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Penticton psychiatrist ordered to pay Interior Health’s legal costs over failed lawsuit

The doctor sued IH and lost after he was attacked by a patient
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At Penticton Regional Hospital, Dr. Sheoran was knocked unconscious and had his jaw broken in 2014 during an appointment with Gregory Nield, a Summerland man who was being involuntarily held after self-medicating with magic mushrooms. (Submitted)

The Penticton psychiatrist who refused a $625,000 settlement and lost his lawsuit against Interior Health over being attacked by a patient will now also have to pay the health authority’s legal fees.

In a judgment issued on May 26, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Steven Wilson concluded that the 36-day trial and the fact that IH was successful in its defense entitled it to having Dr. Rajeev Sheoran cover the legal costs.

Judge Wilson denied the request from IH to receive double costs over both the length of the trial and the settlement offer they had made in September, 2021, and the request from Sheoran for half the costs.

READ MORE: Penticton psychiatrist loses case against Interior Health, $9M payout for patient assault

At Penticton Regional Hospital, Dr. Sheoran was knocked unconscious and had his jaw broken in 2014 during an appointment with Gregory Nield, a Summerland man who was being involuntarily held after self-medicating with magic mushrooms.

Nield was found guilty of aggravated assault in a separate criminal trial in 2017, for which he received 30 months of probation, Nield appealed in 2019 before the charges were dropped in 2020.

READ MORE: Man accused of attacking Penticton doctor has charges dropped by Crown

After the trial concluded earlier in 2022, Justice Wilson had found that Sheoran had failed to prove that IH had been negligent in providing the appropriate standard of care over the situation.

Had Sheoran won his case, the March judgement laid out the details of a requested $9 million payout.

To report a typo, email: editor@pentictonwesternnews.com.

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Brennan Phillips

About the Author: Brennan Phillips

Brennan was raised in the Okanagan and is thankful every day that he gets to live and work in one of the most beautiful places in Canada.
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