The patients of Toronto neurosurgeon who has been accused of killing his wife are being reassigned to “the right doctor,” as hospital staff regroup in the wake of a “distressing” situation.
Several hundred patients, including a number of people waiting for surgery in December and January, have had their treatment delayed or placed in limbo after their doctor, Toronto Western Hospital neurosurgeon Mohammed Shamji, was arrested and charged in the death of his wife, Dr. Elana Fric Shamji.
Shamji was remanded into custody during a court appearance a day after his arrest.
Dr. Michael Tymianski, a neurosurgeon at Toronto Western Hospital, is now overseeing a group that will reassign Shamji’s patients.
In an interview on CTV’s Your Morning on Wednesday, Tymianski said that, all in all, more than 500 patients require “some kind of reassignment” in light of Shamji’s arrest.
“There were a number of patients waiting for surgery in December and in January, and those are the focus of our efforts right now,” he said.
Another 80 patients were told that they “needed surgery, but haven’t yet been booked,” Tymianski added. “We’re going to work on those next, to make sure that they’re assigned to the right doctor.”
They’re also working on reassigning a “few hundred” patients who had been assigned for a follow-up and are still awaiting some results of tests before they were to receive a consultation.
Days after Shamji’s arrest, some of his patients expressed concerns about delays and uncertainty. One family who spoke with CTV Toronto said their ill daughter had been scheduled to undergo surgery just days after Shamji’s arrest, but now they didn’t know what would happen.
“We have to understand how shocking and distressing this must be to somebody who’s finally gotten to see the surgeon that will hopefully have an answer for them only to be told that either they have to wait or their surgery is in limbo,” Tymianski said.
The hospital is currently “reaching out” to all the patients with a letter informing them of the process going forward.
“They will be contacted by the right doctor’s office at the right time, but we’re working through them in priority,” Tymianski said.
Patients will have the option to choose not to continue seeking care at University Health Network, the umbrella organization that oversees three hospitals, including Toronto Western.
“But what we want to make sure of, is that our patients know that we are working through every one of Dr. Shamji’s patients to make sure they get the right doctor for the right operation and also that they have the choice,” Tymianski said.
He added that it is “not necessary” to bring in doctors from out of province to handle the caseload.
There is a “misconception,” he said, that Dr. Shamji was “unique" in his skills, despite having an area of specialty in spinal surgery, and also surgery of certain types of pain.
“We have four other doctors within our group who can do these surgeries and these treatments, even the most complex ones and two of the doctors that do the exact pain surgery that Dr. Shamji did,” Tymianski said.
“So we think we’re quite well-covered, and it’s just a matter of getting that out there and making sure that the patients understand that we have the resources and we have the doctors to make sure that their transition is as seamless as possible.”
