– Questions arise over credibility as experts already agree on drowning verdict
A fourth post-mortem opinion in the death of 11-year-old Adriana Younge is reportedly being sought despite three internationally recognised forensic pathologists already concluding that she died by drowning.
The new figure at the centre of controversy is Dr Hubert Daisley, a Trinidad and Tobago-based pathologist whose name surfaced on social media on Friday night.
His potential involvement has sparked concern, as Dr Daisley has previously come under fire for an incorrect cause of death determination in a high-profile case. In 2013, he publicly apologised after wrongly attributing a death to murder, when the individual had actually succumbed to asthma-related complications.
Then, Trinidad’s Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan said Daisley was not qualified as a forensic pathologist by the Medical Board.
Adriana was found dead in a hotel swimming pool on April 24, just one day after visiting the facility with family for a day out. Her body was released to her family for burial last Monday, after three forensic experts—each with substantial international credentials— examined the body.
Those experts include Dr Glenn A. Rudner of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, Dr Shubhakar Karra Paul, an internationally appointed government pathologist from Barbados, and Dr Gary L. Collins, Chief Medical Examiner for the State of Delaware, who was chosen by Adriana’s family. All three ruled Adriana’s death as drowning, with no evidence of forced submersion.
Collins was, in fact, found by the family’s Lawyer, Darren Wade, and nominated by them to participate in the procedure – a decision fully supported by the government.
The emergence of Dr Daisley in the case has raised eyebrows, not only due to his past controversies, but also because both Adriana’s parents had reportedly agreed to accept the findings of the initial post-mortem examination, which was conducted in the presence of two doctors representing the family’s interests.
Some persons now speculate that political actors may be seeking to politicise the child’s death, rather than the initiative coming directly from the grieving family. Dr Daisley was previously appointed by opposition leaders in 2012 to participate in autopsies related to a politically sensitive case involving the deaths of three men in Linden, Guyana, during public unrest.
It remains unclear whether this latest move reflects new concerns from the family or represents an attempt by political figures to cast doubt on the findings for their own purposes.
The call for yet another opinion has left many questioning how many voices are needed before the truth is accepted.
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