Doctor to face panel for sperm mix-up

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OTTAWA, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- A fertility doctor in Ottawa may lose his license for allegedly using the incorrect sperm during artificial insemination, officials said.

Dr. Norman Barwin, 71, is accused of inseminating three Ottawa women with sperm from men who were not their chosen donors, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario reported.

Two women filed separate $1 million lawsuits in 2004 and 2006 as a result, Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

The third incident occurred in 1986, when a mother alleged her child's DNA did not match her husband's, whose sperm had been frozen.

CBC said all three cases were settled out of court, so the accusations never were proved.

Barwin's lawyer has denied the accusations, CBC said, but Barwin volunteered to stop his insemination practice last February after working at the Broadview Fertility Clinic for more than three decades.

He was to appear Thursday before a disciplinary panel of at least three people, including individuals from the public and at least one physician, CBC said.

The college could revoke or suspend his license.