I was surprised when I read Dr Roscoe Taylor’s claim (in his statement provided to Australian Story) that his investigation included an audit of patient charts in my practice. I do not recall such an event and would therefore be obliged if Dr Taylor would substantiate his claim and provide me with the dates, times, and extent of his audit.
His department did review several charts of patients with neurological problems which, it was agreed, were to be reviewed by a toxicologist, Professor Malcolm Sim, but at no other time has there been any other investigation of my records and I would welcome one by an independent assessor in this field. This was the type of investigation that I hoped, would have occurred.
Dr Taylor’s claim is a red herring and serves to divert from the real issue which is that there was enough evidence in the Scammell Report to justify a comprehensive investigation.
To Dr Scammell’s surprise (and mine) this did not occur. In fact, the heavy handed nature of officialdom’s reaction to the reports (Scammell report and AMA briefing paper) seemed to Dr Scammell and me to be more in the nature of damage control.
This persuaded us to do what the authorities were unwilling to do and to pursue the investigation ourselves. (Dr Scammell did request Dr Taylor to provide his revised data – this has not so far been forthcoming.)
However, we now do have the evidence to justify a full population-based investigation in accordance with the ANZECC and other appropriate national guidelines.
I look forward to Dr Taylor’s response.
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