Dr. Allan Gordon, 73, a neurologist at Mount Sinai Hospital, is leaving the College of Surgeons and Physicians of Ontario after his medical license was revoked due to professional incompetence in the Toronto office on May 12. October 2018. Michelle Siu / The Globe and Mail
A former Toronto neurologist is scheduled to be tried this week on a single charge of sexual assault after he was initially charged with abusing 18 patients over a 17-year period.
Allan Gordon, 77, was charged with sexually assaulting five patients in December 2019. But those charges were suspended last January after an Ontario court judge ruled that there had been an “excessive delay.” “in procedure.
Toronto police have accused Dr. Gordon of sexually assaulting 13 other patients, including one with a gun, in June 2020. He will be tried by one of the former Toronto City Council officials on Tuesday, Brian Gray said. spokesman for Ontario. Attorney General’s Office. The Crown has not withdrawn or suspended the remaining charges filed two years ago, he said.
David Humphrey, Dr. Gordon’s attorney, said the case against his client involves a “unique encounter” with a patient.
“Dr. Gordon has pleaded not guilty to the charges and will defend himself vigorously against the charges, “he said in an email.
Dr. Gordon was known as a pain specialist during his four decades at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. He was the director of the hospital’s Wasser Pain Management Center when he allegedly sexually assaulted patients.
The charges followed a 2019 Globe and Mail investigation that identified at least 10 former patients who complained to the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons that Dr. Gordon sexually abused them. Twelve other former patients appeared at The Globe after the investigation was published, accusing him of similar abuse.
“While the process remains a difficult journey, there is some relief in knowing that the criminal case is finally being prosecuted,” said Jordan Assaraf, a Toronto lawyer representing 13 former patients in civil lawsuits. against Dr. Gordon.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons did not respond to a request for comment. Mount Sinai spokeswoman Barbara McCully reiterated that the hospital has cooperated fully with police.
Toronto police have accused Dr. Gordon of sexually assaulting patients between 2002 and 2018, according to documents filed with the Ontario Court of Justice. Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck. Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck.
The allegations have not been verified in court.
In his written decision to suspend the five initial charges, Judge Malcolm McLeod said that Dr. Gordon and prosecutors both contributed to the delays. But he criticized Crown’s lawyers for their “completely unacceptable” pace of disclosure.
“There was no proper explanation, let alone exceptional circumstances, to justify the excessive delay that occurred in these cases,” the decision says.
The Supreme Court set new deadlines for criminal proceedings in 2016 in a ruling known as R v. Jordan, which allowed 18 months for cases in provincial courts.
In Gordon’s case, the clock went live on December 13, 2019, when he was initially formally charged, said the decision, and a trial would not be concluded until 29 months later.
The Crown cited the complexities associated with the 4,000 pages of documents the university and hospital presented to police, arguing that much of the material consisted of patients’ private medical records that were not to be disclosed, according to the Crown. decision. Many of the pages were eventually handed over to Dr. Gordon was completely darkened.
As part of his research, The Globe obtained copies of university reports summarizing patients’ complaints about Dr. Gordon and the alleged abuse that took place during the physical exams. A woman accused him of sinking her crotch against her vagina; another accused her of sexually stimulating her clit; another accused him of inserting a finger into her anus without her consent.
The university removed from its public website any mention that Dr. Gordon was accused of sexually abusing a patient during a medical examination in 2015. It closed the files of women who complained and did not publicly acknowledge the his allegations, The Globe reported.
Instead, Dr. Gordon pleaded “without competition” in a disciplinary court in October 2018 for the less serious offense of professional misconduct for failing to obtain the “informed consent” of a patient for to a pelvic exam.
As part of the agreement, he agreed to resign and never apply for medicine again.
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