Sunday, March 4, 2012

Dr. Michael Belenky. Former Calgary pathologist sued by dead toddler's family; Review of his autopsies under way; The Calgary Herald.

STORY: "Former Calgary pathologist sued by dead toddler's family: Dr. Michael Belenky's autopsies under review by province," by reporter Jason Van Rassel published in the Calgary Herald on February 29, 2012.

GIST: "A statement of claim filed in a Calgary court Wednesday alleges Dr. Michael Belenky’s mistaken finding the two-year-old’s accidental death was a homicide cast the family under a pall of suspicion and resulted in child welfare authorities placing the toddler’s stepbrother in foster care. The lawsuit is seeking nearly $2 million in damages on behalf of the surviving stepbrother and his family, including his father and his paternal grandparents.........A Calgary homicide detective assigned to the case first raised concerns about the term “non-accidental” used in one of Belenky’s reports. The investigator, Det. Ron Ho, told the Calgary Herald last year he requested a meeting with Belenky in August 2010 to discuss the terminology. In January 2011, Ho wanted further clarification about the report, but Belenky had previously left the medical examiner’s office in Calgary for unrelated reasons. Another medical examiner who looked at the case for police raised questions about the findings, leading Alberta Justice in Jan. 31 to announce a review of all criminal files handled by Belenky. In March 2011, authorities overturned Belenky’s original finding in the toddler’s death and determined it was accidental, that he likely suffered the fatal head injury falling from a piece of furniture."

THE ENTIRE STORY CAN BE FOUND AT:

http://www2.canada.com/story.html?id=6228949&p=2

RELATED STORY: Dr. Evan Matshes named as second Calgary pathologist who's autopsies are currently being reviewed.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2012/02/21/calhary-david-swann-alberta-pathologist.html

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

I am monitoring these cases. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments.

The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;