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Shaken Baby Syndrome Possibly Impossible
Thank you, Double X for pointing us toward a fascinating article in Reason magazine about changes in how the medical community views so-called “shaken baby syndrome.” Despite hundreds of convictions each year — many using “expert testimony” — researchers, doctors and legal experts have lately been asking whether it is even possible to shake a baby to death.
For a long time, the death of any baby that showed these three symptoms — bleeding at the back of the eye, bleeding in the protective area of the brain, and brain swelling — was thought to be caused by having been vigorously shaken by a caretaker. Almost everybody who purported to know anything about SBS thought those three symptoms could only occur in an infant who had been shaken with a force equivalent to a fall from a three-story window or a car going between 25 and 40 mph.
However!
More recent research, using lifelike infant dolls, suggests vigorous shaking produces bleeding equivalent to a 2-foot to 3-foot fall. More importantly, shaking experiments with the infant-like dolls could not produce the three symptoms prosecutors were using to pin SBS deaths on caretakers.
From Reason:
The research implies that human beings simply cannot shake a baby to death without an accompanying impact to the head. SBS cases, however, frequently show no external injuries. This suggests that other causes are at work. Additional research has shown babies to be lucid up to 72 hours before classic SBS symptoms set in, casting doubt on the long-held theory that the child’s caretaker at the time of death (or loss of consciousness) was the likely killer.
Reason links to this article in Discover magazine while lays out the research and findings nicely. They also interview several specialists who, more than once, testified for the prosecution in SBS cases yet now dispute the original research.
A couple of years ago, a Wisconsin court granted a new trial to a woman who had been sentenced to 18 years in prison for an SBS conviction. The court demonstrated there are enough questions about the science and research to question whether she had been fairly convicted.
What’s scary is that 200 people are sentenced every year for SBS deaths. If the research is true, and the medical community is starting to agree, that means a lot of innocent people are sitting in jail.
DePaul University law professor Deborah Teurkheimer thinks its time for U.S. courts to review all SBS cases from the past 20 years. Meanwhile, the same day the Wisconsin court granted that new trial, they denied a new trial for a woman convicted under similar circumstances.
Thoughts?
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[...] Shaken Baby Syndrome Impossible? [...]
There’s a Device That Can Detect Autism? | Strollerderby commented on Sep 24 09 at 1:15 pm[...] and sends about 200 people to jail every year. But new research shows that shaken baby syndrome may, in fact, be impossible. [...]
What Ears Say About Heart Health, Smart Women Live Longer, and Why Shaken Baby Syndrome May Be Impossible : InformationalHub.com commented on Oct 07 09 at 2:16 am[...] and sends about 200 people to jail every year. But new research shows that shaken baby syndrome may, in fact, be impossible. [...]
What Ears Say About Heart Health, Smart Women Live Longer, and Why Shaken Baby Syndrome May Be Impossible | Healthy Living Tips commented on Oct 09 09 at 6:49 am[...] Instead of Blaming Vaccines for Seizures, They Falsely accuse the Parents of Shaken Baby Syndrome Posted on May 3, 2011 by Boulderdash One of the biggest cover ups and miscarriages of justice is vaccine induced injuries. Parents are threatened and coerced by Doctors and Social services if the child does not get these shots.They are breaking the law they are told.The truth is there is no law requiring parents to vaccinate their child. This is one of the biggest frauds of the century were the parents is damned if they do by allowing their child to get shots because of the fetal side effects. The Parents are damned if they don’t if they do not know their rights and risk social workers removing the children from their custody for child neglect because the parents did not vaccinate the child. Another reason the parents can be damned if they don’t is if they parent submits and gives the child their vaccines as recommended by the state, The side effects can be deadly or have permanent damage to the health of the child for the rest of their life. When the child is experiencing a side effects of the vaccines.The parent will be blamed for something they did instead of blaming it on the vaccine. One of those possible deadly side effects is going into seizures after the child getting inoculated. Medical staff will falsely accuse the parent of shaken baby syndrome as the cause of the seizure instead of the vaccines. Usually these infants went into seizures hours after getting vaccines. Doctors will blame shaken baby syndrome for the cause knowing full and well the vaccine caused the seizures. Falsely accusing parents of shaking their baby as the cause is their way to shift blame away from va… [...]
