Waney Squier Explained

Waney (Marian Valerie) Squier
Birth Date:28 February 1948
Citizenship:British
Workplaces:John Radcliffe Hospital
Alma Mater:University of Oxford
Known For:Neuropathology research, Shaken Baby Syndrome research
Footnotes:Scholar

Waney Squier is a neuropathologist specialising in the brain of the developing foetus and neonate. She has written a book on acquired damage to the developing brain[1] and is senior author on peer-reviewed publications ranging in topic from fetal[2] to childhood[3] infection, polymicrogyria,[4] hydrocephalus,[5] head trauma[6] [7] and mimics of trauma caused by vascular pathology.[8] She is an expert on dura mater[9] [10] and dural bleeding.[11] [12]

Many of her publications question[13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] Shaken Baby Syndrome, preferentially termed Abusive Head Trauma since 2009.[23]

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.[24]

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. 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.[25] [26] [27]

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". 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.[28] [29]

Squier retired in 2017. At one time, she 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.[30] She described her intellectual journey in a 2018 TEDx talk.[31]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Squier . Waney . Acquired Damage to the Developing Brain. Timing and Causation . 2002 . Arnold Publishers . London . 0 340 75930 5 . 1-227.
  2. Ferguson . DJP . Bowker . C . Jeffery . KJM . Chamberlain . P . Squier . W . Congenital toxoplasmosis: continued parasite proliferation in the fetal brain despite maternal immunological control in other tissues . Clinical Infectious Diseases . 2013 . 56 . 2 . 204-208 . 10.1093/cid/cis882 . 23074307.
  3. Bruch . LA . Jefferson . RJ . Pike . MG . Gould . SJ . Squier . W . Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection, meningoencephalitis, and hemophagocytosis . Pediatric Neurology . 2001 . 25 . 1 . 67-70 . 10.1016/s0887-8994(01)00274-0 . 11483400.
  4. Jansen . AC . Robitaille . Y . Honavar . M . Mullatti . N . Leventer . RJ . Andermann . E . Anderman . F . Squier . W . The histopathology of polymicrogyria: a series of 71 brain autopsy studies . Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology . 2016 . 58 . 1 . 39-48 . 10.1111/dmcn.12840 . 26179148.
  5. Squier . MV . Pathological approach to the diagnosis of hydrocephalus . Journal of Clinical Pathology . 1997 . 50 . 3 . 181-186 . 10.1136/jcp.50.3.181 . 9155665. 499809 .
  6. Dobbs . TD . Barber . ZE . Squier . WL . Green . AL . Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis complicating traumatic head injury . Journal of Clinical Neuroscience . 2012 . 19 . 7 . 1058-1059 . 10.1016/j.jocn.2012.01.002 . 22551588.
  7. Squier . W . Mack . J . Mineralizing angiopathy and minor head trauma . Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology . 2014 . 56 . 7 . 699 . 10.1111/dmcn.12416 . 24575866.
  8. Larsen . KB . Barber . Z . Squier . W . The pathology and aetiology of subcortical clefts in infants . Forensic Science International . 2019 . 296 . 115-122 . 10.1016/j.forsciint.2019.01.011 . 30711846.
  9. Mack . J . Squier . W . Eastman . JT . Anatomy and development of the meninges: implications for subdural collections and CSF circulation . Pediatric Radiology . 2009 . 39 . 3 . 200-210 . 10.1007/s00247-008-1084-6 . 19165479.
  10. Squier . W . Mack . J . Green . A . Aziz . T . The pathophysiology of brain swelling associated with subdural hemorrhage: the role of the trigeminovascular system . Child's Nervous System . 2012 . 28 . 12 . 2005-2015 . 10.1007/s00381-012-1870-1 . 22885686.
  11. Squier . W . Mack . J . The neuropathology of infant subdural haemorrhage . Forensic Science International . 2009 . 187 . 1-3 . 6-13 . 10.1016/j.forsciint.2009.02.005 . 19303229.
