The evidence base in child protection litigation

doi:10.1136/bmj.333.7560.160

BMJ 2006;333:160-161 (22 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.333.7560.160

Editorial

The evidence base in child protection litigation

Medical expert witnesses need legal protection too, to use theevidence effectively

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

In this week's BMJ Gornall points out some of the problems associatedwith the presentation of medical evidence of child abuse inthe United Kingdom. He focuses on the omission from the RoyalCollege of Paediatrics and Child Health's new handbook, ChildProtection Companion, of research evidence gathered by two controversialpaediatricians—David Southall and Sir Roy Meadow.¹

A well developed evidence base exists for child abuse medicinethat is suitable for use in litigation for child protection.The published evidence on the abuse and neglect of childrenbegins with a descriptive article by Tardieu (the father offorensic medicine) in 1860.² He pointed out how medical conditionsthat he had observed in 32 children defined the abusive natureof the events that had occurred. In 1962 Kempe and colleaguesreiterated that doctors could and should infer abuse on thebasis of certain medical findings of injury. The "battered . . . [Full text of this article]

David L Chadwick, director emeritus

Chadwick Center for Children and Families, Rady Children's Hospital and Health Center, San Diego, 4816 Rushville Lane, La Mesa, CA 91941, USA
dlchadwick1@earthlink.net

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Sibert, J. R, Maguire, S. A, Mary Kemp, A. (2007). How good is the evidence available in child protection?. Arch. Dis. Child. 92: 107-108 [Full text]

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