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Saving Hope actors witnessed rectal exam: Lawsuit

Medical shows on TV are keen on getting their facts straight and their scenarios realistic.

But at least one patient insists that research shouldn’t include letting the actors in to watch you get a rectal exam.

That’s what Walter Fisher claims happened two years ago when he was at the Brampton Civic Hospital. Dressed in medical garb, he assumed the man and woman accompanying his doctor were medical students or fellow physicians. Instead, he claims, he later learned they were really from CTV’s medical drama Saving Hope and were watching his “invasive physical examination” — and may have even participated — without his knowledge or consent.

Fisher has just filed a $100,000 lawsuit against the William Osler Health System, which oversees Brampton Civic, his doctor and a number of people and companies connected with the Canadian TV show, claiming assault and battery and a breach of privacy.

None of the allegations have been proven in court and no statements of defence have yet been filed.

“He was shocked, he was completely shocked and very upset,” said his lawyer, Douglas Elliott. “He’s a very private person and the idea that strangers were looking at him in those circumstances was humiliating and a gross violation of his privacy.

“He certainly wouldn’t have agreed to let them stay in the room during his rectal exam.”

Saving Hope, CTV’s hit medical drama that takes place in the fictional Hope Zion Hospital, debuted in 2012 and is now in its third season. The show prides itself on working with 20 medical professionals across the GTA. “If we don’t do our research properly, our viewers will know and they will feel shortchanged,” show writer and researcher Maggie Gilmour said in a St. Joseph’s Health Centre publication two years ago.

Which is all well and good, except Fisher insists that their research didn’t involve his consent.

He went to the emergency room at Brampton Civic Hospital on Oct. 18, 2012 with gastrointestinal problems. In his claim, Fisher said he was seen by a doctor as well as a man and a woman he later identified as actors or possibly a show researcher. All were dressed as medical personnel.

“(They) did not inform the Plaintiff that the only purpose of the Defendants ... being in attendance was to conduct background research for their television show ‘Saving Hope’,” the statement alleges.

He accuses the doctor, Brampton Civic and William Osler of “intentionally and/or negligently” misrepresenting the “true identities and intent” of the Saving Hope staff.

While the two were in the room, Fisher said his doctor did a rectal exam. According to his lawyer, the Brampton man was lying on his back “and he could feel more than one set of hands on him.” In his lawsuit, he alleges he was a victim of “assault and battery.”

He also contends the hospital breached his privacy by discussing his medical history, condition, symptoms and charts with the pair from Saving Hope without his informed consent.

A spokesman for ICF Films, which produces the TV show, dismissed Fisher’s claims. “Unfortunately, people can sue for all kinds of things, whether they have a basis or not,” said Kathy Avrich-Johnson. “We don’t think he’s got any case at all.”

The hospital wouldn’t comment specifically on his allegations but issued a statement saying that “under no circumstances would Osler permit anyone outside of the patient’s care team to attend or observe patient treatment or consultations without the patient’s knowledge or consent.”

The two-year statute of limitations was nearing when Fisher filed his lawsuit on Oct. 14 but his lawyer is optimistic that a settlement can be reached.

“They really put their desire to help the actors above their duty to their patients, and that really should come first,” said Elliott. “I don’t think this type of thing happens very often and hopefully it won’t happen again.”