Brian Gleberzon, an expert witness from Toronto, told court that sometimes a chiropractor may “inadvertently” touch a woman’s breast.
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A veteran Toronto chiropractor says the way Ruben Adam Manz treated seven specific patients was within what would be expected of a typical chiropractor.
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Called by the defence, Brian Gleberzon testified in front of a jury as Manz’s trial continued on Monday and Tuesday at Regina’s Court of King’s Bench.
The expert witness said nothing he viewed in the medical records of the women — all of whom accused Manz of sexually assaulting them — suggested the Regina chiropractor’s approach fell below an accepted “standard of care.”
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Manz stands accused of seven counts of sexual assault against the former patients, none of whom can be identified due to a standard, court-imposed publication ban.
He pleaded not guilty to all counts when his trial began Nov. 4.
All of the women accused the chiropractor of touching their breasts as he performed what he testified was a specific kind of neck stretch. Dates on the charges span roughly a decade, ending in 2020.
Gleberzon has been a chiropractor since 1989 and said he has served as a teacher and a regulator for the profession.
Defence lawyer Blaine Beaven questioned Gleberzon on accepted practices and requirements within the profession. This included lengthy sections regarding note-taking and annotation and discussions about the approach that Manz testified he used in treating the women.
Gleberzon said chiropractors are prohibited from touching a patient’s genitals, nipples, “or the area immediately around that, so anywhere that would be clearly breast tissue.”
“Inadvertently, it happens,” he said.
Manz testified that he touched the complainants’ upper chests while performing the stretch at issue.
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Beaven asked what’s special about the upper chest?
“Nothing really,” Gleberzon responded. “As far as I know, you’re allowed to contact the upper chest during normal course of therapy.”
The witness went on to testify that he felt there are probably four to six “finger breadths” between the collarbone and tissue generally considered to be the beginning of a breast. He clarified that he meant the width of his own fingers.
However, he agreed that breasts can start at different places on different people, and stated the anatomical boundary would also depend on how a person is positioned.
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Gleberzon was presented a Crown exhibit of a page from a textbook that he was “almost sure” has been used by the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC) where he taught.
The exhibit was earlier put to Manz by the Crown. It included a description stating the breast extends from the collarbone to the second rib, down to the sixth rib. The accused man testified that he does not think anyone’s breast begins at the collarbone.
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When asked about the description, Gleberzon said: “I don’t know if I’ve seen or read before that they would position the breast as high as the second rib. That does seem unusual.”
Speaking about the stretch at issue, Gleberzon said it has been taught at CMCC. He initially described it being performed with the chiropractor’s hands crossed, but then acknowledged to Beaven that it could be done with the chiropractor’s hands not crossed, as Manz described doing it.
Gleberzon also initially said students are taught not to use a tight grip with the hand supporting the shoulder (the hand at issue). But at Beaven’s suggestion, he agreed that a grip may sometimes be necessary, as Manz said was required.
This drew a comment from Crown prosecutor Jackie Lane, who suggested Beaven was leading the witness.
Under cross-examination from Crown prosecutor Carmody Hallamore, Gleberzon was asked about dialogue between patient and chiropractor. He agreed a chiropractor would need a patient to know what’s happening during a stretch and an overall “roadmap” regarding their treatment.
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Gleberzon agreed that sometimes a chiropractor may need to re-explain what’s required for a treatment, such as if there was a “gap” between appointments.
If he touched a woman’s breast inadvertently, he would apologize, Gleberzon told the prosecutor.
“Sometimes a patient shifts unexpectedly,” he said. “I’m not trying to blame a person or patient, but this is why sometimes you have inadvertent contact.”
The final witness called by the defence was Denise Gerein, the registrar of the Chiropractors’ Association of Saskatchewan (CAS).
One of the complainants had testified that in 2011 she called the CAS to report what had happened during an appointment with Manz. She told court the woman who answered laughed at her and told her she would not be believed.
Gerein testified that no formal complaint was in CAS files and it appears no records were kept of phone calls at that time. However, she testified she could not imagine that sort of reaction from a CAS employee, as the regulatory body takes such issues very seriously.
Lawyers were expected to make closing arguments in the case Wednesday afternoon.
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