As I have been focusing on cases of shaken baby syndrome these past weeks, the December issue of Discover magazine publishes an article entitled The Shaken Baby Debate. Author Mark Anderson raises the issue of how the legal system pigeonholes the issue and, at times, wrongfully prosecutes.
“On one side of the courtroom, representing mainstream medical opinion, are those who believe shaken baby syndrome (SBS) is a valid diagnosis…On the other side, a growing number of skeptics are now claiming that the evidence for the syndrome rests on dubious medical ground with questionable biophysical models supporting it…Each side is battling for the high moral ground.”
Just as in other areas of litigation – you can always get what you pay for.
“Money…has brought otherwise good people over to what…colleagues call the ‘dark side,’ doubting SBS.”
Eli Newberger, assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, states, “I have never ceased to be amazed about what highly regarded, well published, scientifically informed doctors will do when they’re offered large amounts of money.”
The advocates of diagnosing SBS base their observations of modern scientific diagnostic technology such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). The skeptics, conversely, say that innocent families around the world have been left in ruins by prosecutors and child protective agencies who have wrongfully accused parents and child-care workers of child abuse.
My personal thoughts, as always, make room for salient arguments on both extremes. If the system wrongfully prosecutes even one, then the entire system loses credibility for the rest who then fear similar retribution. However, let us never lose sight of what we are potentially doing by ignoring the signs and symptoms of SBS. The condition is serious and must be so regarded.
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