AFTERMATH: PART SIX; CRITICAL COMMENT: TORONTO STAR EDITORIAL;

"THE CORONER'S OFFICE, UNDER NEW LEADERSHIP, HAS ALREADY STARTED MAKING CHANGES, GOUDGE NOTES. CLOSER SCRUTINY SHOULD GO A LONG WAY TO ENSURING SMITH'S DISASTROUS REIGN ISN'T REPEATED, WITH THE TRAIL OF BROKEN LIVES THAT FOLLOWED."

TORONTO STAR;

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The Toronto Star editorial ran on Thursday under the heading, "The damage done by Doctor Smith."

"The catastrophic failings of Dr. Charles Smith are already well-known," the editorial began.

"Over more than a decade of performing autopsies in cases of suspicious deaths of children, Smith offered unsubstantiated opinions and zealously believed that his role as an expert witness was to make the Crown's case "look good," it continued.

"As a result, innocent people went to jail, already grieving families were further shattered, and the credibility of the justice system was badly undermined.

But a sharply worded report yesterday on Ontario's pediatric forensic pathology system makes it clear that Smith did not operate in a vacuum; far from it.

Rather, "woefully inadequate" oversight and undue deference to his perceived expertise – he had no formal training in forensic pathology – allowed him to go unchecked for years, even as evidence of problems mounted.

For that, inquiry head Justice Stephen Goudge blames the absence of a legislative framework "to ensure proper oversight and accountability of forensic pathology in general or pediatric forensic pathology in general."

But he also dishes out harsh criticism to James Young, who was Ontario's chief coroner during much of the time in question, and his deputy, James Cairns, for protecting Smith as questions mounted about his work.

In one case, Goudge says, Young "misled" the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, which was reviewing Smith's practices, in a letter that "was not balanced or objective or candid" or "worthy of a senior public office-holder in Ontario."

When Young belatedly reined Smith in, "it was to protect the reputation of the (coroner's) office, and not out of concern that individuals and the public interest may already have been harmed."

Goudge makes 169 recommendations in his report aimed at restoring confidence in the forensic pathology system.

Yesterday, the McGuinty government pledged to implement several key ones, including compensation for those who suffered injustice as a result of Smith's work.

That's a good start.

The coroner's office, under new leadership, has already started making changes, Goudge notes.

Closer scrutiny should go a long way to ensuring Smith's disastrous reign isn't repeated, with the trail of broken lives that followed."

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;