Letter: Implant and legal aid

Sir: As the solicitor to whom a very limited legal aid certificate has been granted to investigate the cause of the baby Danielle Bowler's illness, I view with some amazement the claim of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons that the grant of legal aid in such circumstances is pandering to "junk science" ("Plea to Irvine over legal aid for breast implant woman", 19 January).

The purpose of a limited legal aid certificate is to fund the gathering of evidence, not to pander to it. Specialist solicitors are well capable of conducting a forensic examination of an individual's medico-legal complaint and I will do so in this case without bowing to unsubstantiated claims by anyone, least of all those with a vested interest in cosmetic surgery. As a lawyer, I rely for medical advice on experts in the relevant field. I certainly would not seek the opinion of a plastic surgeon on a matter of paediatric disease or pathology.

PAUL BALEN

Freeth Cartwright Hunt Dickins

Nottingham