PASSAGE ONE OF THE DAY: "In February 2013, on the advice of Tufts’ doctors, the Pelletiers took their daughter to Children’s to see a specialist. The Pelletiers’ lawyers told the jury that doctors at Children’s almost immediately suspected her parents of having a psychological disorder called Munchausen syndrome by proxy, or exaggerating — and exacerbating — Justina’s illness. Within weeks, Justina was removed from her parents and placed in a locked psychiatric wing at Children’s for nine months as her parents battled Children’s to get her back, Martin said. Today, he said, Justina is being treated by a geneticist from Connecticut for mitochondrial disease and still has severe gastrointestinal problems and pain."
”She
has night terrors,” Martin said, adding that his client has to sleep
with her mother because “she is terrified of being taken away.” Her
overwhelming fear of doctors and overnight hospital stays is “incurable”
following her ordeal at Children’s, Martin said. The
Children’s providers accused of negligence in the lawsuit are Dr.
Jurriaan Peters, a neurologist; Simona Bujoreanu, a psychologist; and
Dr. Colleen Ryan, a psychiatrist. The
suit also alleges negligence by Dr. Alice Newton, a pediatrician and
child abuse specialist who has since left Children’s, and is now medical
director of the Child Protection Program at Massachusetts General
Hospital.
-----------------------------------------------------------
PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: " Ellen Epstein Cohen, an attorney for Children’s, said doctors there ran tests and called Justina’s medical providers in Connecticut and at Tufts but could not find “a single unifying” medical reason for why Justina was having trouble walking and was slurring her words. Cohen told jurors that Justina’s Connecticut and Tufts providers all advised the Children’s team that they strongly suspected psychological issues with Justina, and told them she needed psychiatric care. But her parents, Cohen said, were “very resistant” to this. All the doctors at Children’s said Justina “would present differently” around her family. When her mother was present she would stop talking and slump in her wheel chair, but when they weren’t there she was much more “interactive” with the doctors, Cohen said."
-------------------------------------------------------------
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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: " Ellen Epstein Cohen, an attorney for Children’s, said doctors there ran tests and called Justina’s medical providers in Connecticut and at Tufts but could not find “a single unifying” medical reason for why Justina was having trouble walking and was slurring her words. Cohen told jurors that Justina’s Connecticut and Tufts providers all advised the Children’s team that they strongly suspected psychological issues with Justina, and told them she needed psychiatric care. But her parents, Cohen said, were “very resistant” to this. All the doctors at Children’s said Justina “would present differently” around her family. When her mother was present she would stop talking and slump in her wheel chair, but when they weren’t there she was much more “interactive” with the doctors, Cohen said."
-------------------------------------------------------------
STORY: "Lawyers offer dueling portraits of parents suing Boston Children’s Hospital," by reporter Kay Lazar, published by The Boston Globe on January 21, 2020.
GIST: "Justina
Pelletier’s lawyer on Tuesday painted a perplexing and harrowing
picture of complex medical problems Pelletier faced from her very first
breaths. Born premature, and having suffered a stroke during or just
after birth, her lawyer said, she has been plagued by pain and severe
gastrointestinal problems all her life. But
an attorney for Boston Children’s Hospital told a Suffolk Superior
Court jury that Pelletier’s parents overmedicalized her care and were
“very resistant” to doctors’ suggestions that psychological issues were
at the root of her condition and that she needed psychiatric care. Two
starkly different portraits of the 21-year-old Connecticut woman and
her parents emerged during opening statements in the Pelletiers’ lawsuit
against Children’s and several of its providers, who treated Justina
when she was 14.
Her
yearlong odyssey at Children’s in 2013 ignited a firestorm about
whether medical professionals should override parental rights when there
is a dispute over treatment of a complex illness.
Justina’s
life, Martin said, has been “one step forward, and two steps back” as
she has battled an array of health problems that sometimes have kept her
from school, and have sometimes stabilized. But
her health was on a downward trajectory in 2011, he said, when the
family brought her to Tufts Medical. There, Justina’s parents, Linda and
Louis Pelletier were “shocked and surprised,” Martin said, when doctors
wanted to admit Justina and insert a tube in her nose to help hydrate
her because she was having difficulty eating and drinking. The
Pelletiers balked. Doctors
there then filed an allegation of neglect against the Pelletiers with
the Connecticut child protection agency, as a strategy to help the
Pelletiers get the psychiatric and home care they needed in Connecticut.
The allegations were later dismissed. Justina
continued to be treated at Tufts for mitochondrial disease, a group of
rare genetic disorders that affect how cells produce energy. In February
2013, on the advice of Tufts’ doctors, the Pelletiers took their
daughter to Children’s to see a specialist. The
Pelletiers’ lawyers told the jury that doctors at Children’s almost
immediately suspected her parents of having a psychological disorder
called Munchausen syndrome by proxy, or exaggerating — and exacerbating —
Justina’s illness. Within
weeks, Justina was removed from her parents and placed in a locked
psychiatric wing at Children’s for nine months as her parents battled
Children’s to get her back, Martin said. Today,
he said, Justina is being treated by a geneticist from Connecticut for
mitochondrial disease and still has severe gastrointestinal problems and
pain.
”She
has night terrors,” Martin said, adding that his client has to sleep
with her mother because “she is terrified of being taken away.” Her
overwhelming fear of doctors and overnight hospital stays is “incurable”
following her ordeal at Children’s, Martin said. The
Children’s providers accused of negligence in the lawsuit are Dr.
Jurriaan Peters, a neurologist; Simona Bujoreanu, a psychologist; and
Dr. Colleen Ryan, a psychiatrist. The
suit also alleges negligence by Dr. Alice Newton, a pediatrician and
child abuse specialist who has since left Children’s, and is now medical
director of the Child Protection Program at Massachusetts General
Hospital. Ellen
Epstein Cohen, an attorney for Children’s, said doctors there ran tests
and called Justina’s medical providers in Connecticut and at Tufts but
could not find “a single unifying” medical reason for why Justina was
having trouble walking and was slurring her words. Cohen
told jurors that Justina’s Connecticut and Tufts providers all advised
the Children’s team that they strongly suspected psychological issues
with Justina, and told them she needed psychiatric care. But her
parents, Cohen said, were “very resistant” to this. All
the doctors at Children’s said Justina “would present differently”
around her family. When her mother was present she would stop talking
and slump in her wheel chair, but when they weren’t there she was much
more “interactive” with the doctors, Cohen said. The
first witness called, Paulette Brown, a longtime social worker at the
Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, investigated
Children’s claim of medical child abuse against the Pelletiers. Brown
said she didn’t remember reviewing many medical records at that time,
and gleaned much of her information from what the doctors at Children’s
told her.
Brown is expected back on the stand Wednesday.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/01/21/metro/opening-statements-heard-justina-pelletier-malpractice-lawsuit-against-childrens-hospital/?event=event12
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html 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;
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices.""
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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