Instead of Blaming Vaccines for Seizures, They Falsely accuse the Parents of Shaken Baby Syndrome « The Invisible Opportunity: Hidden Truths Revealed commented on May 03 11 at 9:42 amComstock commented on Sep 23 09 at 7:25 pmSo, is it okay to shake the little brats now?
GP commented on Sep 23 09 at 7:30 pmMaybe the babies didn’t die directly from their injuries, but of broken hearts : (
Lucky commented on Sep 23 09 at 8:22 pmThis is so sad. Who knows what caused those injuries and the parents not only lost their children but their lives as well.
Mistress_Scorpio commented on Sep 23 09 at 10:24 pmThis is awful, yet I am encouraged that they is working toward more precise science in this matter.
brex commented on Sep 24 09 at 1:34 pmThere has been a lot of grief caused by “expert” witnesses and misdiagnosing SBS up here in Canada. The couple who lost all of their children because of a probable misdiagnosis of SBS just made me ill.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2008/12/01/ont-goudgeinquiry.html
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/04/02/bc-surrey-parents-children.html
kd commented on Sep 24 09 at 2:09 pmI’m not buying it yet. Many medical providers working with shaken babies know that it may take a few days for serious symptoms to become apparent because the baby develops a slow bleed, or swelling that increases over many hours. I cared for shaken babies as a staff nurse, and can tell you – these kids had devastating neurological and physical sequelae. And most of them were allowed supervised visits with their suspected abusers… it was hard to see.
We do things to children that we would never do to another adult.
Rosana commented on Sep 24 09 at 3:26 pmTrue or not, kids in general should not be shaken and if you as a parent feel like you have to shake your kid, several times a day, is time to call social services yourself and give your kid up because you cannot handle it. I agree with KD some people do things to kids that they will never do to another adult.
Madeline Holler commented on Sep 24 09 at 3:46 pmAbsolutely, Rosana. The take-away from this should not be that it’s OK to shake your baby, because it’s not. And some of those people in jail for killing kids in their care did, in fact, kill kids in their care. However, many hundreds could have been wrongly convicted of SBS, particularly if those three symptoms were present(and that’s the evidence that was used to convict them) but there were no signs of trauma to the outside of the head.
Robyn commented on Sep 25 09 at 12:36 amMany people who question vaccines want more research to be done to see if there is any correlation between “Shaken Baby Syndrome” and vaccinations. If SBS can be caused by other factors, perhaps the time has come to do this research. Sadly, more people will simply say “It can’t be the vaccines” than actually try to rule it out scientifically.
mommiedear commented on Sep 25 09 at 9:15 amSo what is this new research suggesting??? That convictions be overturned? They were all innocent??? what exactly? Why shake a baby at all? I dont get it? If it is crying the shaking isnt going to makeing it instantly happy so what is the point? Anyway many moms have been frustrated on http://www.truuconfessions.com and have spoken out clearly about the shaken baby syndrome.
Grace Jacek, R.N. commented on Sep 25 09 at 11:21 amComments: This particular blog is unscientific, irresponsible and does not, quite intentionaly, elucidate other facts associated in child abuse crimes involving Shaken Baby Syndrome. I am wondering if Ms. Holler will next suggest a research model that inflicts the mechanism of injury on healthy infants in an attempt to prove her point.
Chris commented on Sep 25 09 at 12:15 pmit is never ok to shake a baby now if they fall or have an acedent that is beyond the parents control that is a diffrent story but maybe you should read the article before you put up stupid comments about being ok to shake a baby. Shome one should have shaked you you brat.
