Prince Albert doctor loses licence after sex with patients

By Glenn Hicks

A Prince Albert doctor charged with several counts of unprofessional conduct, including having sex with his patients, has lost his license to practice medicine.

Dr. Josias Furstenberg had his license revoked by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan after a disciplinary meeting Saturday.

Bryan Salte with the college said Furstenberg was given the penalty after three of the five initial charges of ‘having sex with a patient ‘ were amended to ‘providing medical care to a sexual partner,’ which is still considered unprofessional conduct.

“Dr. Furstenberg then admitted the charges of unprofessional conduct as they’d been amended, and the council then revoked his license,” Salte told paNOW. “Consequently, he has no license to practice medicine.”

Salte said Furstenberg, who was in attendance at the meeting, took responsibility for his actions and understood the seriousness of them.

“This was a terribly unfortunate situation,” Salte said. “We recognize the impact that improper sexual conduct between a physician and a patient can have on a patient, and it’s something our college takes very seriously.”

Among the other charges, Furstenberg admitted to prescribing large quantities of opioids to a patient, accessing personal information without consent, and sharing photographs of patients.

Furstenburg returned to his home country of South Africa last year following the opening of the investigation into his actions. The charges were made public in December, and the misconduct covered a period between 2012 and 2016.

The college was able to investigate the allegations and secured a search order for Furstenberg’s cell phone after a woman alerted them about her daughter’s sexual relations with Furstenburg in February of 2017.