Goodbye Mr Bond

Thanks to BM for this picture

Christopher Bulstrode will know all about his sister's sob story at the General Medical Council. To cry with her, more than a 100 colleagues and friends weighed it to stop her being struck off. That is nothing new, Dr Harold Shipman had a entire campaign group who supported him. To remind everyone, here is what happened

"While Shipman languished in prison awaiting trial there were a significant number of people continuing to support their former GP.

Many wrote letters to the man who, they believed, was the subject of a huge miscarriage of justice"

The interesting aspect here is that more medical professionals support Dr Jane Barton than they do a whistleblower. I think it is important that we have access to those people who did write letters of support for Dr Jane Barton at the GMC hearing. The doctors who have disliked the changes post Shipman appear unconcerned that the Barton case may well make matters worse for them all. Then few doctors publicly criticise Dr Jane Barton. I suspect it isn't the done thing to do in the United Kingdom. The profession here would rather remain silent then pay for her mistakes later, just like they did with Dr Harold Shipman.

Anyhow, I have always found the tale of potential sabotage of Dr Shipman's trial rather interesting. This behavior at the BMA was no coincidence. The BBC article can be read here. This is the kind of behaviour the establishment will exhibit when it is attempting to free one of its own.

The BBC piece stated :-

"The British Medical Association made a mistake that could have allowed serial killer Harold Shipman to walk free, the judge in the trial of the disgraced doctor said"Now the BMA is to be reported for contempt of court to the Attorney General.

The tricks of the trade is normally to roll in supporters of the doctor. Then the next trick is to roll in fellow experts who will say anything for money. In Barton's case, Sikora has appeared in his usual large nosed state. Apparently, casual observers have said that his nose grows longer with each case he appears in. Of course, this is all a game played by lawyers who get paid handsomely by doctors subscription funds to the GMC and MDU. In the end, patients are dead and someone has to be responsible. This is because accountability is essential within the current regulatory system.

It wouldn't do to have another public inquiry examining why initial complaints about Dr Barton to the General Medical Council were all screened out in 2002. Of course, in the event there is a public inquiry, that question will be asked. They will ask the GMC, why nothing was learned after Shipman. The GMC will then manufacture a tale of woe to extract themselves out of a tight situation. They do this by telling the world, they have improved. Of course, the GMC have not improved in 100 years. They have simply become more conceited and experienced at lying effectively. It is all to do with good cosmetics and layers of foundation.

This from Wikipaedia is interesting

"Despite the prosecutions of Dr John Bodkin Adams in 1957, Dr Leonard Arthur in 1981, and Dr Thomas Lodwig in 1990 (amongst others),^[13] Shipman is the only doctor in British legal history to be found guilty of killing patients.^[14] According to historian Pamela Cullen, Adams had also been a serial killer—potentially killing up to 165 of his patients between 1946 and 1956—but as he "was found not guilty, there was no impetus to examine the flaws in the system until the Shipman case. Had these issues been addressed earlier, it might have been more difficult for Shipman to commit his crimes."^[15] H. G. Kinnell, writing in the British Medical Journal, also speculates that Adams "possibly provided the role model for Shipman".^[16]"

Much is made of Dr Barton's so called motivation prior to the lethal prescriptions. Of course, a murderer never admits his motive. Even Shipman's defense was "the patients best interest". Of course, I am puzzled as to how being dead is in the "patients best interest".