http://www.irishhealth.com/index.html?level=4&id=1225
Irishhealth.com
December 12, 2000
Inquiry into doctor to end in March
An
inquiry into allegations that a prominent doctor made false allegations of
child sexual abuse, involving 11 children, is expected to conclude in March.
The unprecedented inquiry has been going on here since October 1999.
The case is being heard in private by the Medical Council, the statutory body
charged with dealing with complaints about the ethical and professional conduct
of doctors in Ireland.
The doctor at the centre of the inquiry, social-campaigner, Dr Moira Woods, has
strongly denied the allegations. At the time, she was the head of the Rotunda
Hospital sexual assault unit. The controversy involves five separate families.
The inquiry has heard evidence from a large number of witnesses including other
doctors, social workers, the families concerned, officials from the Department
of Health, the Eastern Health Board (now the ERHA) and the Rotunda Hospital.
Experts from abroad have also given evidence.
The first complaint to the Medical Council, by one of the fathers in the
controversy, was made in March 1992. In January 1996, the Council decided that
there was a prima facie case for the holding of an full inquiry by its Fitness
to Practise Committee.
The inquiry adjourned in recent days and will resume in January. It is due to
conclude in late March 2001.