A former neurologist hailing from Kitchener, Jeffrey Sloka, has been charged with the sexual assault of many female patients. He has so far individually faced 49 out of 50 allegations raised against him. Sloka is currently facing 50 charges stemming from alleged incidents that took place in his private office, housed in the Kaufman Building at Grand River Hospital, over the time span of January 2010 to July 2017.
During this ongoing trial, it has been reported that Sloka allegedly directed female patients, including minors, to disrobe for physical and dermatological examinations, during which he is accused of intimately touching their breasts and genitalia.
Sloka has been present on the stand for approximately two and a half weeks. In this time, he has been answering queries put forth by his defence lawyer, David Humphrey, about each unique patient allegation.
Sloka delved into two more plaintiff records on Thursday, bringing him to the penultimate allegation by the end of the day. Each of the last three patients to bring forth their complaints visited Sloka with issues relating to pituitary adenomas – a specific type of mass located on the pituitary gland that can have a wide-reaching impact on hormonal balance.
Taking the stand, Sloka informed the court that alterations in hormonal balance can trigger a wide array of symptoms, such as breast discharge, skin tags, bruising, redistribution of body fat, issues with vision, and more. Prior to discussing the allegations made by specific patients, Sloka had detailed that patients suspected of having pituitary adenomas would customarily undergo a series of tests, including dermatological, breast, and vision field examinations.
Yet, Sloka disagreed with the accusations made by a patient who testified on Thursday. This patient had alleged that Sloka had conducted various types of examinations on her, requiring her to undress completely. Despite incomplete records for the complainant, Sloka did not dispute that he may have conducted such an exam, though he disagreed with certain specifics of her testimony.
Sloka flatly denied allegations that the patient was asked to stand exposed within the room while he circled her, stating that he would ask patients to rotate to maximize light optimization. Similarly, he also disputed the patient’s claims that they did not converse post-examination, stating that they would have discussed her condition in his office afterward.
A disagreement also occurred regarding the scheduling of a follow-up appointment, with Sloka insisting that it took place while referring to the records in his possession. He confirmed that no physical examination was conducted during this appointment.
The case of a second patient – a woman who visited Sloka up to 15 times – was also dissected in court on Thursday. The woman raised allegations related to multiple dermal and breast examinations. In his response, Sloka admitted to conducting three skin and breast examinations on the same day, asserting that such exams would occur in the case of patients dealing with pituitary adenomas. However, he denied exerting a light scanning technique with his finger and insisted that he would always gain consent for a breast examination.
When asked about discussing birth control pills with patients, Sloka maintained he did so to avoid aggravated symptoms caused by certain substances present in these pills. As part of his method of correcting this issue, he would prescribe alternative pills.
Looking ahead, the defence is set to go over the final patient’s record on the forthcoming Monday.
