Competing interests
None declared
Carlos A Galliani, Tamás Marton, Lina Davidsson, Ulf Davidson, Clair Evans, Eva Løbner Lund, Marta C Jones, Colene Bowker, Niels Graem, A S Knisely, Elizabeth Shanson, David Grynspan, Jeff Bonadio, Paola Domizio, Patrick Shannon, TP Dawson, J Bruce Beckwith, Dafydd G Thomas, David Weidner, Philip Batman, Maria Thom, Michael Farrell, Clayton A Wiley, Peter Blair, Malcolm Galloway, Veena Rajaram, Vijay V Joshi, Miguel Reyes-Múgica, Esin Kotiloglu-Karaa, Michael House, Charles Duyckaerts, Helena McKeown, Dominic G O'Donovan, Paula Borralho Nunes, Pam Wortley, Pauline Chou, Mariana Cajaiba, Catherine Fallet-Bianco,Don B Singer, Nicole Graf, Nicholas Manton, Robert H Garman, Diane Payton, Adele Bernhard, Srinivas Annavarapu, Ilana Ariel, Helen Wainwright, Sanjay M Sisodiya, David J Lansner, Isidro Ferrer, Charles Pragnell, Peter Millard, Annette Müller, Camelia Stefanovici, Alba Greco, Jens Stahlschmidt, Catherine Cullinane, Ronald O C Kaschula, Marie Calaminici, Susan Arbuckle, James T Eastman, Liliane Boccon-Gibod,Kelley Capocelli, Doctors in Unite, Stephen Watkins, Zsuzsanna Nagy, John Nottingham, Fausto Rodriguez, Michael Sheaff, Mudher Al-Adnani, Anastasia Konstantinidou, Benjamin Jacobs, Eduardo Zambrano, Rohini Rattihalli,Luis Beltran, Ona M Faye-Petersen, Tony McShane, Karen Horridge, John BP Stephenson, Evangeline Wassmer, Lewis Rosenbloom, David Webb, Karen Pysden, Richard Newton, Jiayi Leow, Frances Cowan, Christopher Verity, Paul Carter, Rita Alaggio, Rajeeva Singh, María T G de Davila, Anne Nesbitt, Isabel Colmenero, Dora Steel,Jean-Pierre Lin, Heinz Jungbluth, Anirban Majumdar,Ina Nicklaus-Wollenteit, Elisa Groff,Diane Smyth, Stephen Kempley, Helen Salisbury, Peggy Frith, Andrzej Karmolinski, Yevgeniy Trufanov, Carol McGuinness, Rachel Phillips, Claire Blesing, Andrea Nemeth, Mary Anthony, Rupert McShane,David Shlugman, Ana Alarcon Allen
Irene Scheimberg has been an expert witness in cases of child abuse in the Family and Criminal courts.
Joanna Garstang was funded by NIHR from 2010-15 (NIHR DRF 2010 -03-045) as a doctoral research fellowship to evaluate the multi-agency investigation of SUDI. She is currently on the national steering committee for the Care of Next Infant scheme co-ordinated by the Lullaby Trust.
Margaret Evans has no financial conflicts of interest and does not undertake Expert Witness work. She contributes to National Discussions on Stillbirth including MBRRACE, and sits on the stillbirth and bereavement panels of the Scottish Government. She does not see these roles as being of conflicting or competing interest. She remains concerned that someone might be struck off for holding or stating an opinion that runs contrary to accepted doctrine and for expressing such an opinion. Through such people have medical advances been made.
Ian Scott has no conflicts of interest other than an academic interest in non-accidental injury in children.
Marvin Miller has provided expert testimony in cases of alleged child abuse on behalf of defendants. He does these pro bono if parents/caregivers pay their own expenses. He accepts government funding through public defenders offices, if available.
Douglas Smith is an unpaid board member of the Torn Family Trust, an advocacy group for improved handling of false allegations of child abuse. He is an occasional unpaid expert witness in SBS cases.
Ulf Högberg acts as an expert witness.
John Plunkett’s only potential conflict of interest is that he has acted as an expert witness and testified/given evidence for both Prosecution and defense in criminal and civil (family Court) cases involving allegations of child abuse or neglect. He has usually but not always been compensated for his time reviewing the records and testifying.
George R Nichols has served as a consultant and expert witness in civil and criminal litigation in cases allegedly due to SBS. He has primarily testified for the defense. He has been both paid and pro bono for these efforts.
Zhongxue Hua has acted as an expert witness and testified/given evidence for both Prosecution and defense in criminal and civil cases of head/body injuries; usually but not always has been compensated for time reviewing the records and testifying.
Ronald Wright has over the past 44 years testified in criminal and civil cases in the United States. He has testified for the plaintiff and for the defense. At no time did any recompense excede 5% of his earned income.
John Galaznik has provided consultation to defense attorneys and expert testimony in criminal and family court on cases of alleged physical injury of infants and small children. He has received compensation for these services.
Horace B Gardner has testified on behalf of the defense in a number of child abuse cases, including some with Dr. Squier.
