PUBLISHER'S VIEW: My reflections on the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children over the past few days - as prompted by revelations of the hospital's 'Motherisk' scandal - have brought back to mind one of the most extraordinary moments I have ever experienced in a lifetime of journalism. It occurred during a session of the inquest into the death of Lisa Shore, who had been admitted to the world-famous hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening pain, while a "nursing educator" was on the witness stand. During the course of her testimony, a juror lashed out at the hospital. This was the first time in years of reporting that I have ever heard such a spontaneous condemnation of an institution by inquest juror during the proceedings. "The testimony that we've heard by the nurses telling us what was done, what we find wasn't done, filling in flowsheets with parts of what should have been filled in...We've heard of instances supposedly where people have lied to one another, or errors being made in certain documents. And I'm not sure if I'm allowed to ask this but to me this sounds like a cover-up. We've been given a smokescreen. I realize Sick Children's Hospital is well known and unblemished, and I hope that this situation is just a isolated case and it covers the whole iceberg and not just the tip." As Sharon Shore wrote in 'No Moral Conscience': "The next day's front page headline read, "Sick Kids cover-up charged; Inquest juror points finger at Toronto hospital." February 4, 2000.
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.
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/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
