A Montreal-based urology organization has postponed plans to honor a Tehran doctor accused of spreading COVID-19 disinformation and supporting the Iranian regime’s sexist stance.
The Société Internationale d’Urologie (SIU) invited Dr. Nasser Simforosh to Montreal on November 10th to receive the Distinguished Service Award.
In a statement on Saturday, the SIU said it would not award the award until it investigated what it called “serious but unsubstantiated allegations.”
“At this point, the SIU requests information from Dr. Simforoosh regarding these allegations and defers awarding him a Distinguished Career Award to allow for a thorough investigation of the issues that have come to our attention. decided to
‘Double standards’
The award was criticized by a group of Canadian doctors with Iranian roots.
“He’s the epitome of everything Canada doesn’t stand for,” said Dr. Maher Etominan, an ophthalmic epidemiologist at the University of British Columbia.
Educated in the US, Simforoosh heads the Department of Urology at Shahid Labbafinejad Medical Center in Tehran, a major teaching and research hospital.
In early 2021, Shimforush signed an open letter calling on the Iranian regime to ban the importation of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, arguing that Western technology is subpar and the US is ill-motivated to provide shots. and reiterated disproven claims about gene editing.
The administration banned injections shortly thereafter. Canadian doctors claim the move has significantly increased deaths from COVID-19 in Iran.
Etminan said the letter, signed by Simforush, amounts to “preventing life-saving treatment when people are dying, including many of his own colleagues in Iran.”
Meanwhile, those who studied under Simforoosh said he did his best to segregate his interactions with patients by gender.
Doctors say the administration segregates men and women in various situations, but medical training usually includes exposure to both genders so that doctors working in remote areas can treat both genders. There is
“It’s a double standard. If someone like Dr. Simforoosh had worked in Canada, he would have been fired from all professional medical communities and organizations,” says Katayoun Rahnavardi, a family physician in Vancouver. says Dr.
“Now we’re giving him an award. This doesn’t sound right to us.”
Simforoosh did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
‘Unsubstantiated’ claims
SIU has not disclosed whether Simforoosh will head to Montreal or how the winners will be selected.
“SIU has received several emails and other communications making claims about Dr. Simforoosh. These claims are unsubstantiated, but SIU takes them seriously,” said the unsourced email. read.
The organization has not publicly announced this year’s winners, but said it chose Simforush “based on his medical achievements,” and cannot determine whether that claim is true.
“Our organization is conducting a proper investigation,” the statement read.
However, the six doctors who contacted the SIU and launched an online petition said the SIU never reached out to confirm their claims, telling Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie in October. There was no reply to the letter addressed.
“I feel like they didn’t take us seriously. They didn’t take the time to say what we were saying,” Ranavaldi said.
Joly’s office and Global Affairs Canada declined to comment on Friday on whether the SIU should award the award. Immigration officials said they could not comment on specific cases, such as whether Sinforush was issued a visa.
Dr. Hamidreza Abdi, Professor of Urology, Western University, London, Ontario. He was educated by his Simforoosh, stating that he is a good doctor who upholds a backwards view.
“I fled Iran because of people like him,” Abdi said.
While in hospital, Abdi recalled approaching Simforosh to distract him so that a female colleague could help him with the surgery and learn.
“It’s the wrong time to give this man a prize when Iranian girls are fighting in the streets for the same values he was against.”
