Bernard Norman Barwin

Last updated

Bernard Norman Barwin is a Canadian physician and medical professor. He was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1997, but resigned the award in 2013 after admitting to professional misconduct. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Barwin was born in South Africa to an Ashkenazi Jewish family. He attended Queen's University Belfast in Northern Ireland to complete his Medical Degree, graduating in 1965. [2]

Career

Barwin was director of the High Risk Pregnancy Clinic and co-director of the Ottawa General Hospital's fertility clinic. He left in 1984 because he was not a certified gynaecologist in Canada. He would then establish his own clinic, though still licensed as a general physician. [3]

He was the Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Ottawa. He was also one of the founding members of Fertility Self-Help Group (ISSG), which later became the Infertility Awareness Association of Canada. He also founded Canadians for Choice and has been President since 2004. In addition, he was the President of the Canadian Fertility Society, the Planned Parenthood Federation of Canada and Planned Parenthood Ottawa. [4]

In 1997, Barwin was appointed to the Order of Canada for having a "profound impact on both the biological and psycho-social aspects of women's reproductive health." [5] In 2009, he was awarded the Honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from Carleton University. [6]

Professional misconduct

In 1995, Loree-Ann Huard and Wanda Cowton sued Barwin for allegedly using the wrong sperm donor. [7] The couple and Barwin settled out of court in 1998. [7] In 2010, two former patients of Barwin brought lawsuits against him alleging that he had inseminated them with the wrong sperm. [7]

In January 2013, Barwin admitted to professional misconduct in regards to four women who were artificially inseminated with the wrong sperm. [8] [9] [10] A panel of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario found Barwin guilty of one of three counts of professional misconduct. They issued an official reprimand, revoked his license practice for two months, and ordered him to cover the $3,650 cost of the disciplinary proceedings. [3] A review of the incidents could find no "evident" reasons for the error. [3] He resigned from his appointment to the Order of Canada and it was formally removed later that year. [5] [11]

On 1 November 2016, former patients of Barwin brought a class action against Barwin on behalf of his former patients and the children that Barwin helped conceive at his clinic, the Broadview Fertility Clinic. [12] The statement of claim alleged that Barwin used his own sperm when inseminating his patients. [12]

His medical licence was revoked by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario in 2019. [13]

On 1 November 2021, a judge approved a $13 million dollar settlement against Barwin. [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">In vitro fertilisation</span> Assisted reproductive technology procedure

In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm in vitro. The process involves monitoring and stimulating a woman's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova from their ovaries and letting a man's sperm fertilise them in a culture medium in a laboratory. After the fertilised egg (zygote) undergoes embryo culture for 2–6 days, it is transferred by catheter into the uterus, with the intention of establishing a successful pregnancy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Infertility</span> Inability to reproduce by natural means

Infertility is the inability of an animal or plant to reproduce by natural means. It is usually not the natural state of a healthy adult, except notably among certain eusocial species. It is the normal state of a human child or other young offspring, because they have not undergone puberty, which is the body's start of reproductive capacity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artificial insemination</span> Pregnancy through in vivo fertilization

Artificial insemination is the deliberate introduction of sperm into a female's cervix or uterine cavity for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy through in vivo fertilization by means other than sexual intercourse. It is a fertility treatment for humans, and is a common practice in animal breeding, including dairy cattle and pigs.

Sexual misconduct is misconduct of a sexual nature which exists on a spectrum that may include a broad range of sexual behaviors considered unwelcome. This includes conduct considered inappropriate on an individual or societal basis of morality, sexual harassment and/or criminal sexual assault.

Insemination is the introduction of sperm into a female 's reproductive system in order to fertilize the female for sexual reproduction. The sperm is introduced into the uterus of a mammal or the oviduct of an oviparous (egg-laying) animal. Female mammals are inseminated during sexual intercourse/copulation, but can also be inseminated by artificial insemination.

Cecil Byran Jacobson was an American former fertility doctor who used his own sperm to impregnate his patients without informing them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sperm bank</span> Facility that allocates human semen

A sperm bank, semen bank, or cryobank is a facility or enterprise which purchases, stores and sells human semen. The semen is produced and sold by men who are known as sperm donors. The sperm is purchased by or for other persons for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy or pregnancies other than by a sexual partner. Sperm sold by a sperm donor is known as donor sperm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Male pregnancy</span> Pregnancy in males

Male pregnancy is the incubation of one or more embryos or fetuses by organisms of the male sex in some species. Most species that reproduce by sexual reproduction are heterogamous—females producing larger gametes (ova) and males producing smaller gametes (sperm). In nearly all animal species, offspring are carried by the female until birth, but in fish of the family Syngnathidae, males perform that function.

Appointees to the Order of Canada can have their membership revoked if the order's advisory council determines a member's actions have brought dishonour to the order. Eight people have been removed from the Order of Canada: Alan Eagleson, David Ahenakew, T. Sher Singh, Steve Fonyo, Garth Drabinsky, Conrad Black, Ranjit Chandra, and Johnny Issaluk. Eagleson was removed from the order after being jailed for fraud in 1998; Ahenakew was removed in 2005, after being convicted of promoting anti-Semitic hatred in 2002; Singh was removed after the revocation of his law licence for professional misconduct; Fonyo was removed due to numerous criminal convictions; Drabinsky was removed in 2012 after being found guilty of fraud and forgery in Ontario; Black was removed in 2014 after being convicted of fraud and obstruction of justice in the United States; Chandra was removed in 2015 for committing research fraud; Issaluk was removed in 2022 following sexual misconduct allegations. The formal removal process is performed by the Advisory Council of the Order of Canada, though it can be initiated by any citizen of Canada.

