Meadows found guilty of professional misconduct by GMC

[mummytosteven]

HERE

Tatt, the problem is Roy Meadow is so distinguished that doesn't matter how many other experts you have, HE is believed over them. Think in Sally Clark's case (or one of the other high profile ones) there were 9 other experts who disagreed with him. Yet the jury believed him, presumably because he was the most important expert (former President Royal College Paediatrics and Child Health) and because that 73m to 1 figure sounds so convincing. Once you've said that, the poor woman is convicted, really, isn't she.

Also, it's possible that paediatricians and then the juries and judges were keen to believe in MSbP, which he invented (is his orginal theory) because there's something in society that LOVES to judge mothers. We even do it on here, all the time. A feminist reading would be that mothers = power, the hand that rocks the cradle and women with power always have to be taken down - see almost all religions and their drive to control female sexuality.

I'm not entirely sure that Sally Clark's family would agree that he was "let off" by an "old gentlemans club" - rather that the GMC, in rewsponse to their complaint, applied the ultimate sanction in their power........

AND another real tragedy here, which no-one in power is doing anything about, is the family courts and their use of expert witness to take children away from loving families. Criminal convictions have been overturned, but very little has happend to put the record straight for women who were condemned in the family courts. IIRC Bunglie's case was dismissed in the criminal courts - no case to answer - but she still lost her dd and ds. Margaret Hodge, former minister for children and a woman who engaged in a massive cover-up of child abuse when she was chief exec of Islington, said it wasn't worth bothering with those cases where children had been adopted because you can't undo an adoption. What about clearing people's names FFS? And telling these children the truth, maybe when they are adults, but one day?

That's a fair comment Nik and having read the more thorough reports in the papers this morning, I can see that the judgement was indeed pretty damning and an awful end to his career. However, as far as I can see this does draw a line under this which rather leaves other cases (eg Bunglie's) hanging in the air with no possibility of resolution or closure (hate that word). I may have misunderstood the implications though.

x posts Edam - I think you're saying what I was trying to say!

I think we are singing from the same hymn sheet, certainly.
Was just thinking, the way MSbP snowballed and became a really popular diagnosis applied in hundreds if not thousands of cases was a witch-hunt. And who was targetted in witch-hunts? Women.

Agree and the problem is it clouds the issue of whether a) the syndrome itself really has any credence and b) any genuinely good work in child protection that was instigated by Meadow. Even Donna Anthony said that the medical profession has lost a "damn fine paediatrician". Which in the end means kids are still at risk.

There could still be more to come on this - did anyone hear Sarah Harman on radio 4 this morning talking about Meadow and expert witness evidence in the family courts and calling for a further enquiry? And this suggests that there will be pressure for an enquiry at parliamentary level too.

I am certain he has only been struck off (he is retired) because the GMC is absolutely terrified of what could happen if all the cases against him were heard - it would bring about the end of MSBP as a diagnosis.

surely if any witness (expert or otherwise) lies under oath, they can be found in contempt of court and fined/imprisoned? And the cases where he acted as the expert witness should IMO reopened and assessed again. Yes I understand that Bunglie and other mums like her will never get their childrens' childhoods back but even if they are able to lift the shroud of secrecy and talk about it then the balance of truth can be shifted away from the adoptive parents and back towards the birth parents' stories

"retired" doctors do sometimes still practise. "retired" sometimes means they have just given up the day job. Still I'm sure it made it easier for the GMSC to strike him off. It'll stop other cases being heard by the GMSC but it doesn't stop the other ways to be heard, in fact it makes it easier to get them heard because he's been discredited by his colleagues.

Edam there were other medical experts but I don't think anyone called a statistician, did they? But yes, I was agreeing other experts wouldn't have the same credibility.

While MSBP is much rarer than was claimed there have been cases where mothers have denied harming their kids and later admitted they did. MSBP is occasionally a valid diagnosis, they just have to be a lot more selective about using it.

Personally I hate the way we select doctors. A friend's child wants to be a doctor. Nice girl, lots of empathy. She may get there because she is quite bright. But we select doctors on the basis of academic ability, train them to be arrogant and tell them patients need their doctor to sound confident even when they aren't. Small step from that to arrogance.

The whole system is institutionally misogynous. I?ve said it before on another thread but I thought the demonisation of those women was medieval.

Just caught up with your post Edam. Totally agree.

That's a matter of opinion irishbird. He was constantly challenged on the figure and never retracted it. I think he was lying, personally.

I certainly believe that people, including mothers, hurt children, but I don't believe in MSBP.

He still doesn't admit the figure was actually wrong, does he? Just that he regrets the Grand National comparison. I think he still thinks he was right and everybody else was wrong. Dangerous bloke.

So in that sense he isn't lying, just deluded.

bit like hte Yorkshire Ripper then believing he was cleaning up the streets by killing prostitutes or Hitler even

Re MSBP, you notice how they've done a Windscale on it and changed its name to Fabricated Induced Illness. Like we'll believe everyone's suffering from it if they change its name.

Quick hijack, sorry!

Caligula - are you an angst ridden teenage poetess, per chance??

I say he's a liar and child abuser - hey, so sue me.