#Canadian surgeon ‘Dr. 6ix’ accused of filming thousands of exposed patients

A Canadian plastic surgeon is accused of filming thousands of exposed patients in his Toronto clinic without their consent, according to reports.

Dr. Martin Jugenburg, 45, who calls himself “Dr. 6ix,” allegedly filmed the patients in his two-story clinic in Toronto’s Royal York Hotel and posted some of the images online, The National Post reported, citing a disciplinary panel.

The panel accuses Jugenburg of, among other things, allowing a film crew to film a breast augmentation surgery, against the patient’s wishes.

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

Jugenburg’s lawyer told the panel Wednesday that his clinic admitted to committing professional misconduct but denied other allegations against him.

He said he would have never allowed a TV film crew to film a surgery had he known the patient did not consent.

“I understood 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 is something I should have done.”

The charges against Jugenburg say there were 24 cameras installed throughout the clinic in early 2017. A document from the disciplinary panels says two signs – one in the lobby and another in the operating room – notified patients of the cameras, though one was not visible.

“There were no signs notifying patients that they were being recorded during their patient encounters, consultations and/or procedures. [Jugenburg] also did not tell patients that these recordings were accessible to him on his phone” through an app, it said.

Recordings obtained by the regulator, exposed patients’ “breasts, buttocks and genitals,” according to the document.

Jugenburg emailed his patients in 2018, explaining that the cameras were for “security purposes,” and apologized for not making them apparent, The National Post reported.

The regulator ordered Jugenburg last year to remove all cameras from areas where patients would be exposed.

Jugenburg’s hearing is scheduled to last through July.