Family's relief over doctor verdict

A Ludlow couple today spoke of their relief that "justice has been done" following news that a pediatrician who treated their son has been struck off.

Janet and Robin Alexander said "a powerful condemnation" had been made during an appeal which resulted in Dr David Southall being struck off on Friday after he lost his High Court battle against the decision.

The General Medical Council's (GMC) fitness to practise panel decided in December 2007 that he abused his position by accusing a mother, referred to as Mrs M, of drugging and murdering her son.

Mrs Alexander, who attended the hearing with her son Lawrence, now 22, was one of a number of other people who had complained to the GMC about Dr Southall.

She believed that Dr Southall's failure to correctly diagnose Lawrence's illness directly contributed to a decline in his health.

Lawrence was first treated by Dr Southall when he was five months old in 1987.

Mrs Alexander said her son had been a near-miss cot death baby.

She said he had been frequently ill and was taken to London's Royal Brompton Hospital, where Dr Southall allegedly declared that there was nothing wrong with him.

She claimed that Dr Southall had made Lawrence a ward of court and had suggested that she and her husband Robin had harmed him.

Now she said the family could enter a fresh chapter in their lives.

She added: "It was a total relief.

"We first made our complaint to the GMC in 1987. Since then we have carried this great weight of responsibility.

"Finally that weight has lifted.

"It does condemn him once and for all."

Lawrence, who lives with his parents, has suffered chronic fatigue syndrome, a connective tissue disorder and heart problems, for the past seven years.

He still requires daily care and is registered as disabled.

By Sophie Bignall