Michael commented on Oct 11 09 at 1:29 pmNO ONE SHOULD SHAKE A BABY! BUT NOT ALL SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS, the triad, assocaiated with Shaken Baby Syndrome have to be caused by what the medical field deems “Shaken Baby Syndrome”. There are other medical proven items that causes these same signs. The originating studies and data we base this syndrome on are unscientifically proven. Just as the mojority in the medical field believe in this syndrome so did the experts a few hundred years ago believe the world was FLAT. ALL these experts agreed with this. If you look at how many studies are done…one studay will indicate this or that is good for you and then years later another study proves otherwise. We don’t know all about the human body and sometimes we shouldn’t try. We alter God’s handiwork AKA our bodeis with Vaccines, medications ets. We don’t understand the inflammatory process as relevant to vaccine reactions….as many studies that have been performed noe of these experts can tell us what causes SIDS. We don’t know everything. Can shaking a child hurt them? Hell yeah I think it has to in some fashion. Can it kill a child? I don’t know but I would think before it cuased damage to the brain it would certainly have to cause neck injuries and if there are no neck injuries or external signs of trauma then we need to look for a different medical reason. I know 100% for a fact that this has been misdiagnosed before. I know it can also be used by a doctor trying to cover up his mistakes. I can’t say this Shaken Baby Syndrome doesn’t exist but I can tell you 100% that we should be absolutely sure of this diagnosis before falsely accusing an innocent parent that has already lost a child and how would an innocent parent feel after losing a child and then being accused of it and it really was something medical. If you haven’t spent 500 hour researching this Syndrome and the faulty data that originated it then take time to research before you comment on a subject you know nothing of. I do feel that some of those that have made previous comments that are in the medical field are not interested in some of these new studies or even the old faulty ones that the theroy was born from and I am sure those in the medical field really care about these children. There are many other causes, both known, unknown and newly discovered that can mimic these SBS type symptoms. Dr. Ommaya performed the only scientific based study that supports this theory…He later admits as does his protege, Dr. Uscinski, that is was based on faluty data or the exclusion of other facts that should have been discovered. Read about the Ken Marsh story. Maybe since I was presonally affected I feel it is overdiagnosed. Regardless, I know for 100% that we were falsely accused. There may be alot of parents that have actually caused abuse and death of their child, intentional or not, but just as we are innocent, there has to be other innocent parents that have been acccused fasley. Please don’t judge a case or a person for even the best doctor in the world is human and can misdiagnos. I am glad that no matter what your stance on the subject that these children are the main priority and just as we should protect them from abusers, we should also not remove children from a home without beign 100% sure for not much is worse than your child passing away—-except being faslely accused of having something to do with it. God Bless all the children and I hope you can be open-minded and research both sides of the coin. Remember we know the world really is flat but not long ago those that thought the world was round was ridiculed….The one’s that felt the Earth was flat were THE EXPERTS…..the experts are not always right.
Michele Pignatore commented on Jun 17 10 at 8:24 amHello,
I am writing to you hoping to find some answers. My daughter and her husband have recently found themselves being accused of SBS. Their child Riley has been taken away from all of us. We are in the very beginning stages of court and have a wonderful lawyer however it seems as though proving non abuse will be our greatest challenge as a family. Below is some of our story however I’m sure I’ve missed parts.Riley turned 2 months old June 3rd. I have suspicions that have led me to your website that Riley may have had a prenatal or infant strokes. Riley’s mom while 9 months pregnant tragically lost her father whom she loved very much due to a massive heart attack. Needless to say she went thru a tremendous amount of stress during this time. We all expected her to go into labor during his funeral services however she didn’t. Mom delivered Riley April 3rd. Riley seemed very healthy. No problems.
