The municipal director of a Trønder municipality wrote this in an e-mail to the police on 8 August this year. The doctor he wrote about is the municipal superintendent in the relevant municipality. Last week, the doctor was charged with abusing his position to obtain sexual intercourse. He denies criminal guilt. The municipal director explains to news why he contacted the police: – We saw that these are serious matters. Partly ugly things. I rate the degree of seriousness as great. I didn’t want to sit with information without passing it on to parties who can do something with it. Was notified about doping The accused has been a GP and municipal chief medical officer for a number of years. According to the municipal director, it was inquiries about doping and possible filming during gynecological examinations that prompted them to notify the police at the beginning of August. They were first in a verbal dialogue with the police, before sending the email on 8 August. – We have received several inquiries that people believe they have been filmed, and we have received several inquiries that they believe they have been drugged. The municipal director does not want to say exactly how many people have approached about this, but says it is “more than one”. Unknown to defense lawyer Erlend Hjulstad Nilsen is defending the accused doctor. – My client does not plead guilty, and he wants to assist the police, says the defender. He says that allegations of filming and sedatives are completely unknown to them. When the municipality notified the police about this, they had not spoken to the doctor to get his version. – It would have been serious if we had done it. My assessment is that we would have ruined the investigation if we had notified the doctor about it, explains the municipal director. news has obtained access to e-mails which show that someone from the municipality’s management had a meeting with the doctor on 16 August. – It is because we have a responsibility to follow him up as an employee. It was about sick leave follow-up. The doctor has not been questioned Head of investigations in the police in Trøndelag, Ellen Mari Burheim, confirms that several people have been questioned in the case of the municipal superintendent. But she will neither confirm nor deny whether they have heard that filming or the use of sedatives during doctor’s appointments with the man. The doctor has still not been interviewed by the police. According to the head of the investigation, they will question other people involved first. Investigation manager in the police in Trøndelag, Ellen Mari Burheim. Photo: Tariq Alisubh / news Was suspended this summer The state administrator in Trøndelag received notices against the municipal superintendent in November 2021. The notices were forwarded to the Norwegian Health Inspectorate, which opened an inspection case on 28 April. The Norwegian Health Authority suspended the doctor’s authorization on 18 July. Then the doctor must have taken out a sick leave immediately. On 1 August, the doctor received a letter stating that he had been suspended from his municipal positions “with immediate effect”. news has been given access to the letter. – He has not practiced since 18 July, says the municipal director. There have been cases against the now accused doctor in the past. The first in 2006/2007. Then the Norwegian Health Authority opened an inspection case following reports from three women. Since November 2021, the State Administrator in Trøndelag has received several notifications against the municipal superintendent. news has been given access to several of the complaints against him from patients. Notification from 12 June: Massage in the abdomen – I remember several unprofessional episodes with my former GP. This is written by the complainant who chooses to tell about several incidents where the doctor allegedly massaged her in the abdomen. On one occasion the complainant found it so uncomfortable that her foot began to twitch. The doctor must have chosen to continue the massage. The complaint also states that she must have been asked to do various positions on the examination table, without clothes underneath, because he wanted to see how the pelvis was doing. Notification from 1 August: Felt “abused” The complainant says she found the doctor perverted and squeamish. She claims that she was often asked to undress, even for examinations where it was not necessary. The complainant tells of a gynecological examination in which she afterwards felt “abused” because of the doctor’s techniques. She also claims that the doctor had nasty comments. Notification from 9 August: – Unpleasant The incident must have happened back in 2005. The complainant claims she had to do pinching exercises during a gynecological examination. The municipal superintendent must have massaged the patient, but the woman must have said that she thought it was Unpleasant. “A little more,” the doctor is said to have said. Notification from 14 August: Hours after closing time Complainants must in several cases respond to whether the doctor’s behavior is OK or not. She is said to have been to an examination where she had to be topless, without it being covered. Then he is said to have asked her to stand on her knees and with her hands on the bench, even though she was topless. He is said to have suggested hours after closing time , and been what is described as uncomfortably close during consultations. – In addition, it is difficult to notify about something like this, as it involves shame and uncertainty. Notice from 19 August: “Well-formed below” Complainant had a gynecological examination to the doctor at the end of the teenage years. Then he is said to have said that she was “shapely below”, was good at shaving and that her abdomen looked “virginal”. The doctor is said to have insisted on removing a growth below because he wanted “perfect conditions” when she was to have intercourse. The woman is said to have been examined almost completely naked. – Then I stood in his office wearing only white ankle socks while he squeezed my breasts. Notice from 21 August: Violent examinations The complainant must have taken it as a matter of course that she should have a gynecological examination on every doctor’s appointment she attended. This regardless of whether there were any symptoms or concerns. She experienced the treatments as violent, and describes that she had to take several breaks. Notice from 22 August: Was going to send a picture of the abdomen. Complainant had a lump just above the pubic bone. She must have been asked to send a picture of this to the doctor. It ended with the woman canceling her next doctor’s appointment and changing her GP. She spoke to a new GP who is said to have said that “the municipal superintendent could have said things in an inappropriate way, but that he certainly did not mean it that way”. The municipal superintendent is said to have also recommended gynecological examinations in several cases where it has not been the reason for the doctor’s appointment. He allegedly said that it “doesn’t look like you’ve given birth once”. Notice from 24 August: Massaged in the abdomen The complainant allegedly had a cyst in the abdomen massaged so that it would “empty”. The woman did not tell anyone about this , but she wants to report from now that other matters come to light. Notice from 24 August: Comments on the body During an hour the doctor must have put a hand down the woman’s sweater and grabbed her breast. The other breast was touched on the outside of the sweater. The complainant also says that on several occasions she allegedly received comments on her body, that her body was like a “fitness practitioner”. – Like lightning from a clear sky It was only this spring, after the Norwegian Health Authority established a new supervisory case, that the director of the municipality became aware of the case against the municipal liver doctor. The municipal director himself tells news that. – It came like lightning out of the blue for me. – It may be that the management should have handled it differently earlier – back in 2007, adds the director of the municipality, who himself did not work in the municipality at the time. – It may look like we didn’t follow up well enough after the warning that time, and I apologize for that. The municipal director believes that the scope and seriousness of what they heard this summer made them obliged to report to the police. – It is not the municipality’s task to judge something or assess whether something is true or fabricated. We have two bodies that will assess it, both of which we have notified, says the municipal director, who then refers to the Norwegian Health Authority and the police. Over 50 inquiries on the contact phone In parallel with the police investigation, the municipality has set up a contact phone. Residents who need it are asked to get in touch in connection with the medical case. The municipal director says they have so far received more than 50 inquiries: – Those who have made contact believe that something has transgressed. All inquiries are in that category. Legal aid attorney Sigrun Dybvad confirms to news that she has been contacted by several women. But for now, she won’t say much about the matter. – I can say that several people have made contact. But in my role, it is too early to comment on the details of the matter. Also with regard to the investigation, says Dybvad.
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The municipality contacted the police when they heard about doping – news Trøndelag
