The discipline hearing for two doctors accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman ended Monday before it even began.

A lawyer for the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario told the four-member discipline panel that, because the woman has refused to testify, the college has no evidence to present and would therefore not pursue the allegations against Amitabh Chauhan and Suganthan Kayilasanathan.

“The process of testifying has been gruelling and has had a significant detrimental impact on Ms. X. She is simply not able to subject herself to the psychological, emotional and physical harm of another hearing,” said college lawyer Carolyn Silver, reading from a letter sent by Ms. X’s lawyer.

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Ms. X already testified twice during the criminal proceedings for the two doctors, first at their preliminary hearing and then at their high-profile trial, where they were acquitted by Superior Court Justice Julie Thorburn in 2014.

The men faced charges of conduct unbecoming of a physician and disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional conduct before the discipline panel. Four weeks of hearing time had been booked.

Silver told the panel that the college would not be enforcing a summons with regards to Ms. X, which could have meant having the police apprehend the woman and compelling her to testify.

Ms. X did not actually complain to the college about the pair; the regulator launched its investigation in the wake of the criminal trial.

A trial carries a much higher burden of proof, which is proof beyond a reasonable doubt, while at a discipline hearing it must be proven that it was more likely than not that the assault occurred.

The college has successfully prosecuted physicians in the past regarding alleged conduct for which they were acquitted in court.

Ms. X, who was a 23-year-old medical student in 2011, testified at trial that she had vivid flashes of two men kissing her, whispering sexual comments to her, and eventually raping her as she lay barely able to move on a hotel room bed.

Chauhan and Kayilasanathan, who pleaded not guilty, testified at trial that the three partied and drank into the early hours of Feb. 13, 2011 and when they returned to the hotel room from a club, it was the woman who initiated sexual contact with both of them, and it was consensual.

Thorburn pointed to video surveillance showing the woman leaving the club and walking into the hotel, her motor skills appearing to be “in full command of her physical movements.”

The woman also sent text messages while at the hotel during the time she told the court she was unable to move, Thorburn found.

Blood, urine and hair samples, all taken more than 12 hours after the alleged sexual assault occurred, showed no evidence of drugging, the judge said.

Both doctors were represented by a separate team of lawyers at the hearing Monday, but only Chauhan appeared in person.

“Legal proceedings related to these allegations have been difficult and challenging for everyone involved including Dr. Chauhan and his family. We are pleased that the discipline process is over,” one of Chauhan’s lawyers, Marlys Edwardh, told the Star.

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Kayilasanathan, whose lawyer, Tom Curry, declined to comment Monday, faces another discipline hearing later this year on unrelated allegations of sexual abuse involving a patient.

Chauhan’s licence to practise medicine expired in 2011, according to the college’s public register, while Kayilasanathan retains an active licence.

With files from Alyshah Hasham