A WORLD expert on brittle bone disease gave flawed evidence at the court cases of two parents alleged to have harmed their children, the General Medical Council claimed yesterday.

Dr Colin Paterson (66), of Longforgan, is accused of diagnosing the highly disputed condition temporary brittle bone disease in two youngsters, despite medical evidence not supporting his findings, the General Medical Council professional conduct committee, meeting in London, heard.

Dr Paterson, a retired specialist chemical pathologist, appeared on behalf of the parents of a child, only known as X, who wanted to stop their daughter being taken into care after she was found to have a number of fractures.

He also acted as a witness for a couple in Arizona alleged to have harmed their baby daughter, who had 14 broken bones.

In both cases he was accused by the GMC of failing to fulfil his duty as an expert witness and delaying or prolonging the cases.

Dr Paterson, formerly of Ninewells Hospital, denies serious professional misconduct.

After the charges were read to him, his counsel, James Turner QC, asked the committee for the proceedings to be stayed, because of the two years it had taken for the case to come before them.

He also asked for certain parts of the material due to be put before them by the GMC’s counsel to be ruled inadmissible.

Before Mr Turner spoke the charges were read to Dr Paterson.

The first case related to a hearing at the family division of the High Court of Justice before Mr Justice Singer in 2001.

In evidence given to the court Dr Paterson failed to discuss a chest bruise seen on the child in October 1999 and also failed to discuss a swelling on the right calf and bruising on the right ankle in December that year.

The charges said that these injuries were contra-indications of temporary brittle bone disease (TBBD).

In his judgment Mr Justice Singer said Dr Paterson had provided a misleading opinion, failed to be objective, admitted factors which did not support his opinion and lacked proper research in his approach to the case.

In the American case Dr Paterson appeared as a witness for Audra and Martin Talmadge, who appeared on criminal charges at the Pima County Superior Court in Arizona after their infant daughter Amber was found to have 14 fractures when admitted to hospital in 1995.

The charges accuse him of concluding the child’s fractures were caused by bone disease, when he first gave evidence to the prosecution, despite having seen only part of the medical evidence and only interviewed the couple for 20 minutes each by phone.

By the time of the second interview he had been sent some 2784 pages of documents relating to the case but had not read any of them, the charges said.

In all evidence given at the retrial Dr Paterson said that, in follow-up cases of children returned to their parents following legal proceedings, not one had subsequently had non-accidental injuries.

The charges said Dr Paterson failed to mention the case of Myles Phipps, who died after having returned home after Dr Paterson had diagnosed him with brittle bone disease, and “at his inquest there was considerable evidence that his fractures were non-accidental.”

The committee heard detailed submissions from Mr Turner, who reiterated not only that the case should be stayed but that comments from Mr Justice Singer included in the charges should not be put before the tribunal.

The committee adjourned until today, when it will decide whether to hear the case in full.