Dr. Theepa Sundaralingam, a 37-year-old oncologist from Toronto, has lost her license to practice medicine after she allegedly had an affair with a cancer patient. Sundaralingam also allegedly followed the patient on Instagram, sent him private messages, and had sex with him in his hospital while he was undergoing treatment.
According to CPSO prosecutor Amy Block, the patient — whose name and age have not been disclosed — began receiving treatment from Dr. Theepa Sundaralingam in January 2015. In total, the patient was treated by Sundaralingam 23 times between January 2015 and July 2015, and one additional time in March 2016.
The prosecutor says the relationship began after the patient was first admitted to the hospital for treatment in January 2015, when the two exchanged Instagram accounts and began sending each other messages. Specifically, the prosecutor states that Sundaralingam and the patient exchanged contact information the day after the patient received his cancer diagnosis.
Eventually, Sundaralingam began visiting the patient in the hospital while he was receiving chemotherapy, and during one of those visits, Dr. Theepa Sundaralingam — who had been drinking — got into the patient’s hospital bed so they could engage in “mutual sexual touching.”
The prosecution said that Sundaralingam’s final sexual contact with the victim came in September 2015.
Furthermore, Sundaralingam — who was reportedly concerned that a colleague would become aware of their illicit relationship — “repeatedly” asked the patient to conceal their relationship and delete their text messages.
In addition to losing her license, Dr. Theepa Sundaralingam was ordered to pay $22,000 in fines: $16,000 to cover patient therapy costs and $6,000 to cover the court hearing fees.