Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Dr. Waney Squier: UK: Sue Luttner of ON SBS critiques Justice Mitting's decision reinstating her - and finds that "he seems to have accepted some common misunderstandings about shaking injuries."..."Myself, I endorse Dr. Squier’s opinions about the lucid interval, which I think are well supported by the published literature—please see, for example, the letter to the American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology from Dr. Robert W. Huntington III, on the home page of this blog. After last week’s decision was released, including the restriction on Dr. Squier’s giving court testimony, intensivist and shaken baby critic Dr. Steven Gabaeff observed that even with the reinstatement, proponents of shaken baby theory have achieved their goal of “suppressing defense testimony.” If no one who doubts shaken baby theory is allowed to testify, then accused parents have no chance to argue their innocence at trial."..."I am gratified that Justice Witting also recognized some of the many objective errors in the tribunal’s report, and I am pleased that Dr. Squier is allowed to practice again. I wish that someone at the GMC would also read the report carefully and realize that the organization has imposed professional sanctions based on a series of misinterpretations and fundamentally flawed conclusions. In fact, I wish someone at the GMC would also read the shaken baby literature carefully, because they would be forced the reach the same conclusions as Dr. Squier and the team of Swedish scientists and physicians who last month published their review of the shaken baby literature, that is, that shaken baby theory has never been proven. For my personal analysis of the medical literature, please see Shaken Baby Syndrome: Medico-Legal Miscommunication. Like the tribunal’s report, the published literature in support of shaken baby theory does not hold up under careful scrutiny.""


QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Like the tribunal’s report, the published literature in support of shaken baby theory does not hold up under careful scrutiny."

POST:  Dr. Waney Sqauier reinstated," by Sue Luttner on her Blog 'On SBS.' published on November 7, 2016.

GIST: "A British High Court judge has reinstated Dr. Waney Squier’s right to practice medicine, in a decision that dismissed as “unsustainable” a number of findings by a tribunal appointed by the General Medical Council (GMC) to investigate her testimony in a series of shaken baby cases. A well respected pediatric and perinatal neuropathologist, Dr. Squier has questioned shaken baby theory in the medical journals and has testified to her opinions in court. After the tribunal’s findings were issued last spring, the GMC removed her from the medical registry. Justice Sir John Edward Mitting explicitly rebutted the tribunal’s conclusions that Dr. Squier had acted dishonestly, noting at one point that “her views were genuinely held.”.........The institutional  insistence that Dr. Squier gave evidence outside her expertise continues to strike me as ironic. In a tortured qualification to his endorsement of that finding, Justice Mitting recognized that medical specialists evaluating the triad would necessarily be expressing opinions outside their own disciplines, but he still seemed to agree with the tribunal that Dr. Squier had crossed a line.........I don’t understand how either the tribunal or Justice Mitting can object to Dr. Squier’s expressing her opinions about short falls but still accept the opinions of physicians who diagnose shaking injury, a proposition that implies a level of biomechanical understanding not included in anyone’s medical education......... Myself, I endorse Dr. Squier’s opinions about the lucid interval, which I think are well supported by the published literature—please see, for example, the letter to the American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology from Dr. Robert W. Huntington III, on the home page of this blog. After last week’s decision was released, including the restriction on Dr. Squier’s giving court testimony, intensivist and shaken baby critic Dr. Steven Gabaeff observed that even with the reinstatement, proponents of shaken baby theory have achieved their goal of “suppressing defense testimony.” If no one who doubts shaken baby theory is allowed to testify, then accused parents have no chance to argue their innocence at trial. Detective Inspector  Colin Welsh from New Scotland Yard articulated the suppression strategy in 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia, at the biannual conference sponsored by the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome, in a talk with the title “A National Co-ordinated Approach to Cases of Non-Accidental Head Trauma in the UK.” According to attorney Heather Kirkwood, who attended the session, Welsh reported that his team had been facing a “systemic failure” of shaken baby prosecutions and the primary cause was that “juries were being confused by defense witnesses.” He recommended intense scrutiny and criticism of experts for the defense, and he mentioned his partnership with NPIA, the agency that filed the the complaint against Dr. Squier. Kirkwood later made her notes public, along with a deposition that offered this summary of Welsh’s presentation: “Shortly into the talk, I realized that the ‘national coordinated approach’ referenced in the title of the talk was essentially a description of the joint efforts of New Scotland Yard, prosecution counsel, and prosecution medical experts to prevent Dr. Squier and Dr. [Marta] Cohen from testifying.” For more about professional harassment of Dr. Squier, please see my blog postings “Back Door Tactics Show Through” and “When Pie in the Sky Turns Out to Be Dawning Knowledge.” On October 7 of this year, just before the appeal hearings opened, the BMJ published a letter of support for Dr. Squier from more than 250 physicians, attorneys, and others protesting that the GMC’s sanction was depriving patients of her skills and expertise—if you have not yet done so, you can go to the letter site and click the thumbs-up button to add your vote of support for Dr. Squier.........I am gratified that Justice Witting also recognized some of the many objective errors in the tribunal’s report, and I am pleased that Dr. Squier is allowed to practice again. I wish that someone at the GMC would also read the report carefully and realize that the organization has imposed professional sanctions based on a series of misinterpretations and fundamentally flawed conclusions. In fact, I wish someone at the GMC would also read the shaken baby literature carefully, because they would be forced the reach the same conclusions as Dr. Squier and the team of Swedish scientists and physicians who last month published their review of the shaken baby literature, that is, that shaken baby theory has never been proven. For my personal analysis of the medical literature, please see Shaken Baby Syndrome: Medico-Legal Miscommunication. Like the tribunal’s report, the published literature in support of shaken baby theory does not hold up under careful scrutiny."

The entire post can be found at:
https://onsbs.com/2016/11/07/dr-waney-squier-reinstated/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:  I am monitoring this case/issue. 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.