(This
column was published in the North
Shore News on
Dec. 9, 1998)
Ministry
meddling in lives
By Leo Knight
EVIDENTLY
Minister of Children and Families Lois Boone has some difficulty
with the way the Marcu case was presented in this space two
weeks ago.
Unfortunately,
as with most things the NDP do, she doesn't let the truth stand
in the way of political ideology, rhetoric and contrived
fiction.
She
said in a letter published in these pages last Friday,
"Your readers deserve to know that the ministry's concern
for the safety of the children in this case is based on
information provided by, and consultation with, medical
doctors."
Unfortunately,
the minister doesn't understand the salient facts any better
than she understands the rules of basic grammar.
Let's
review.
The
doctors involved, a family practitioner and a pediatrician,
suggested the possibility of Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy (MSBP),
because Maricela Marcu was seeking, in their opinion, excessive
medical treatment for her young daughter's urinary tract
infection.
Neither
the family doctor nor the specialist deigned to treat the little
girl's problem. Instead they focused on the mom.
The
ministry tried to force supervision on the family. Well, guess
what? They didn't want an outsider telling them how to raise
their kids. Mrs. Marcu didn't accept the conclusions reached by
the doctors. And why not? Her daughter had an infection that was
not being treated.
Mrs.
Marcu was assessed by the well-respected psychiatrist Dr. Joe
Noone, who is also a teaching professor at UBC.
Dr.
Noone stated in his Aug. 31 report, "... I could elicit no
evidence that would support that Maricela is psychotic at
present. Therefore, I would suggest that a delusional
interpretation is not supported at this stage."
Now,
I should state the report is 14 pages long, but it clearly
indicates MSBP is not a relevant diagnosis.
Bear
in mind, now, that Noone is the recommended psychiatrist by the
doctors who brought the ministry into the case. He said they
were wrong.
In
the interim period, the Marcu family changed doctors. The new
physician, Dr. Vinnisky, examined, diagnosed and treated the
little girl. Something the previous doctors the minister refers
to, couldn't.
In
an Oct. 28 letter, Dr. Vinnisky states, "I am deeply
appalled by the conduct of the Ministry of Children and Families
representatives towards the family of my patients, Mr. and Mrs.
Marcu.
"I
have been the medical provider for this family for about half a
year and have noticed a continuous barrage of threats and
intimidations related to their children from the ministry. Mrs.
Marcu was falsely accused of having (MSBP). This diagnosis was
effectively ruled out by consulting psychiatrist Dr. J. Noone
..."
The
letter continues, "... Ministry has insisted on repeated
consults by different psychiatrists in order to put in doubt Dr.
Noone's opinion and make it favourable to their cause. The
contacted psychiatrists have refused to engage in such
practices."
So
the minister says she is relying on "the information
provided by, and consultation with, medical doctors."
Apparently
only the ones who started this mess by acting on what can only
be described as a theory, a guess.
The
only doctor with the expertise to give a conclusive answer said
"no" and is being ignored. So, too, is the family
doctor, who did what should have been done in the first place
and treated the condition of the child that Mrs. Marcu was so
concerned about in the first place.
The
ministry officials who refused to accept the specialist's report
tried to force their way into the Marcus' lives. They didn't
want them.
What
followed forced Mrs. Marcu into hiding with the kids and Mr.
Marcu into the less than pleasant confines of jail for two weeks
because he wouldn't tell the "caring" ministry where
his family was.
All
the Marcus want is to be left alone by a government that just
can't conceive that anyone wouldn't want that government running
their daily lives.
They
have offered to have the ministry apprehend the kids on paper.
This, by law, would force a hearing in front of a judge to
determine whether there is sufficient evidence for the
government's involvement.
But
this offer has been declined. The ministry doesn't appear to
want a judicial review of its actions. Small wonder.
The
minister's letter in the North Shore News deliberately tries to
mislead you, the reader, by saying, "All actions taken by
the ministry were endorsed by a judge."
This
is untrue.
There
has been no judicial review of the evidence at any point in this
sorry case. The only involvement by a judge was to issue the
arrest warrant for Mrs. Marcu and to put Mr. Marcu in jail when
he would not or could not reveal their whereabouts. No judge has
sat in judgment of the evidence.
In
fact, that is exactly what the Marcu family want and the
ministry is refusing to allow.
Boone
also complains about my "sarcastic references" about
the child protection worker assigned to the case.
Sarcastic?
Me? Surely not.
The
minister says the worker has degrees in social science and
social work from Concordia and McGill and "more than a
decade of field experience."
Well,
that may or may not be true. I don't know, but I sure tried to
find out.
I
tried to get that information from a variety of supervisors,
communications types and other officials in the ministry.
Those
who did speak to me refused to reveal any information of the
experience of the worker, Julie Cringle.
All
I had to go on was the information that came out in the warrant
hearing in which Cringle stated she had two years' experience as
a child protection worker.
No
evidence was provided about her education, training or related
experience.
If
I was wrong I'm sorry. But, it's the ministry's own policies
that hide the facts.
But
that's all smokescreen in any event. The bottom line is that the
ministry has no business sticking its "caring" faces
into this family's life. They have no legal right to force them
to do anything on the basis of a "theory" later
unproved by an expert.
The
Marcu family want this matter reviewed by a judge. The ministry
refuses.
Imagine
if this were your family and your kids. The minister can
chastise me all she wants. It is she who should be taken to task
for the obscenity done to the Marcu family.
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