Ranjit Kumar Chandra is an Indian-born Canadian researcher and self-proclaimed "father of nutritional immunology" who committed scientific and health care fraud. Chandra's misconduct was the subject of a 2006 documentary by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). A libel trial in July 2015, concluded that the allegations of fraud against Chandra were truthful; he was ordered to pay $1.6 million to cover CBC's legal fees, and later that year was stripped of his membership in the Order of Canada. As of 2020, four of Chandra's research publications have been retracted, and one has been corrected.

Gideon Koren, FACMT, FRCP(C) is an Israeli-Canadian pediatrician, clinical pharmacologist, toxicologist, and a composer of Israeli folk music. He was a doctor at the Hospital for Sick Children and a professor at the University of Toronto. In 1985, Koren founded the Motherisk Program in Toronto, which was later shut down amid controversy. Furthermore, multiple scientific papers authored by Koren have been subject to concerns regarding academic and research misconduct, leading to the retraction of six research articles and editorial expression of concerns on multiple others. Koren currently has relinquished his licence to practice medicine due to an ongoing investigation into whether he committed “professional misconduct or was incompetent” while he was in charge of the Hospital for Sick Children’s Motherisk laboratory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Day</span> English-Canadian surgeon

Brian Day, is an orthopedic surgeon and health researcher in Canada, a past president of the Canadian Medical Association, and a prominent sometimes controversial advocate for privatization of Canada's health system.

Sperm donation is the provision by a man of his sperm with the intention that it be used in the artificial insemination or other "fertility treatment" of one or more women who are not his sexual partners in order that they may become pregnant by him. Where pregnancies go to full term, the sperm donor will be the biological father of every baby born from his donations. The man is known as a sperm donor and the sperm he provides is known as "donor sperm" because the intention is that the man will give up all legal rights to any child produced from his sperm, and will not be the legal father. Sperm donation may also be to known as "semen donation".

Forced fatherhood or imposed paternity, occurs when a man becomes a father against his will or without his consent. It can include deception by a partner about her ability to get pregnant or use of contraceptives, birth control sabotage, paternity fraud and sexual assaults of males that result in pregnancy.

Thomas Ray Lippert (1950–1999) was a convict and former business law professor at Southwest State College in Marshall, Minnesota. Lippert worked at a fertility clinic named Reproductive Medical Technologies Inc. in Utah from 1988 to the mid 1990s where he reportedly replaced customers' semen with his own. In 1974–1975 he was arrested and later convicted for kidnapping.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanley K. Bernstein</span> Canadian physician

Stanley K. Bernstein is a Canadian physician who founded and is the current owner of 60 weight-loss clinics in Canada known collectively as the Dr. Bernstein Diet & Health Clinics. Bernstein has owned and operated weight-loss clinics since 1974 and employs a weight-loss regimen involving a low calorie intake, frequent physician visits and injections of a Vitamin B solution. Bernstein is a member of the American Society of Bariatric Physicians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bertold Wiesner</span> Austrian Jewish physiologist

Bertold Paul Wiesner (1901–1972) was an Austrian-born physiologist noted firstly for coining the term 'Psi' to denote parapsychological phenomena; secondly for his contribution to research into human fertility and the diagnosis of pregnancy; and thirdly for being the biological father to upwards of 600 offspring by anonymously donating sperm used by his wife the obstetrician Mary Barton to perform artificial insemination on women at her private practice in the Harley Street area of London.

<i>Baby God</i> 2020 American film

Baby God is a 2020 American documentary film, directed and produced by Hannah Olson, which follows Quincy Fortier, a doctor who used his own sperm to inseminate fertility patients. Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady were executive producers under their Loki Films banner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fertility fraud</span> Non-consensual fertility treatments

Fertility fraud is the failure on the part of a fertility doctor to obtain consent from a patient before inseminating her with his own sperm. This normally occurs in the context of people using assisted reproductive technology (ART) to address fertility issues.

Donald Lee Cline is a former American medical doctor of obstetrics and gynecology and convicted felon. Between 1974 and 1987, Cline sired over 90 children without disclosing himself as the sperm donor to his patients. As of May 11, 2022, Cline has been confirmed as the biological father of 94 doctor-conceived offspring.

References

  1. ↑ "Former Ottawa doctor impregnated 2 women with his own sperm, lawsuit alleges - CBC News".
  2. ↑ "Doctor Details | Public Register Info | College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario" . Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 DiManno, Rosie (4 February 2013). "Wrong-sperm doctor Barwin took shortcuts in career and races, too". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  4. ↑ "Who We Are | Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights". www.actioncanadashr.org. Archived from the original on 12 March 2013.
  5. 1 2 "Renowned Ottawa doctor loses Order of Canada appointment". iPolitics. 2 August 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  6. ↑ "Honorary Degrees Awarded Since 1954 - Senate". carleton.ca.
  7. 1 2 3 "Sperm donor mix-up: Where do these two girls come from?". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  8. ↑ DiManno, Rosie (31 January 2013). "After impregnating women with wrong sperm, a grudging apology from 'baby God'". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  9. ↑ "Doctor Suspended For Inseminating Women With Wrong Sperm". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  10. ↑ "Fertility doctor suspended, admits to 4th sperm mixup". CBC News. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  11. ↑ "Termination of Appointment to the Order of Canada". Canada Gazette. 147 (31). 3 August 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  12. 1 2 Motluk, Alison. "Lawsuit claims fertility doctor used his own DNA to inseminate patients". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  13. ↑ "Fertility doctor's licence revoked after he used own sperm to inseminate patients". CBC News Toronto, June 25, 2019.
  14. ↑ "Judge approves settlement in case of disgraced Ottawa fertility doctor". CBC News. 1 November 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.