Before I start this blog I need to give you a little background information. I have worked in orthopaedics for the NHS. I was researching fractures in battered babies for a particular family who were accused of such. I had also had the privilege of speaking to Dr Colin Paterson, who had by then retired, when I became involved in this case.
The family involved had a baby who was born prematurely. Shortly after the family returned home the baby was found to have severe bruising to its face. The child was taken to hospital where it was presumed the father must have done it although there was no evidence to this effect.
The baby was placed in foster care where it continued to bruise. The foster carers reported that the child would go to bed and would wake up with bruising. When I became involved I encouraged the family to take photos.
The foster carers wanted to take the baby to the GP. The social worker said if they did, it would be the last time that they would be allowed to foster.
The baby had not been in any discomfort but nevertheless, x-rays were taken and a number of what appeared to be fractures were identified. A number of radiologists from different hospitals looked at the x-rays and could not agree on which bones were fractured.
In prem babies incomplete ossification of bones is the order of the day. Cartilage has not yet turned to bone but on –x-ray these ‘Looser’s zones’ look like fractures, although they are not.
I asked for the baby’s vitamin D status to be ascertained but this wasn’t completed due to ‘insufficient sample. By the time the second test came around, the baby had been on enough formula to correct any vitamin D deficiency that there might have been.
Given these and many other anomalies – the baby was never in pain but still continued to bruise profusely, I contacted Dr Paterson who had undertaken some ground-breaking work in babies with temporary brittle bone disease.
Dr Paterson at that point had already been deregistered from the GMC. He had acted as an expert witness on two cases where a baby appeared to have a number of fractures.
His work on temporary brittle bone disease was conducted alongside 12 other researchers. Some researchers did not agree with Dr Paterson’s findings but others did.
Now, I don’t have a problem with his theory, unborn babies take their nutrients from their mothers but what if that mother to be is already vitamin D deficient or hasn’t taken enough magnesium in her diet (magnesium is also needed for healthy bones). You can see how this is panning out and once a baby is fed on formula or starts on a solid food diet then this condition will eventually correct itself so I understand perfectly where Dr Paterson was coming from.
I had some lengthy chats with Dr Paterson. He was courteous, knowledgeable and kind. He had been nearing retirement age when he was struck off so it impacted him less than it did the younger researchers. But………………… what a waste of a fine brain and his contribution to families utterly bewildered by what had happened to their child.
The first case where Dr Paterson was acting on a family’s behalf was heard by Elizabeth Butler –Sloss. It was she that reported Dr Paterson to the GMC.
I reviewed all the notes of the family I was involved in. Not satisfied with some of them, I arranged for the baby to be see privately for blood tests. Meanwhile the judge overseeing the case refused to wait for the results and sentenced the father to an IPP – an indefinite prison period.
Shortly after this, the results showed the baby had Von Willebrand’s disease, a blood clotting disorder which results in spontaneous bruising and bleeding.
Further investigation on my part into the family history showed that most family members had evidence of this condition. The G. grandmother for example had been adopted as a new born as her mother had bled to death. The grandfather had nearly bled to death as a result of a circumcision but nobody, nobody who had knowledge of this family had come up with the correct answer to what is 2 plus 2.
As time goes on it is also clear that the father has a connective tissue disorder. This also causes bruising, easy fractures, poor healing and formation of connective tissue like bone and cartilage. Normally, connective tissue disorders which are inherited take about 20 years to diagnose but earlier if you really want to look for them.
Dr Paterson was right. There are many other causes of ‘battered baby syndrome.’ However, it is the graphic and sensationalist details vomited up by the mainstream media that actually sell newspapers so why should they care whose lives they ruin in the process?
As far as I am aware, Dr Paterson was never vindicated. Research is all about investigating new ground and we should applaud it rather than crush it. But, I fear that verdicts are formed before the evidence is heard and will continue to do so unless we wake up and look at how society is being manipulated by those we have given authority and trust to.