Weighing in on child abuse allegations in Canada, a Pennsylvania State University radiologist has cautioned pediatricians who use couched and statistically meaningless language in their reports, theToronto Star reports.
The Star investigated thousands of pages of records, including medical reports and court testimony, suggesting that there may be few checks and balances for child maltreatment specialists who provide opinions that can tear families apart.
Julie Mack, MD, said child maltreatment pediatrics purports to provide answers where no such medical certainty exists, likening the situation to “using an x-ray of a patient’s lungs to not only diagnose pneumonia, but to also determine how they contracted the infection.”
One lawsuit contended doctors relied on questionable scientific assumptions, overinterpreted results, “provided misleading and/or biased opinions to support a finding of abuse,” and that they failed to correct errors once new data became available, according to the Star.
Read the full story published February 2 here (subscription required).