Southall is barred for three years from child protection work
http://www.100md.com
《英国医生杂志》
A leading paediatrician, Professor David Southall, was last week barred by the General Medical Council from undertaking child protection work for three years. The GMC found him guilty of professional misconduct after he accused a father of murdering his children without having collected any evidence.
Professor Southall had accused Stephen Clark of murdering his two sons in April 2000, on the basis of an interview with Mr Clark that he watched on the Channel 4 documentary Dispatches. In the interview Mr Clark described a nosebleed that his son Christopher had had in a London hotel in 1996. Christopher died at home nine days after the hotel incident.
At the time of the Dispatches broadcast, Mr Clark's wife, Sally, was in prison, wrongly convicted of the murder of Christopher and his younger brother Harry. Mr Clark was then campaigning on her behalf and appeared on Dispatches in an effort to plead her innocence. Mrs Clark was later freed on appeal ( BMJ 2003;326: 304).
When Professor Southall saw Mr Clark's description of the hotel incident, however, he concluded that the father must have tried to smother Christopher just before the bleeding. He contacted the child protection team and later wrote a report claiming that Mr Clark's guilt was "certain or near-certain."
In June 2004, the GMC found that Professor Southall had abused his position of trust. Two days of further hearings last week were devoted largely to testimonials from Professor Southall's supporters, including over 80 doctors and paediatricians, who argued that his 30 year "pioneering" career should be taken into consideration. But the professional conduct committee's chairman, Denis McDevitt, noted that Professor Southall had not "seen fit to withdraw these allegations or to offer any apology."
Professor Southall was previously suspended from his post and forbidden by his employer, North Staffordshire Hospital NHS Trust, from undertaking child protection work at the time of his accusation against Mr Clark, although he was later reinstated ( BMJ 2002;325: 1054). That suspension was in connection with an investigation into his work on continuous negative extrathoracic pressure ventilation. A GMC hearing cleared him in March of failure to obtain informed consent in this work.
Professor Southall's GMC travails are not yet over, as he faces a third hearing in January 2005 involving complaints from seven other parents.
A spokesman for North Staffordshire NHS Trust said that Professor Southall will keep his job. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health declined to comment.(Owen Dyer)
Professor Southall had accused Stephen Clark of murdering his two sons in April 2000, on the basis of an interview with Mr Clark that he watched on the Channel 4 documentary Dispatches. In the interview Mr Clark described a nosebleed that his son Christopher had had in a London hotel in 1996. Christopher died at home nine days after the hotel incident.
At the time of the Dispatches broadcast, Mr Clark's wife, Sally, was in prison, wrongly convicted of the murder of Christopher and his younger brother Harry. Mr Clark was then campaigning on her behalf and appeared on Dispatches in an effort to plead her innocence. Mrs Clark was later freed on appeal ( BMJ 2003;326: 304).
When Professor Southall saw Mr Clark's description of the hotel incident, however, he concluded that the father must have tried to smother Christopher just before the bleeding. He contacted the child protection team and later wrote a report claiming that Mr Clark's guilt was "certain or near-certain."
In June 2004, the GMC found that Professor Southall had abused his position of trust. Two days of further hearings last week were devoted largely to testimonials from Professor Southall's supporters, including over 80 doctors and paediatricians, who argued that his 30 year "pioneering" career should be taken into consideration. But the professional conduct committee's chairman, Denis McDevitt, noted that Professor Southall had not "seen fit to withdraw these allegations or to offer any apology."
Professor Southall was previously suspended from his post and forbidden by his employer, North Staffordshire Hospital NHS Trust, from undertaking child protection work at the time of his accusation against Mr Clark, although he was later reinstated ( BMJ 2002;325: 1054). That suspension was in connection with an investigation into his work on continuous negative extrathoracic pressure ventilation. A GMC hearing cleared him in March of failure to obtain informed consent in this work.
Professor Southall's GMC travails are not yet over, as he faces a third hearing in January 2005 involving complaints from seven other parents.
A spokesman for North Staffordshire NHS Trust said that Professor Southall will keep his job. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health declined to comment.(Owen Dyer)