"DR. SMITH ALSO TOLD THE STAR THAT HE FOUND IT IRONIC THAT WHILE HE WAS BEING PILLORIED AT HOME, “HERE AT THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF FORENSIC SCIENCES PEOPLE ARE COMING UP TO ME GETTING MY OPINION ON CASES BECAUSE THEY VIEW ME AS ONE OF THE WORLD’S EXPERTS," THE STORY SAID."
DR. CHARLES SMITH TO THE TORONTO STAR;
Two basic questions which have been plaguing me have recently been answered by the Goudge Inquiry;
Question one: How did Dr. Charles Smith get to be hired by the Hospital For Sick Children?
Question Two: How did he (without any qualifications in forensic pathology) come to be Director of the newly formed Ontario Pediatric Forensic Pathology Unity, which was to be housed at the Hospital;
The answers are found in a "witness statement" By Dr. M.J. Phillips which was recently entered into evidence at the Inquiry and can be found on the Inquiry's Web-page under transcripts; (www.goudgeinquiry.ca);
(Witness statements are actually summaries of interviews of a potential witness conducted by Inquiry staff);
Question One:
We learn from the witness statement that Dr. Phillips recruited Dr. Smith and three other pathologists, shortly after being hired as Pathologist in Chief in 1979, to help create "an exceptional academic program, increase scientific research and relieve the workload faced by existing staff.
We are told that: "Dr. Smith, who had completed a year of research with Dr. Phillips and whom Dr. Phillips considered to be well-trained, enthusiastic, promising and well-liked. He was hired around 1981."
Question Two:
Dr. Phillips says that while he conceived the idea of having a specialized forensic unit at the hospital, Dr. Smith essentially picked up the ball and ran with it.
As the statement says: "Dr. Smith assisted Dr. Phillips with preparing the proposal for the (Unit), but Dr. Smith carried the idea forward."
Smith eventually was asked to be the "lead" person on forensic issues within the department and performed "more and more forensic autopsies" during his first ten years at the Hospital before the Unit was established.
"Dr. Smith became more and more involved with Coroner's work over time," the document says.
"Dr. Smith attended meetings at the Coroner’s office, which Dr. Phillips did not attend.
Dr. Phillips was aware that Dr. Smith sat on committees at the (Chief Coroner's Office) that Dr. Phillips was not a party to.
Dr. Phillips had the impression that the people at the (Chief Coroner's Office) had confidence in Dr. Smith and respected him very much.
Dr. Young informed Dr. Phillips that he thought that Dr. Smith would be a good director for the (Unit)"...
"The Coroner's office would not accept any report from (The Hospital) unless Dr. Smith signed off on the report," the statement says. ego,
Stopping here for a moment, Dr. Phillip's statement confirms my theory that Dr. Charles Smith helped create the unit and then skillfully maneuvered himself into the position of Director, with the full support of the Chief Coroner's Office.
Dr. Smith then transformed the Unit - conceived by Phillips as a research centre employing a variety of specialists - into a mainstream centre for forensic pediatric autopsies, which he once testified was the only one of its kind in the world.
He then used the Centre he had helped create to cultivate personal fame and prestige - and the persona of the renowned Dr. Charles Randal Smith.
I had a glimpse into Dr. Smith's ego when I managed to get hold of him for comment after three complaints had been filed against him with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.
"Smith also told the Star that he found it ironic that while he was being pilloried at home, “here at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences people are coming up to me getting my opinion on cases because they view me as one of the world’s experts," the story said.
Smith was speaking to the Star from Seattle where he was attending a conference of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.
One of the world's experts?
I thought of this quote as I listened, with disbelief, to Dr. Smith's evidence to the Goudge inquiry that he was utterly ignorant about forensic pathology and the courts.
In fairness, (two words which I heard a great deal during the inquiry), it is not like the Unit would an utterly new creation outside of the hospital employing hordes of staff.
We learn from Dr. Phillip's witness statement that it was initially a philosophical concept involving existing premises, personnel and facilities.
So it would be unreasonable to suggest that the Chief Coroner's Office should have held a competition and scoured the world to find a director.
But that said, the Coroner's office should at the very least have put someone in charge who was fully qualified and experienced in the practice of forensic pediatric pathology - instead of hiring the largely self-taught Dr. Smith.
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
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