Damage Control And Lost Opportunity: The Hospital For Sick Children Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) Unit;

"C.S. FEELS HE WAS MISUNDERSTOOD."

FROM HOSPITAL FOR SICK CHILDREN DAMAGE CONTROL DOCUMENT;

One would like to think of the Hospital For Sick Children as an institution that wants to learn from its mistakes.

This would especially apply to the serious medical errors made by Dr. Charles Smith and the hospital's Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) Unit that led to a 12-year old girl Timmins, Ontario girl being wrongfully charged with manslaughter.

However, a document has emerged at the Goudge inquiry which shows that the SCAN team reacted to Ontario Court Judge Judge Patrick Dunn's scathing criticisms of its work by holding a "damage control" meeting at which Smith defended his work, and Dunn was branded as "strange" and "from the bottom of the heap"

The handwritten document does not evidence any concern on the part of Smith or the members of the SCAN team that Judge Dunn's rejection of the hospital's opinion that baby Amber was a victim of "shaken-baby syndrome," as opposed to a fall down the stairs, may have been well-founded.

Nor does it evidence any desire to figure out what went wrong so that the risk of future wrongful prosecutions can be minimized.

Instead, after noting that the meeting was attended by the members of the SCAN team and several prosecutors, it goes on to describe Dunn as "strange" a member of the "family court" and "not used to criminal standards."

It goes on to express a concern that, "the judgment is likely to be passed around and (symbol for "therefore") damage control)";

(In retrospect, this prediction was right on the mark as Dunn's carefully structured judgement is resonating today at the core of the Goudge inquiry as one of the first alarm bells to sound over Smith's competence.)

But is is evident that the "damage control" ultimately failed as the hospital's failure to accept its responsibility and do something to remedy its mistakes is now available on the public record for all to see.

One of the most disturbing suggestions in the document is the comment that there is "no precedential value re medical evidence. Family court judge at bottom of heap. Error may be brought up in another case."

The reality is that if Dunn's criticisms - as set out in a beautifully structured decision - had been heeded back in 1991, so many other individuals would have been spared the torment of being wrongfully accused of killing their beloved children.

Instead, the consensus of the meeting appears to be that it is, "acceptable to say we disagree with judge's judgment."

The notes indicated that Smith defended his opinion in the case on the basis that "our standard is higher than theirs" - (an apparent reference to the large number of U.S. experts called by the defence) - "but still has to be held up to a higher standard."

He also attempts to deflect criticism from himself by saying that the case involved an "outside opinion" and that he "relied on police photos."

"C.S. feels he was misunderstood," the anonymous minute-taker wrote.

This is typical of Dr. Charles Randal Smith.

Evidence called at the Inquiry indicates that even his defenders at the highest levels of the Chief Coroner's Office observed toward the end of his career at the hospital that he was incapable of accepting responsibility for his actions and tended to blame others for his own mistakes.

During his questioning yesterday of Dr. Dirk Huyer, former head of the SCAN team and Dr. Katy Driver, who played a prominent role for that team in Amber's case, lawyer Louis Sokolov, who represents the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted, (AIDWYC) suggested that the Hospital's damage control meeting represented, "a lost opportunity."

He sure got that right.

(See previous posting: "A glimmer of understanding: Part Three; A dangerous mix; Dr. Charles Smith and the Hospital For Sick Children SCAN team.)

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;