Abuse claim parents 'cannot sue'
Three sets of parents wrongly accused of abusing their children cannot sue the health care professionals who misdiagnosed, Law Lords have ruled.
The lords dismissed their cases, saying the health workers had a duty of care to the children, not the parents.
The parents suffered psychiatric damage and financial loss when their children were taken from them.
Reunited with their children, they unsuccessfully sued the healthcare trusts for the lasting injuries.
Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead said: "The doctor is charged with the protection of the child, not with the protection of the parent. A doctor must be able to act single-mindedly in the interests of the child
Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead
"The best interests of a child and his parent normally march hand-in-hand.
"But when considering whether something does not feel 'quite right', a doctor must be able to act single-mindedly in the interests of the child."
Lord Bingham of Cornhill was the only one of the five Law Lords to dissent.
He said appeals of the parents who had lost their cases in the courts below should be allowed.
Claimant JD, a registered nurse from Berkshire, claimed negligence when her six-year-old son, M, was placed on the "at risk" register after a community paediatrician, who met JD once, suggested M was at risk from his mother.
A year earlier, Professor David Southall said JD was suffering from Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy and that M's condition - he suffered from allergic reactions - was fabricated by her.
Skin disorder
M was taken off the register after another doctor discovered the extent of his allergic problems but JD took action claiming damages for negligence.
In the case of RK, born in 1989, doctors diagnosed abuse after she hurt herself on her bike, without taking into account that she suffered from Schamberg's disease which affects skin pigmentation.
Social services told her mother that she had been sexually abused and that her father, MAK, and brother could not sleep in the same home.
Twelve days later a correct diagnosis was made and it was accepted by the healthcare trust that there had been no abuse.
Although the father's proceedings against the trust and local authority failed, the Court of Appeal ruled that the daughter could take action against the local authority and health authority.
Bone fractures
In the third case, both parents of MK suffered a psychiatric disorder when she was separated from them.
Abuse had been diagnosed when two-month-old MK, born in 1998 and suffering from brittle bone diseases, had a fractured leg.
Police and social services were informed and an interim care order made.
The true diagnosis was made when the girl suffered a further injury under her new carer.
Lord Nicholls said the doctors in the three cases were entitled to consider the possibility of abuse and, having become suspicious, inform the authorities.
"In each case the suspected parent was eventually cleared of suspicion.
"In one case this was after ten days, in the other cases after much longer periods."
Loading...
3:09
Contemporary Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy vs Parental Alienationby Infiltrator2K12,986 views
I had a care order hanging around my neck from age 6 until i was 17. I'm in the process of of documenting my 11 year experience of life in care within the UK child care system. take care
MySearch4freedom 1 year ago