PETITION organized by the Stop Medical Kidnapping Advocacy Association, a registered federal non-profit 

To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

Whereas Caregivers in Ontario are being falsely accused of having caused non-accidental injuries as determined by pediatricians in Child Abuse Assessment Programs prior to ruling out medical syndromes and conditions that mimic child maltreatment with a thorough examination and testing; and

Whereas the accused caregivers need access to medical records and imaging of their children to seek second medical opinions with specialists; and

Whereas the accused caregivers need access to second medical opinions provided by licensed and board-certified specialists in their relevant fields or specialty, based on the nature of the injury and outside of the primary investigating healthcare facility; and

Whereas there is an urgent need for oversight and accountability in the Child Abuse Assessment Programs in Ontario to protect families from wrongful accusations and ensure that children’s medical conditions are accurately diagnosed and treated;

Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

To afford parents the opportunity to seek a second medical opinion without the intervention of the accusing doctor or hospital, with access to all medical records and imaging. We also urge the Ministry of Health to investigate and fund referrals and examinations under the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) for this purpose.

We further call on the government to enact legislation that mandates independent review and oversight of Child Abuse Assessment Programs in Ontario hospitals, ensuring transparency, accountability, and protections for families and children facing medical conditions that could be misinterpreted as abuse and to require the collection of comprehensive statistics regarding
children who were initially misdiagnosed by SCAN teams, to monitor trends, assess the accuracy of diagnoses, improve practices, and inform policy decisions.