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Health secretary orders review into use of medical manslaughter

BMJ 2018; 360 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k592 (Published 06 February 2018) Cite this as: BMJ 2018;360:k592
  1. Gareth Iacobucci
  1. The BMJ

England’s health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has announced a review of the application of gross negligence manslaughter in the NHS in the wake of the Hadiza Bawa-Garba case.

The High Court ruling to strike off the trainee paediatrician from the UK medical register has prompted widespread concern among doctors, who claim that Bawa-Garba was scapegoated, given the multiple system failures that led to the death of 6 year old Jack Adcock.1 Bawa-Garba was convicted for manslaughter in 2015,2 and the High Court verdict came after the General Medical Council (GMC) appealed against a medical practitioners tribunal decision to suspend her for 12 months rather than erase her.3

Norman Williams, former president of the Royal College of Surgeons, will lead the review, with support from senior …

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