  12. Squier . W . Mack . J . Jansen . AC . Infants dying suddenly and unexpectedly share demographic features with infants who die with retinal and dural bleeding: a review of neural mechanisms . Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology . 2016 . 58 . 12 . 1223-1234 . 10.1111/dmcn.13202 . 27435495.
  13. Squier . W . Shaken Baby Syndrome: the Quest for Evidence . Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology . 2008 . 50 . 1 . 10-14 . 10.1111/j.1469-8749.2007.02004.x . 18173622.
  14. Squier . W . The “Shaken Baby” syndrome: pathology and mechanisms . Acta Neuropathologica . 2011 . 122 . 5 . 519-542 . 10.1007/s00401-011-0875-2 . 21947257.
  15. Squier . W . The triad of retinal haemorrhage, subdural haemorrhage and encephalopathy in an infant unassociated with evidence of physical injury is not the result of shaking, but is most likely to have been caused by a natural disease: Yes . Journal of Primary Health Care . 2011 . 3 . 2 . 159-161 . 21625666 .
  16. Findley . KA . Barnes . PD . Moran . DA . Squier . W . Shaken baby syndrome, abusive head trauma, and actual innocence: getting it right . Houston Journal of Health, Law & Policy . 2012 . 12 . 209-312 .
  17. Squier . W . Confusion over infant head trauma . Acta Paediatrica . 2019 . 108 . 2 . 382 . 10.1111/apa.14594 . 30256457.
  18. Högberg . U . Squier . W . Andersson . J . Högberg . G . Fellman . V . Thiblin . I . Wester . K . Do Inter-Country Differences in the Frequency of Abusive Head Trauma Reflect Different Proportions of Overdiagnosis of Abuse or True Differences in Abuse? . Journal of Epidemiology . 2020 . 30 . 6 . 276-277 . 10.2188/jea.JE20190066 . 31178472. 7217690 .
  19. Zahl . SM . Mack . JA . Rossant . C . Squier . W . Wester . K . Thrombosis is not a marker of bridging vein rupture in infants with alleged abusive head trauma . Acta Paediatrica . 2021 . 110 . 10 . 2686-2694 . 10.1111/apa.15908 . 33964045. 11250/2768656 . free .
  20. Squier . W . Infant retinal haemorrhages correlate with chronic subdural haemorrhage, not shaking . Acta Paediatrica . 2022 . 111 . 4 . 714-715 . 10.1111/apa.16169 . 34766369.
  21. Book: Squier . W . Olofsson . T . The Neuropathology of Shaken Baby Syndrome or Retino-Dural Haemorrhage of Infancy . 2023 . Cambridge University Press . Cambridge . 1009384767 . 33-65.
  22. Squier . W . Retinodural haemorrhage of infancy, abusive head trauma, shaken baby syndrome: The continuing quest for evidence . Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology . 2024 . 26 . 3 . 290-297 . 10.1111/dmcn.15676 . 37353945.
  23. Christian . CW . Block . R . Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect . American Academy of Pediatrics . Abusive head trauma in infants and children . Pediatrics . 2009 . 123 . 5 . 1409-1411 . 10.1542/peds.2009-0408 . 19403508.
  24. Web site: Between : DR WANEY MARIAN VALERIE SQUIER - and - GENERAL MEDICAL COUNCIL. 2023-11-27 .
  25. Web site: Medical Practitioner’s name: Dr Waney Marian Valerie SQUIER . 2016-11-04 . 2016-04-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160416053904/http://www.mpts-uk.org/static/documents/content/Waney_Marian_Valerie_SQUIER_21_March_2016.pdf . dead .
  26. News: Dr Waney Squier struck off for shaken baby evidence. BBC News . 21 March 2016 . 2016-08-01.
  27. News: Doctor who denies shaken baby syndrome struck off. Campbell. Denis. 2016-03-21. The Guardian. en-GB. 0261-3077. 2016-08-01.
  28. News: 2018-08-07. Shaken baby evidence doctor reinstated. BBC News. 3 November 2016.
  29. News: Press Association. 2018-08-07. Doctor wins appeal over shaken baby syndrome trials evidence. 4 November 2016. The Guardian.
  30. 2018-08-07. Waney Squier. 4. Why I Changed My Mind. BBC Radio 4. 15 August 2018. Dominic. Lawson. Dominic Lawson. Brunert. Jonathan. Squier. Waney.
  31. Web site: Squier . Waney . March 16, 2018 . I believed in Shaken Baby Syndrome until science showed I was wrong . April 3, 2023 . TED: Ideas Worth Spreading.

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