Doctor facing additional charges for alleged sex assaults at N.S. and N.B. hospitals

A doctor previously charged with sexual assault at N.S. and N.B. hospitals faces additional charges.

A doctor who was charged with sexual assault in August is now facing additional charges for alleged sexual assaults at hospitals in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

Police say Sanjeev Sirpal, a doctor formerly employed at the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre near Amherst, N.S., was initially charged in connection with an alleged assault during an assessment at a hospital emergency room in January. At the time, police believed there could be additional victims.

“Following other reports from the public and further investigation, Sirpal attended Edmundston Police Force headquarters and was safely arrested on November 4,” reads a news release from the RCMP.

Sirpal is now facing five additional charges of sexual assault.

Police say the charges are associated with “his employment as a doctor in hospital emergency rooms” and are under investigation by RCMP detachments in Cumberland County and Sackville, N.B., and the police force in Edmundston, N.B.

Sirpal has been released on conditions pending appearances at Amherst provincial court on Monday and Moncton provincial court on Feb. 27.

Additional victims

Police believe there may be additional victims in provinces where Sirpal has practised — Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.

“Investigators appreciate the courage that it takes for someone to come forward and share their experience,” said Const. Heather Lourie, with the Cumberland County Integrated Street Crime Enforcement Unit, in the release. “Victims can contact police and discuss an incident before making a decision to participate in the investigation and court process.”

Police are encouraging any additional victims to contact their local police:

• Cumberland County District RCMP can be contacted at 902-667-3859.
• Sackville RCMP Detachment can be contacted at 506-533-5151.
• Edmundston Police can be contacted at 506-739-2100.

“RCMP and Edmundston Police employ a trauma-informed approach in the response for sexual assault investigations,” reads the release.

Licence revoked

In August, Nova Scotia Health confirmed Sirpal was working intermittent emergency department shifts in Nova Scotia on a locum basis from September 2023 to March 2025, as part of the Atlantic Registry, which allows physicians to work across the region without having to apply for licensure in each province. It says he was not a permanent employee.

But prior to that, Sirpal ran into disciplinary troubles in Quebec. His licence to practise in that province was revoked in 2022 after a ruling by Quebec’s regulatory college determined Sirpal had lied about his resume in 2019.

The Oct. 11, 2022, ruling says Sirpal did not tell the truth related to his misconduct, antecedents and referrals in his previous career when obtaining his permit to practise as a specialist in family medicine in the province.

The judgment said he “knowingly” provided the Quebec College of Physicians “inaccurate information on his antics on various American university campuses.”

The complainant argued that “he systematically concealed facts that were potentially prejudicial to his admission to the Order, and by his responses, he demonstrated mental restriction.”

In response, Sirpal’s counsel argued that he answered questions on the college’s registration “to the best of his knowledge” and that “he cannot be blamed for having made a poor analysis of the form.”

In August, when asked about Sirpal’s ability to practise in New Brunswick, despite his Quebec licence being revoked, the college’s registrar said: “It is essential to note that at the time Quebec revoked his license, Dr. Sirpal was already licensed and had been working in New Brunswick for several months.”

“During this period, we had received feedback from the Regional Health Authority, indicating that he was performing well without any concerns,” said Dr. Laurie Potter, the registrar and CEO of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New Brunswick.

“Based on this, we made the determination at that time to continue his licence.”

In March 2025, two restrictions were placed on Sirpal’s licence by the New Brunswick College of Physicians and Surgeons. However, the college says they are unrelated to the criminal charge laid first against Sirpal in Nova Scotia.

The restrictions on Sirpal’s New Brunswick licence are:

• can only conduct intimate examinations of a patient’s sexual organs or breasts, regardless of their gender, in the presence of a chaperone
• must explain to the patient, in the presence of the chaperone, the rationale for the intimate examination and document this discussion and the identity of the chaperone in the chart

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Andrea Jerrett and Callum Smith