David Ayoub’s potential conflict of interest is that he has acted as an expert witness and testified for defense in criminal and civil (family Court) cases involving allegations of child abuse. He is not compensated for his work, as he does pro bono.
Edward N Willey is a paid consultant and expert witness and member of concerned voluntary association.
Katherine Judson is an expert witness and has an unpaid officership of advocacy, charity, non-governmental organisation, or relevant professional group.
Sue Luttner is an expert witness and has an unpaid officership of advocacy, charity, non-governmental organisation, or relevant professional group.
Patrick E Lantz has given testimony at the request of both prosecution (majority) and defense, and has usually although not always been compensated for it. Most consultations for the defense are pro bono.
Caroline Gannon has acted as an expert witness for the civil, coronial and high courts in some cases of sudden infant death. She has never been asked to give expert witness testimony alongside or directly against Dr Squier in the same case.
Dimitri L Contostavlos has given expert witness testimony as a forensic pathologist on behalf of prosecution and defense in child abuse cases.
Seth Love has acted as an expert witness and still occasionally does (although he has not been involved in non-accidental injury cases for many years); no other conflicts of interest to declare.
Jennian Geddes appeared as an expert witness at Dr Squier’s hearing, but has no other interest.
Janice Ophoven is a paid consultant and expert witness; and member of concerned voluntary association.
Steven C Gabaeff’s only potential conflict of interest is that he acts as an expert witness and has testified/given evidence for the defense in criminal and civil (family Court) cases involving allegations of child abuse or neglect. In about 40% of cases he reviews he agrees with the prosecution's theory of the case. He has almost always been compensated for his work as an expert in Clinical Forensic Medicine for the past 28 years but has done cases pro bono. As a practicing emergency physician for 35 years he has evaluated suspected abuse in the ED and was a mandated reporter of abuse.
Russell Lane was a character witness in Dr Spier’s case and knows her personally and professionally but not in connection with the material matters. He works as an independent medicolegal neurologist and provides expert reports to the Court, and he is also Chief Medical Officer for neuroscience matters for SCOR Global Life. However, he has no professional links with Dr Squier with regard to the material matters. He no longer holds any unpaid professional appointments.
Margaret Gardener: FASO have no conflict of interest in that we only pass on specialists names (as with others) to those who need names of specialists and it is down to either party as to whether they want or can be used as expert witness for their case. FASO has no further input to either party after any introduction. We do not even know if the introduction has been successful. Other voluntary organisations referred Wayne's name to FASO in the first place.
Roland Auer (a) has acted as an expert witness in roughly 50 cases over 30 years (roughly 50% for the defence and 50% for the prosecution), 7 of these involving child abuse and remuneration was received for 4 of them, 3 being done by me without remuneration, and (b) is an unpaid officer for the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, serving as the Chairman of the Neuropathology Specialty Committee. The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada is the body overseeing educational and training standards of all specialties in Canada.
Herbert Budka does not have a personal or organisational interest that may influence or appear to influence the letter in support of Dr. Squier. He has acted as an expert forensic witness in Austria and Switzerland; has held, or holds, unpaid officership of advocacy, charity, non-governmental organisation, or relevant professional group (International Society of Neuropathology and other national and international scientific or professional organisations), and has held membership of a guidelines panel (EFSA).
Rosalind King has acted as an expert witness and holds unpaid officership of advocacy, charity, non-governmental organisation, or relevant professional group.
Charles J Hyman is a retired Clinical Professor of Pediatrics and was the founder and director of the Loma Linda Children’s Hospital 1976-1981. He has written reports and given testimony in cases involving the allegations of child abuse both for the prosecution and the defense. This is usually with financial compensation for his time, but he has also done a significant amount of pro bono work. He is also an unpaid member of a board of directors that advocates for parents who have been erroneously accused of abuse.
David Fowler has acted as an expert witness and testified for both prosecution and defense in criminal and civil cases some of which involve allegations of child abuse or neglect. He has usually but not always been compensated for his time. He holds office in the National Association of Medical Examiners.
Caroline Sewry is on the scientific Advisory Board of Audentes ( a company developing gene therapies).She receives consultancy fees from Summit PlC (Company developing a therapy for Duchene Muscular Dystrophy). She is on the editorial board of Neuropathology Applied Neurobiology (Executive Editor), Neuromuscular Disorders and Muscle and Nerve. She receives royalties from Elsevier and Wiley for books.
Jan E Leestmadeclares:
I am regularly hired to be an expert witness on cases that involve forensic neuropathology. I have testified for plaintiff and defendants in civil cases, for defense and prosecution in criminal matters. I am not employed by any marketing or consulting firm. I do not list my credentials and do not seek any commercial organization that provides experts. I am self-employed and my choice of acceptance of cases is not dependent upon any other factors than my interests or availability. I may bill for my time and expenses for the cases I work on. Each year I provide my services pro bono on selected cases.
I am on the editorial board of the American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology and perform peer reviews of selected submitted manuscripts in my field.