About 3 1/2 weeks ago ( not positive about the date ) Riley’s dad placed her into her little infant papisan seat with the safety belt attached so she wouldn’t wiggle out, just like she has been on other occasions, one of Riley’s favorite places to be. Her father ( mom was in the other room ) said riley started to fuss and cry for a minute, he let her fuss to see if she would soon settle down. ( Mom heard her fussing but it was only for a short time so she didn’t jump up ). Dad said Riley all of a sudden tensed up very much, started to extremely clench her fists really, really hard and arch her back way up in the air. Dad immediately unbuckled her and took her out of the chair to calm her down a bit. He then told mom he was going to give Riley a bath to try and settle her down, which is what they do to relax Riley because she loves and it and they basically hate to see Riley not happy, not even for a second.
Anyway, while dad was giving Riley a bath mom walked in to see if all was well and noticed bruises on the palm of Riley’s hand, her forearms and on her belly where the belt was attached. Riley was fine in the bath, she calmed down and dad continued with the bath. Mom and Dad could not believe that an infant could be so strong as to bruise her own palms from clenching. Needless to say they were very concerned that she had the strength to do that and confused about why this happened so mom called the doctor the very next morning and brought her in that day so the doctor could take look at her.
The doctor said she’s never seen anything like it, the doctor also said she will outgrow the clenching when her motor reflex’s calm down and she jokingly said ” well… I can’t promise you that she’ll out grow the temper ” she also stated that she may of had a small type of seizure but didn’t schedule any testing so her parents left it as that and never really thought about it again because the doctor was not worried about it. Riley’s parents are first time parents so they weren’t in the habit of second guessing her doctor.I am starting to believe that this may have been Riley’s first or second ( depending on if she had one in the womb ) seizure. I along with Riley’s other grandma also have noticed Riley having a crooked mouth along with a lazy type eye. Something to me that wasn’t noticeable a month prior. Riley returned home and happy as could be.
A few weeks or so passed.
Dad was giving Riley her nightly bath which he did every night since her homecoming from birth. He wrapped Riley in a towel and then into the living room for her nightly bottle. He then walked her into the bedroom and showed mom how limp Riley was and while mom was looking at her how limp her legs were Riley’s head began to twitch a tiny bit, all to one side. Dad also told mom Riley didn’t want her bottle. This wasn’t too unusual because sometimes Riley doesn’t really want her bottle right after her bath. Prior to this Riley was a very good night sleeper. They thought that her head twitching was just her motor reflex’s relaxing due to her fussing prior to her bath, usually she cry’s for a second while undressing for her bath mainly I suppose like most infants… they are chilly until they lay in the warm water. I am wondering if this was Riley’s second stroke or seizure. Riley was awake a lot that night, fussing all night according to dad who watches her at night so mom can be rested for the days with her. Dad said during the night she would fuss a lot only taking very small amounts of formula then sleep for short amounts of time waking often to fuss again. Mom said she was sleepy that following day which is unlike Riley. Prior Riley was doing basically well as a night time sleeper and happy baby during the days. Dad said she probably was sleepy because she had been up all night fussing. Which made sense at the time. They knew she didn’t feel well so possibly she was getting a cold or just not feeling well. This day was Monday the holiday ( Memorial Day ) . Riley from this point on would only wake up for short, short periods of time them back to sleep, not like Riley at all. Seeming weak. Mom was on the phone Tuesday morning again with the doctors ( 2 separate clinics ) explaining this whole situation. They said they couldn’t see her until Wednesday. Wednesday came and I will spare any details however it’s an unbelievable nightmare from this point. Riley has been taken away from all of us. The doctors have said she is a victim of Shaken Baby Syndrome.
I do not believe that Riley was a victim of SBS. I believe she has an underlying medical condition that has gone undiagnosed. I believe she has had a few seizures. I say this because of mom being under an enormous amount of stress in her 9th month of pregnancy due to her fathers death, Riley’s crooked mouth, the bruising Riley caused by clenching her fists a few weeks prior and Riley’s lazy eye. The doctors say she has an old blood clot along with a recent one. My concern is that the old clot was the first seizure ( possibly a ” mini seizure” if their is such a thing ), in the chair and second seizure on Sunday, the day before the holiday while during her bath time. Both times Riley was taken to the doctors for answers.
