Waney Squier is a neuropathologist specialising in the brain of the developing foetus and neonate.

She worked at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, UK, but also served as an expert witness, particularly in cases where babies had died as a result of suspected abusive head trauma or shaken baby syndrome. In April 2010, a complaint about her was made to the General Medical Council by the National Policing Improvement Agency, since then disbanded.[1]

Following various disciplinary and legal processes, she appeared before the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service between October 2015 and March 2016. The charges against her related to six babies about whom she had provided reports and given evidence. It was alleged that she expressed opinions outside her field of expertise, made assertions that were not supported by evidence, and misrepresented research papers to support her opinions.[1] At the conclusion of the hearing, the tribunal determined that Squier was guilty of repeated dishonesty, her fitness to practice was impaired, and that she should be struck off the medical register.[2][3][4]

Squier appealed the tribunal's decision to the High Court of England and Wales during October 2016. On 3 November 2016, the court published a judgment which concluded that "the determination of the MPT is in many significant respects flawed".[1] The judge found that she had committed serious professional misconduct but was not dishonest. She was reinstated to the medical register but is not allowed to give expert evidence in court for three years.[5][6]

At one time, Squier believed in the theory of shaken baby syndrome and appeared as a witness for the prosecution in a number of cases. However on examining the available evidence for the theory more closely, she has come to believe that there is no evidence for shaken baby syndrome and that it does not exist.[7] She described her intellectual journey in a 2018 TEDx talk.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Between : DR WANEY MARIAN VALERIE SQUIER - and - GENERAL MEDICAL COUNCIL" (PDF). Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  2. ↑ "Medical Practitioner's name: Dr Waney Marian Valerie SQUIER" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 April 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  3. ↑ "Dr Waney Squier struck off for shaken baby evidence". BBC News. 21 March 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  4. ↑ Campbell, Denis (21 March 2016). "Doctor who denies shaken baby syndrome struck off". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  5. ↑ "Shaken baby evidence doctor reinstated". BBC News. 3 November 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  6. ↑ Press Association (4 November 2016). "Doctor wins appeal over shaken baby syndrome trials evidence". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  7. ↑ Lawson, Dominic; Squier, Waney; Brunert, Jonathan (15 August 2018). "Waney Squier". Why I Changed My Mind. Series 4. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  8. ↑ Squier, Waney (16 March 2018). "I believed in Shaken Baby Syndrome until science showed I was wrong". TED: Ideas Worth Spreading. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
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