Child Abuse Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Child Abuse, including details on family violence, examinations, long-term effects, psychiatrics disorders.

Meadow, Southall, and the General Medical Council of the United kingdom.

Chadwick DL, Krous HF, Runyan DK

Chadwick Center for Children and Families, Children's Hospital-San Diego, CA 91941, USA. dlchadwick1@earthlink.net

In this article we address the recent actions of the General Medical Council in the United Kingdom affecting 2 pediatricians who are major contributors to pediatric knowledge about the intentional suffocation of infants. The General Medical Council struck one of them from the register of licensed medical practitioners, but the decision was appealed successfully. The council restricted the practice of the other pediatrician. After a review of the transcripts of the hearings, we conclude that the opinions given by both doctors were responsible, and the transcripts suggest that the conduct of the hearings was unfair. Licensing boards may have difficulty in competently regulating doctors' expert testimony, at least in cases involving child maltreatment.

Published 2 June 2006 in Pediatrics, 117(6): 2247-51.
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