David Southall: anatomy of a wrecked career
BMJ 2012; 344 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e3377 (Published 16 May 2012) Cite this as: BMJ 2012;344:e3377- Clare Dyer, legal correspondent
- 1BMJ, London WC1H 9JR, UK
- claredyer@aol.com
David Southall, a professor of paediatrics and child protection specialist with a world reputation, was hauled before the UK medical regulator not once but three times, accused of serious professional misconduct. The cases dragged on for years, bouncing back and forth between the courts and the regulator. Hearings ran out of time, were adjourned, and then resumed months later. In all, Southall spent 14 unrelenting years in the rifle sights of the General Medical Council before the final case against him was dropped.
Serious professional misconduct has been defined as conduct “which would be regarded as deplorable by fellow practitioners.” Yet Southall has had the support of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and of colleagues on both sides of the Atlantic. In the UK, paediatricians who see what happened to one of the leaders of their profession are loath to put themselves in the firing line and the numbers willing to do child protection work have dropped. “There is something grossly wrong with the medical and legal system which allowed this to happen,” wrote Jerold F Lucey, editor of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, of Southall’s case and that of Roy Meadow, another professor of paediatrics struck off by the GMC and later reinstated by the court.1
What went wrong?
Southall’s problems date back to the mid-1980s when, as a specialist in babies’ breathing problems at the Royal Brompton in London, he couldn’t fathom why some babies would stop …
Log in
Log in using your username and password
Log in through your institution
Subscribe from £173 *
Subscribe and get access to all BMJ articles, and much more.
* For online subscription
Access this article for 1 day for:
£38 / $45 / €42 (excludes VAT)
You can download a PDF version for your personal record.