Rethinking Shaken Baby Syndrome

by Joseph Shapiro

June 29, 2011

Norman Guthkelch, a pediatric neurosurgeon who is credited with discovering shaken baby syndrome,
is now having second thoughts about how the diagnosis is used in court

ONE CLICK EXTRACTS

The dispute over shaken baby syndrome is a bitter civil war. On one side, doctors, lawyers and other experts say the diagnosis is key to winning convictions of people accused of the most horrible acts of child abuse. Opponents say the diagnosis is used too freely and that sometimes, innocent people go to prison.

Norman Guthkelch, the pediatric neurosurgeon who is credited with first observing the condition in young children, is speaking out for the first time about his concerns regarding how that diagnosis is used. He worries that it is too often applied by medical examiners and doctors without considering other possible causes for a child's death or injury.

Guthkelch, who is now 95, would like to play peacemaker. "There are cases where people on both sides, both of whom I admire equally, are barely able to speak to one another," he says. "And that's a shame."

Guthkelch is concerned that there are too many cases like the one he recently reviewed in Arizona. A defense attorney asked him to look at the case of a father who has spent 10 years in prison after being convicted of killing his 5-month-old son by shaking him.

After reviewing the trial record and medical reports, Guthkelch said he was troubled to see that the medical examiner's autopsy had concluded that the baby died of shaken baby syndrome while discounting other possible causes: A month prior to the child's death, the boy had been admitted to the hospital with uncontrolled seizures. The baby had also briefly been in the neonatal intensive care ward after a difficult birth.

To Guthkelch, this suggests the boy may have instead died from natural causes. "I think I used the expression in my report, 'I wouldn't hang a cat on the evidence of shaking, as presented.' "

READ MORE..  Rethinking Shaken Baby Syndrome

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Related Links:
* The Hardest Cases: When Children Die, Justice Can Be Elusive
Pro Publica
* Doctors Often Get It Wrong in Deaths of Children
John Johnson, Newser Starr
* Half of all parents tried over shaken baby syndrome have been wrongly convicted - Police interference
Angela Levin, Mail on Sunday
* 'Shaken Baby Syndrome' Probe Urges Injustice Cases Review
Chris Bentley, Attorney General, Government of Ontario
* Shaken Baby Syndrome Controversy Turns Toxic
BBC File on 4
* More USA Doctors Questioning 'Shaken-Baby Syndrome'
NPR
* Shaken Baby Syndrome Story & Metropolitan Police Witness Interference
Lisa Blakemore Brown, Psychologist
* Metropolitan Police Accused Of Trying To Campaign Against Shaken Baby Witnesses
Andrew Hosken, BBC Radio 4 Today Programme
* The Consensus Report
Family Law Reform
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