http://www.irishhealth.com/index.html?level=4&id=3474
Irishhealth.com
January 30, 2002
Council to issue Woods reports
by Fergal Bowers
The
Medical Council has upheld 13 of 55 allegations of professional misconduct by
Dr Moira Woods, for improper diagnosis of child sexual abuse in a number of
children.
It follows a six-hour meeting of the Council, to discuss a report on the
biggest inquiry of its kind by its Fitness to Practise Committee.
The inquiry found that she had wrongly diagnosed child sexual abuse in the case
of three children from three separate families. Allegations in relation to
eight other children were not upheld. In all, the allegations related to 11
children from five families.
The Council has decided to censure Dr Woods and attach conditions to her
continued practice in medicine. It has also been confirmed that each of the
families will receive individualised reports on their cases within a week. This
means that the full details of the inquiry are likely to be made public.
In a statement, Dr Woods, who now lives in Italy, said that she was very
disappointed with the misconduct finding and added that she had worked in the
best interests of children at all times when child sexual abuse was an
unchartered area.
She also said that the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit at the Rotunda Hospital
had been a pioneering facility when it opened in 1985.
The Medical Council will hold a press briefing this evening where further details
of the case may become known.