Tag: SBS - Organic Lifestyle Magazine

Shaken baby syndrome (SBS, which is also known as abusive head trauma) is a diagnostic term for brain damage inflicted upon a baby or young child who has been violently shaken or thrown against an object. When a child presents with a subdural hematoma, retinal bleeding, and brain swelling, these three symptoms together are supposed to confirm the diagnosis.

The blood vessels in a young child’s brain are delicate. Their heads are large, and their necks are weak. When an infant or young child is violently shaken, the head jerks back and forth as the brain bashes against the inner wall of the skull, which can cause blood vessels to rupture and tears to form in brain and nerve tissue. Bleeding on the brain and swelling or bruising of the brain can occur, resulting in injury or death.

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There are about 1,300 reported cases of SBS in the U.S. per year. One in four of these babies dies from their injuries, while 80% of children who survive suffer lifelong disabilities.

There is, however, a rising concern that SBS is either over diagnosed, wrongly diagnosed, or an altogether non-scientific diagnosis.

Is SBS a Definitive Diagnosis?

In the last 15 years, the validity of the SBS diagnosis has come under fire with medical examiners, pediatricians, neurologists, other physicians, prosecutors, and judges reversing their belief that the classic triad for this diagnosis can only be due to child abuse.

The Washington Post reports that Gregory G. Davis, the chief medical examiner in Birmingham, Alabama and the board chairman of the National Association of Medical Examiners said:

You can’t necessarily prove [Shaken Baby Syndrome] one way or another — sort of like politics or religion. Neither side can point to compelling evidence and say, ‘We’re right and the other side is wrong.’ So instead, it goes to trial.”

The Washing Post also reports that the pediatric neurosurgeon, Norman Guthkelch, who…

…had a key role in the original hypothesis that led to Shaken Baby Syndrome. Now, he says the science is faulty and there should be an independent review of Shaken Baby convictions.”

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At trial, the outcome is swayed by the testimony of expert witnesses, the doctors who testify about the child’s symptoms, examination, and diagnosis. For many doctors, this diagnosis is ironclad. In their medical books, they were taught that presentation of the triad of symptoms is indicates SBS. That’s all there is to it, so that is what they say in court. But others are beginning to question the validity of the diagnostic criteria and the diagnosis itself. And some who question it are paying the price.

Dr. Wancy Squier

Physicians and scientists are supposed to keep an open mind. They know that science depends on keen observation and attention to detail. This observation and on-going questioning lead to fine-tuning diagnostics and to new discoveries. Sometimes new knowledge replaces earlier, widely accepted beliefs, especially the commonly held beliefs derived from textbooks. But when the impact of new hypotheses or the discovery of a mistake disrupts the status quo and places blame or liability on others, backlash can destroy a career.

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Judy Mikovits Ph.D. dared to reveal her discovery that many of our vaccines are contaminated with a retrovirus that is associated with chronic fatigue syndrome and autism. Rather than receiving recognition and accolades for her discovery, she was fired, arrested, and discredited.

Dr. Andrew Wakefield discovered a connection between the MMR vaccine and autism, how the vaccine damages the gut microbiome. He publically advocated for discontinuation of the MMR, for replacing it with singular vaccines rather than the triple dose. For this, he lost his license to practice medicine.

In March of 2016, Dr. Wancy Squier, a world-renowned neuropathologist, lost her license to practice medicine (which the British call being “struck off the register”). The Medical Practitioners Tribunal of the General Medical Council, the same tribunal that revoked Dr. Andrew Wakefield’s license, determined that she lied and misled the courts due to her testimony that refutes the diagnostic criteria for SBS. She is currently appealing their ruling.

Due to her Dr. Squier’s testimony, a parent has been released from prison, her conviction overturned. Other parents were found not guilty of their charges. Their children presented with the triad of symptoms which normally guarantees a conviction, but Dr. Squier’s experience and research has convinced her that the SBS diagnosis is unscientific and unsupported. After studying all the literature she could find regarding SBS she says, “I have found nothing which satisfies me that there is any scientific foundation for it.”

More than 350 doctors have written letters of support to the British Medical Journal on Dr. Squier’s behalf. Three other British doctors who are skeptical about the SBS diagnosis who previously testified in the courts with similar testimonies are now afraid of the consequences. They no longer testify in civil or criminal cases regarding SBS for fear of losing their licenses.

Misguided Justice Leading Misdiagnoses

The very act of prosecution and plea bargaining has led to the legitimacy of the diagnosis. When innocent mothers, fathers, and caretakers take a plea, saying in effect that they did shake a child (when they didn’t) their “admission of guilt” validates the hypothesis that the classic triad of symptoms is proof of shaken baby syndrome.

For example, an innocent man is accused of murdering his girlfriend’s baby, an infant that presented with the classic triad. He repeatedly states that he is innocent, that he never shook or otherwise abused the child. But now, he is facing life in prison. His lawyer convinces him there is no hope for acquittal – the evidence is too great, too ironclad. The accused has to make a choice. Does he go to trial when his lawyer assures him there is a 97% or more chance that he will be convicted for a crime he did not commit and will spend the rest of his life in prison? Or does he plead guilty in order to strike a plea bargain with a reduced charge and a 10-year prison sentence with possible early release for good behavior? If these are his only choices, of course, he takes the deal. But his confession adds to the growing body of evidence that the triad of symptoms is caused by child abuse – even though no abuse ever occurred.

SBS Symptoms and Vaccine Injury

Edward Yazbak, MD, FAAP detected a pattern when he was reviewing the pediatric records of four infants diagnosed with SDS. While looking for underlying medical conditions, he found intriguing similarities in the cases. Although the children were geographically distant from one another, they all had these things in common:

None were abused
All had complicated past histories
All had medical conditions that explained their symptoms (other than abuse)
All received the same three vaccines: Pediarix, HIB and Prevnar within three weeks of their apparent life-threatening event

Conclusion

While Dr. Squier fights for her license, there are a growing number of SBS convictions being overturned in the United States along with a rising concern that SBS cases, SIDS, and many cases of fractures are actually caused by vaccines. (Fractures can be due to vaccine induces rickets that causes soft bones). While the CDC and the FDA continue to deny the growing evidence of vaccine injury and death, many grieving parents who have lost their babies are serving time for crimes that never occurred.

Shaken Baby Syndrome – Child Abuse or Vaccine Injury?