Does this make sense to you ? Is this possible that Riley has had strokes this young ? Could this be misinterpreted as SBS ? We all just want the best for Riley.
The doctors and police are refusing to do any further testing on her and saying this is a case of SBS and nothing more. I believe in my heart that she has an underlying medical condition and no one is listening.
We had our first hearing yesterday. Social services stated that Riley has been released after about 9 days in the hospital to her new foster home with NO scheduled doctors appointments. This sounds completely unreasonable to me. She was in intensive care for 5 or 6 of those days. They do say that there is a good chance of her being blind for the rest of her life. They also have claims of choking and twisting. This was the first time we heard of these charges. Our lawyer asked Social services while on the stand what evidence did they have of choking? She said none. No bruising whatsoever. He asked the same of the twisting of Riley charge and she said they had NO evidence. I do not understand how they can assume that this child was hurt like this with no evidence. Riley’s parents are in the process of being nothing less than railroaded and it is up to me to help stop it. They are loving and caring parents. Their world and family revolved around Riley and now is being destroyed piece by piece by people who have no evidence.
I need help at this point. I need anyone with any experience in this field to please contact me for guidance.
I would be grateful for any help. e-mail luckymranch@aol.com
Thank you,
Michele
Wes commented on Oct 07 10 at 6:41 pmHi, I just read your article, we are going thru almost the same thing here in Idaho, in short because I have been charged with felony injury to a child I cant discuss much of it now, but in the same regard our son had taken a fall with me down a mountain then hit his head the next day on the counter, he slowed down on his feeding and started acting not right we took his temp and was almost 102, we rushed him to the hospital. Take in mind he was only 5 weeks old. Within 1 hour of being @ the hospital we were accused of child abuse. I was arrested!!! this is going on 1 month now, same thing doctors are so stuck on sbs that they have not tested for anything else!!! we lost custody of our son for now!! We will not b able to have him tested by a different doctor until we hire one thru our attorney’s!!! My responding to this is because I feel something needs to be done as far as the medical field being able to make a supposid diagnosis and ruin peoples lives! Doctor’s misdiagnose people everyday and kill people everyday!!! How can there diagnosis be taken so litteral without new eyes and second opinions?? Then in my research I have found that most medical centers get funding from the Center for SBS out of Ogden Utah!! This whole SBS BullSH.. is starting to look more like a business to me than looking out for the interest of our children!! They are paid for every case they diagnose as SBS!! How can this happen?? The other thing I have found is.. All ER doctors and medical examiners are trained to specifically look for the three signs when a child comes in, once they find these it is only 100% SBS!!! and no further tests are done!! What happened to medicine when it was about helping and not for financial gain!!! It is very clear after doing research this is becoming a huge problem putting families in a spot they should never be in!! THE BIGGEST FORM OF CHILD ABUSE IS, TAKING CHILDREN AWAY FROM GOOD LOVING PARENTS!!! I TOO AM SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS!! You can email me if u like. werives@yahoo.com. In closing I think the only way for this to stop is for innocent people to do whatever it takes to get lawyers to, for one prove ur innocence but to also sue the doctors and hospitals for there actions!!! I also want to make note that this is not for anyone who abuses there children!!! Child abuse does happen, and should be stopped!!! But for those of us who do not abuse!! Let our stories be heard and told so we can stop the madness!!
Kate commented on Feb 25 11 at 4:48 pmWow. The vaccine people tried for 15 years to say that vaccines cause autism. Now that they have finally been proven to be frauds, they are saying vaccines cause Shaken Baby Syndrome? What’s next, SIDS, food allergies, and eczema?
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