For the past 40+ years I have been engaged by attorneys and occasionally governmental organization to provide consulting services in my field to them.
I have been a Board member of the Juvenile Protective Association of Chicago for 40 years. This is a not for profit organization that provides direct services to the families of abused and neglected children and acts in concert with the Department of Children and Family Services of Illinois.
I am a member of the American Association of Neuropathologists, a fellow in the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.
I am the author of three editions of Forensic Neuropathology, Taylor & Francis/CRC Press, New York.
I hold no grants at this time.
I am retired from institutional medicine and academic institutions. I am not an active staff member of any hospital or medical facility.
Joseph Scheller has worked as a paid expert in pediatric head injury cases.
Derek De Sa has acted as an Expert Witness (for both the Crown in Canada and for the Defence )in the past. He has been retired for ten years. He has also acted as a reviewer for several journals when he was still working actively, and he remains on the List of Reviewers for the journal "Human Pathology", published by Elsevier. He strongly supports Dr Waney Squier in her appeal, and hopes and believes that she should be readmitted to the Register of the General Medical Council at the earliest opportunity.
Denson G Fujiokawa a non-financial interest in that he knows the person who asked him to send an e-mail in support of Dr Squier.
Thomas L Bohanworked as a forensic physicist from 1979 until his retirement from gainful employment in 2013. During that time, he consulted in civil and criminal matters, working with attorneys, prosecutors, and government agencies, occasionally regarding biomechanics issues but never with respect to the “shaken baby syndrome” theory. His last appearance in court was in February 2013. His final professional work is as the unpaid president of the Forensic Specialties Accreditation Board.
Valena Beetydirects an NGO, the West Virginia Innocence Project. No other conflicts.
Shaku Teas has been a paid and unpaid expert in these cases for the defense more recently, having been a paid expert for the prosecution in the past.
Yee Khong declares:
I have a half share of shares on Australian Stock Exchange-listed healthcare stock, which is a health insurance provider.
I have provided medical legal expert opinions for various lawyer firms who act on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants in Australia and Eire, as well as to the Coroner's Office in South Australia, Australia.
In the previous 2 years I have been an invited speaker for scientific conferences or teaching courses of Paediatric Pathology Society and International Paediatric Pathology Association.
I am a co-chief investigator of a research project grant from National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia).
I am the Chair of the Medical Testing Accreditation Advisory Committee of NATA (National Association of Testing Authorities, Australia).
Wife has half share of shares on Australian Stock Exchange-listed healthcare stock, which is a health insurance provider, and she also has her own share of shares in that same stock.
John D Lloyd has acted as an expert witness and testified/given evidence in criminal and civil cases, some of which involve allegations of child abuse or neglect. He has usually but not always been compensated for his time reviewing the records and testifying.
Daniel Berney has acted in medico legal cases unconnected with this issue, as an expert witness, but other than this has no conflicts of interest.
Paige Kaneb: Dr Spiers has never worked as an expert for her, but she did ask Dr Spiers her opinion on a photograph of a case she worked on after seeing Dr Spiers present. In addition, they are on one list serve together.
Göran Högberg has no conflict of interest regarding shaking baby syndrome (abusive head trauma). He has done research regarding diagnostic criteria for SBS/AHT.
The Innocence Network is an association of nearly seventy organizations worldwide dedicated to providing pro bono legal and investigative services to convicted individuals seeking to prove their innocence. The members of the Network represent hundreds of prisoners with innocence claims in all 50 states and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico in the United States, as well as in ten other countries around the world, including the United Kingdom. The work of Innocence Network member organizations has led to the exoneration of more than 330 people who served a combined 4,620 years behind bars for crimes they did not commit.
Based on its experience exonerating innocent individuals and examining the causes of wrongful convictions, the Innocence Network has become keenly aware of the role that unreliable or improper scientific evidence has played in producing miscarriages of justice, including cases in which medical opinions about shaken baby syndrome or abusive head trauma have formed the basis for conviction of innocent caregivers and parents. Network member organizations have been instrumental in exonerating numerous individuals wrongly convicted in such cases.
Keith A Findley, Linda Starr, Adele Bernhard, Barry Schek, Craig Trocino, Julie Jonas, Paige Kaneb, Maddy deLone, Peter J Neufeld, Tucker Carrington, M Chris Fabricant, Katherine Judson, Bill Oberly, Gary Udashen,Bruce Anton
Charles M Harvey: I have read the PDF attachment regarding the conflict of interest. In my case, I act as a paid consultant as a forensic pathologist, and am paid for my examination of the facts in a case and the rendering of a scientific opinion in relation to those facts. I am not paid to render a specific or requested opinion. I have testified for both prosecution and defense interests in many different cases.
As a member of EBMS listserv, I participate and send out opinions and observations in regard to many different scientific questions and examples.
Marta Cohen: Paid consultant and expert witness; and member of concerned voluntary association.
David A Ramsay: I act as a paid Expert Witness for the Prosecution and Defence. I depend on Dr. Squier’s publications for some aspects of my medical practice.