Professor David Southall exposed

[PennyM]

www.msbp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1646

on the MAMA board where you can download evidence of the experiments David Southall has undertaken on small vulnerable infants and children.

This from the man that falsely accuses parents of smothering their children

No spell-checker here, Bunglie, but here's a bump for you and Penny. xxx

bump!

But can't you all see I need a spellchecker {sad}

bumping for bunglie and all those lost mothers

observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1859394,00.html

Family courts to poll children about ending secret hearings

Amelia Hill, culture and society correspondent
Sunday August 27, 2006

Observer

Children are to be asked whether family courts, which rule on the lives of 400,000 children and families every year, should continue to be run behind closed doors.
Constitutional Affairs minister Harriet Harman has admitted that the 80-year-old regime of secrecy that protects the courts has led to a failure of public confidence and a collapse of trust in their workings.

On Friday, the government will launch an interactive website asking children and young people what they think of suggestions to open the courts, which judge issues arising from family breakdowns, to wider scrutiny. Under the plans, the press and broadcasters would be allowed to attend hearings, which often involve sensitive matters regarding custody of children, although members of the public would still have to apply for the right to sit in court and listen to evidence. Judges will continue to have wide powers to hear cases in private - and strict anonymity will remain.

It is the first time the views of young people have been specifically sought on any matter by the Department for Constitutional Affairs, which has hired a group of researchers to respond personally to questions and comments from young people to the site. 'We want to hear directly from children themselves what they think of the proposals,' said a spokesman. 'We will be responding to emails as they are posted.'

But the decision to involve children so directly with the consultation process could led to the current, highly controversial level of secrecy being maintained, warned Nicholas Crichton, the only full-time family district judge in Britain.

'A young person who has seen the most deeply personal details of their extremely difficult life being openly discussed in court is likely to be far more concerned that their family's secrets remain secret than they are to care about the wider public gaining a greater understanding of exactly what is happening inside the family justice system,' he said.

'The government needs to be aware of the context within which a young person is likely to be looking at this question,' said Crichton, who sits at the Inner London and City Family Proceedings Court and is also a member of the Voice Of The Child, a sub-group of the Family Justice Group. 'The views of young people have only a limited validity if they have not first been given the information that will allow them to understand the issues which are at stake.'

· The online discussion forum for young people is at ofcf.net and will run from 1 September until 9 October 2006. www.ofcf.net/

www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1859611,00.html

Professor in police inquiry over brain damage to boy

Sandra Laville
Monday August 28, 2006
Guardian

Detectives have stepped up an investigation into claims that the leading paediatrician David Southall left a child brain damaged as a result of a controversial breathing experiment 15 years ago, the Guardian has learned.

South Wales police have broadened their inquiry into an allegation that Professor Southall assaulted the boy by carrying out the test and are asking dozens of parents whose children may have come into contact with the paediatrician over the years to come forward if their child suffered any injuries as a result of his treatment. Professor Southall has denied that his treatment has harmed any child.

In a letter to parents last week, Detective Inspector Chris Mullane, of the force's child protection unit, said further inquiries could be opened as a result of the responses from parents. The letter says police are investigating an allegation of assault on a boy that may have occurred while he was undergoing treatment by Prof Southall at the University Hospital of Wales. It asks parents: "Has your child been treated directly or indirectly by Professor Southall ... Did your child suffer any injuries or adverse effects from that treatment ... Have you reported this matter to the police or any other body?"

The investigation began after the parents of Ben McLean alleged that he had been left brain damaged by Prof Southall's experiments at the University Hospital of Wales in 1991.

The child's mother, Davina McLean, believes that without their informed consent, her five-year-old son was given carbon dioxide to breathe and his airway was occluded during a sleep study. She claims that she and her husband were forced to take part in the study after Prof Southall said they were suffering from Munchausen's syndrome by proxy, and warned that unless they allowed Ben to take part he would be taken into care. Prof Southall has also denied these claims.

