Ontario tribunal suspends doctor after finding sexual abuse and professional misconduct

An Ontario disciplinary tribunal has found that family physician Dr. Suman Khulbe committed sexual abuse and engaged in "disgraceful, dishonorable and unprofessional conduct," leading to an interim suspension of her medical licence pending a penalty hearing.

The Ontario Physicians and Surgeons Discipline Tribunal (OPSDT) issued its decision effective Aug. 23, 2025, after concluding that Dr. Khulbe sexually abused one patient and engaged in inappropriate sexual and boundary violations with two others. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO), which brought the allegations before the tribunal, said it takes such allegations extremely seriously. The tribunal has scheduled a penalty hearing for Nov. 24, 2025.

The tribunal's written decision and related court documents detail conduct that the panel described as a failure to maintain professional boundaries. Dr. Khulbe, who began practising family medicine in 2001 and operated a clinic out of a house in Kanata, Ontario, admitted to kissing, masturbation, fellatio and what the tribunal described as an "erotic prostate massage" in relation to one patient identified in the documents as Patient A. She denied claims that she groomed or drugged that patient, the decision said.

According to the tribunal record, Patient A first received intravenous vitamin therapy from Dr. Khulbe in December 2016 and later began treatment for back and shoulder pain. Court documents state that in the spring of 2018 Dr. Khulbe began administering procaine injections—an anesthetic also known as Novocaine—initially mixed with vitamin therapy and later as a separate injection. Patient A told the tribunal that the procaine caused feelings of "agitation, nervousness and euphoria" and that during some encounters he was not in a "normal, rational state of mind." The documents say the relationship between Dr. Khulbe and Patient A grew from clinical treatment to physical and sexual contact, including oral sex and manual stimulation, which the patient said occurred about 15 times.

The tribunal also considered allegations involving another patient described as Patient B, who began seeing Dr. Khulbe in 2015. Patient B said he received procaine injections into his buttocks on multiple occasions—six to eight times in total, four of which he said occurred during parties at the clinic. He told the tribunal that Dr. Khulbe sent numerous messages referring to him in affectionate and protective terms and that she continued to treat him despite acknowledging in a 2016 text message that their doctor–patient relationship was over. The decision records a business relationship between Dr. Khulbe and Patient B involving real estate work and renovations.

A third patient identified as Patient C began care in 2014 and reported that Dr. Khulbe inappropriately discussed his personal relationships and offered advice beyond a medical context. A fourth individual described as Patient D said the physician had projected herself as a friend rather than a treating clinician; the tribunal characterized Dr. Khulbe's failure to establish clear boundaries with Patient D as disgraceful, dishonorable or unprofessional conduct.

In documents filed publicly, Patient A told the tribunal he later believed he had been "groomed, drugged and abused." Dr. Khulbe acknowledged some of the sexual acts detailed in the decision but disputed that she had drugged the patient. The CPSO statement accompanying the tribunal finding noted that OPSDT adjudicates allegations independently of the college and pointed media to the tribunal's public records for further information.

The Daily Mail reported that a month before the tribunal issued its decision, Dr. Khulbe posted on social media that she had been the target of an alleged extortion plot in July 2020. In that post she said a former employee had threatened to report her to the regulator unless she paid thousands of dollars and that, after she refused, complaints containing false claims were filed. The statement alleged the complaints included assertions that she was an alcoholic, a drug addict and that she abused patients with procaine. The tribunal documents record those complaints as part of the investigative and disciplinary record; Dr. Khulbe has told media she plans to appeal the tribunal's decision.

Speaking to the National Post about potential penalties, Dr. Khulbe said she expected her licence could be revoked for five years and that she might be ordered to pay $17,500 to Patient A and roughly $140,000 in tribunal costs, though the OPSDT will determine penalties at the scheduled hearing.

Mental health professionals not involved in the case emphasized that sexual misconduct by physicians is often associated with a power imbalance between doctor and patient. Dr. Greg Gomez, clinical director of the Oasis Luxury Residential Rehab in California, said physicians hold authority that can be exploited by unscrupulous practitioners. Dr. Nona Kocher, a psychiatrist at Quintessence Psychiatry in Miami, said patients who are medically or emotionally vulnerable or sedated are particularly at risk and that boundary violations can take many forms, including unnecessary touching, personal questions unrelated to care and discouraging the presence of a chaperone.

The OPSDT decision is part of the public disciplinary record for Ontario health professionals. The tribunal is one of a group of Health Professions Discipline Tribunals; the CPSO urged interested parties to consult the OPSDT website or contact the tribunal's media team for information about publicly available discipline outcomes and the status of matters.

The interim suspension remains in effect until the tribunal issues a penalty. The November hearing will determine sanctions, which may include licence revocation, terms on practice, and financial orders resulting from the finding of professional misconduct.