PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am very grateful to the University of Oklahoma for providing me with a link to the video of Dr. Squier's entire address. (The link can be found below); Dr. Squier's address was called: "Shaken Baby Syndrome:
How an un-validated medical hypothesis leads to
miscarriages of justice in criminal and family courts."
The University described Dr. Squier as: "a consultant neuropathologist to the Oxford University John Radcliffe
Hospitals and honorary clinical lecturer at Oxford University (U.K.). She is a member of the British
Neuropathological Society and the British Paediatric Neurology Association, and she is an elected
fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Pathologists. She was among the
first in the world to recognize the criminal justice implications of scientific research that cast doubt on
the medical hypothesis known as Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS). Her influence has been felt around
the world. She has written reports or testified as an expert witness in more than 160 cases heard in 12
countries. In addition to the Champion of Justice Award, Dr. Squier has received the Pearce Prize in
Neurophysiology and the William Hey Medal."
ADDRESS: "Shaken Baby Syndrome: How an un-validated medical hypothesis leads to miscarriages of justice in criminal and family courts" delivered by Dr. Waney Squier to the University of Oklahoma on April 11, 2016.
GIST: Dr. Squier spends the first part of her lecture educating her audience on the medical aspects of Shaken Baby Syndrome. She then proceeds to discuss her personal experience at the hands of the British Medical regulators by asking, "What happens if you challenge the mainstream view?" The answer is of course quite frightening - especially since the tribunal which thrust her out of the medical profession described her views as 'controversial and contrary to the mainstream of current thinking.'...That's what really kicked off "the campaign to get me out of the courts," she said. Dr. Squier clearly notes the refusal of the British police to listen to her - or to any one else who had a contrary viewpoint on Shaken Baby Syndrome - and for the police efforts to keep her and her colleagues out of the courts. "And one way was to report us to our governing bodies, to report us to judicial authorities and so on." Dr. Squier referred to two of the most high profile defence expert witnesses who now face two full Fitness to Practice hearings, noting that: "It is now inconceivable that the defence will be able to successfully deploy these experts in similar cases in the future....That's what (inaudible) the police clearly wanted to do, get rid of my defence for shaken baby cases. And I'm sad to say it - for now they have succeeded. " Asking rhetorically 'what was my misconduct?' Dr. Squier replies that, according to the General Medical Council (GMC) it is two-fold: a refusal to accept subdural hemmorhage as being due to trauma in cases where there is no absolute evidence of trauma - and a refusal to accept shaking as a cause of intercranial injury. "So if that's my crime," she adds, "I'm afraid that's true." To describe her own situation, Dr. Squier tells a story about a British scientist, who, in 1972, sounded the alarm that sugar - not fat - was the greatest danger to our health. However, the scientist's findings were ridiculed and his reputation was ruined. How did the world's top nutritional scientists get it wrong for so long?" she asks. ("It's an interesting story, very similar lines to shaken baby syndrome.") In response to a question as to whether Dr. Squier intends to continue her research, she replies that she is "certainly not a dead horse - and that "I'm certainly going to the field with the decision of the General Medical Council." "I can carry on working," she adds. "I would very much love to." Following Dr. Squier's address, the moderator struck deeply home with me with his description of a phenomena which made perfect sense of Dr. Squier's untenable situation to me. It's called the Galileo effect. In essence, people, like Dr. Squiers, who are way ahead of their time, come under bitter criticism and are viewed as threats by their mediocre peers. A final word: I have transcribed the quotes as best as I could in spite of difficult sound recording conditions. So I suggest that our readers view the video and listen through their own ears, so that between us we will have gotten it right. Bravo to the University of Oklahoma for making this important address possible - and for making it available to us.
Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
See the granting of the Charles Smith Blog Award to Dr. Waney Squier and to Meryl and Susan Goldsmith of the outstanding documentary 'The Syndrome' at the link below: Publisher's Note: "It is always a pleasure to present a new Charles Smith Blog Award. Indeed, in the seven years that the award has been in existence, I have only presented the award to ten individuals. (Listed below); This presentation is to a neuropathologist, Dr. Waney Squier, who is facing expulsion from the medical profession in the UK for giving opinions in court which do not conform to the prevailing medical views on shaken baby syndrome - and Meryl and Susan Goldsmith, the two filmmakers behind the groundbreaking documentary "The Syndrome", which exposes the ugly attacks by the Syndrome's proponents against those, like Dr. Squier, who dare question its scientific validity. The attack on Dr. Squier is typified by the language in a news story in the Times which ran under the damning headline, "Dr. Waney Squier: Expert's fitness to practice impaired. "Impaired" a term more commonly used for drunken drivers. Other inflammatory words aimed at discrediting Dr. Squier in the article are "mislead courts," gave "irresponsible evidence," provided "deliberately misleading and dishonest evidence," and "her integrity cannot be relied upon." This is the corrosive language of vendetta aimed at stripping away Dr. Squier's credibility in the public eye. The General Medical Council has shown ignorance, malice and stupidity in its blatant attempt to shut up Dr. Squier and intimidate any doctor who chooses to give expert evidence which goes against the medical profession's prevailing view. The prosecutors who prodded the General Medical Council to take discipline action against Dr. Squier so they can no longer lose shaken baby prosecutions have also acted disgracefully. Innocence be damned. Shame on all of them. As publisher of the Charles Smith Blog, I want to honour Dr. Squier with a place on my personal heroes list - and presentation of the Charles Smith Blog award for her courage and fearlessness in challenging shaken baby syndrome in a rational scientific way, in spite of the threats posed by the vindictive, ignorant British medical profession, as exemplified by the General Medical Counsel, its regulatory body. I have picked Meryl and Susan Goldsmith as recipients of the award because of the fearlessness and courage they have displayed in making the movie "The Syndrome" - which exposes the ugly attacks which doctors who dare challenge the science of shaken baby syndrome have been exposed to. Asked by an interviewer for Pacific Standard Magazine whether the filmmakers had experienced a 'backlash.' one of the Goldsmith's is quoted as replying: 'Yes it's been incredibly intense. Pacific Standard Magazine did a great piece about it because we are being threatened with litigation and promoters of the diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome tried to get us pulled from three film festivals! We are under heavy attack by those defending a scientific theory that is collapsing. There are an estimated 1,000 people in prison for this right now. Also, this is a major theme in our film because the doctors who are challenging the science of shaken baby syndrome have faced and continue to face outrageous attacks, which we get into in our film." Bravo to all three recipients. They are courageous and deserve our support, admiration and respect."Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog. '
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2016/03/the-charles-smith-blog-award-to-dr.html
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
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.
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;