When Ben left hospital he was placed in foster care, but a year later a court found the McLeans had not harmed their child. Ben, now 20, lives with his parents and has severe speech and learning difficulties. Mrs McLean told the Guardian: "We are pleased that other parents out there who may have concerns are being contacted. All we want is justice for our son."

Prof Southall has attracted praise and controversy during his long career. Last year he was found guilty of serious professional misconduct and banned from child protection work for three years after wrongly accusing the husband of Sally Clark of killing their baby sons.

Other parents have made allegations against Prof Southall, who is one of the leading proponents of the diagnosis of Munchausen's syndrome by proxy, in which a parent or carer is said to harm a child to attract attention. He is due to face another disciplinary hearing before the General Medical Council later this year.

Many of Prof Southall's peers defend his work, and say a witchhunt is being carried out against him. They say paediatricians involved in child protection are being subjected to a campaign by groups defending parents accused of abuse.

Margaret Taylor, Prof Southall's solicitor, said he was not commenting on the police inquiry or on other aspects of Mrs McLean's allegations.

"They say paediatricians involved in child protection are being subjected to a campaign by groups defending parents accused of abuse."

Which I now presume includes the police-of course the police set up a wide range investigation appealing for Southall parents to come forward on the basis of hearsay and speculation-they don't require evidence for that do they?

Thanks for those postings Penny,

It seems that the word is slowly 'trickling out' The Observer on Sunday and the Guardian today.

Does anyone remember 'Postsue'? Hear story was very sad but I have not spoken to her for a while and think that she may have missed all of this. I thought that I would contact her so she could at least send her details to John Hemmings M.P.

I have alsready contacted Cheeseball, Sudbrain and Icognito and only Icognito was aware of the situation. So I guess what I am trying to say is that if you know of anyone who may know someone that this may be relevant to then please tell them. Direct them to this thread if you want or they can contact Penny directly.

It is 4 years ago (I think) that I first told you all my story. No condemnation just careing and support from you all.

I think if everyone on Mumsnet tells just one other person, even if it is just a neighbour, then we have doubled the amount of people who know attached to this site.

I never under estimate the power of Mumsnetters and I just want to say a big THANK YOU to you all.

Love Bunglie XXXX

Just giving this a final bump, I hope that you have all read it or at least read the newspaper articles that are starting to come out.

Thank you for ALL of your help and support, I hope to see you at the Xmas meet-up,
Love, Bunglie XX

Please can you circulate to your MPs and ask them to sign these EDM's

edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=31383&SESSION=875

EDM 2767

WORK OF PROFESSOR DAVID SOUTHALL
17.10.2006

Hemming, John

That this House notes that according to the report written by Professor David Hull for North Staffordshire Trust about the work of Professor David Southall in the report written for the University Hospital of North Staffordshire by Professor McLeish and Dr Durbin, Professor McLeish said that Professor Southall `pursued multiple clinical research studies that were poorly designed and therefore were unlikely to produce new knowledge of worth. More worryingly he appears to have had insufficient regard for the ethical standards that should surround all clinical studies in babies'; believes that such comments are important comments that require proper consideration; is surprised that the University Hospital of North Staffordshire is unable to find a copy of this report; calls for the hospital to find a copy of this report and publish its contents; and further calls for an independent judicial or Parliamentary inquiry into the research and clinical activities of Professor David Southall, the failure of the regulatory system to prevent unethical experiments on babies managed by Professor Southall and the misuse of child protection and judicial procedures both to prevent parents from raising complaints about his research and procure children for his research.

edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=31384&SESSION=875

EDM 2768

WORK OF PROFESSOR DAVID SOUTHALL (No. 2)
17.10.2006

Hemming, John

That this House notes that over a large number of years Professor Southall has performed risky, interventionist, non-therapeutic, experiments on babies and young children that have been demonstrated to have caused medical difficulties for some of the babies and young children; further notes that project E5 involved over sedating babies, misleading parents as to the discomfort and risk faced by their babies and giving carbon monoxide to babies with respiratory problems; further notes that this has been reported to the General Medical Council; and calls for the General Medical Council to explain why no action has been taken.