 women reported sexual contact from a man they had just met is not because of the drugs, but because Doodnaught is what he calls a "sexual opportunist," assaulting women at their most vulnerable.

Interact with The Globe