Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS)

WARNING.
STOP! IF YOU HAVE BEEN ACCUSED OF SHAKING A CHILD, OR A CHILD IN YOUR CARE HAS BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME CONTACT A QUALIFIED AND EXPERIENCED CRIMINAL ATTORNEY IMMEDIATELY!

DO NOT SPEAK TO MEDICAL PERSONS OR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS OR SOCIAL SERVICE WORKERS WITHOUT YOUR ATTORNEY PRESENT. ANYTHING YOU TELL THESE PEOPLE WILL EVENTUALLY BE USED AGAINST YOU, EVEN IF YOU STATE YOU NEVER SHOOK THE CHILD IN YOUR CARE. IF YOU HAVE ALREADY SPOKEN TO MEDICAL PERSONS AND/OR LAW ENFORCEMENT AND/OR SOCIAL SERVICE WORKERS IMMEDIATELY CONTACT AN ATTORNEY. THEN WRITE DOWN EVERYTHING YOU SAID TO MEDICAL, LAW OR SOCIAL WORKERS AND PROVIDE THIS INFORMATION TO YOUR ATTORNEY.

Intended Audience.

This website is intended to assist persons FALSELY accused of Shaken Baby Syndrome. If you have been falsely accused of Shaken Baby Syndrome, then read on. You'll gain some valuable information that took me months to compile.

For those who have stumbled on to this site because your child or child of a family member or friend has been diagnosed with Shaken Baby Syndrome, I encourage you to read this website in it 's entirety. But, I will caution you. In order for you to gain the full benefit of this site, you must keep an open mind. You will need to remove any judgments you have about the accused perpetrator. Don't assume that because someone has been accused by law enforcement of shaking your child that they actually have committed an abusive act. There may be another explanation for the types of injuries your child has sustained.

Purpose of this Website..

I have developed this website to assist others who, like me, never would and never have shaken a baby. Yet, we have been falsely accused of just such a crime.

I have been very fortunate to have a loving and supportive family and circle of friends. I have been blessed with the knowledge and the ability to research this sensitive topic. I have spent many, many hours pouring through medical journals, medical reports, medical dictionaries and various information concerning SBS. At the time I was doing my research, I was trying to gather any information that would help me in my case. In the process, I discovered that I am not alone. There are others who have also been falsely accused.

After much consideration, I decided to develop this website to provide anyone who has an open mind with the knowledge which I obtained in my research. My purpose is to provide education to not just those who have falsely accused of SBS, but to demonstrate to the general population, the medical community, police officials, social service workers and prosecutors that not every child with intracranial (brain) and intraocular (eye) bleeding is a victim of child abuse.

I want to make it perfectly clear..I don't support or condone child abuse and/or shaking a child for any reason. Those that legitimately have abused a child should be punished for their crime. I do believe, however, that the medical community, police and prosecutors fail to recognize that there are other illnesses, reactions and diseases can cause similar clinical findings which mirror those of Shaken Baby Syndrome.

An Introduction to Shaken Baby Syndrome.

In the early 1970's Caffey defined "whiplash shaken infant syndrome." The Whiplash Shaken Infant Syndrome was described by Caffey as the result of manual shaking of an infant by the child 's extremities with whiplash-induced intracranial (brain) and intraocular (eye) bleeding.

Caffey linked the manual shaking of an infant to permanent brain damage and mental retardation. Caffey also stated that there are six elements necessary to make a positive diagnosis of Shaken Infant Syndrome. These elements are: Intracranial bleeding (bleeding in the brain), Intraocular bleeding (bleeding in the eye, typical called retinal bleeding), fractures of the long bones in the arms (as a result of holding the child by the arms as it is shaken), fractures of the rib cage (as a result of holding the child by the rib cage as it is shaken), bruising of the torso and arms (from holding the baby too tightly as it is being shaken) and finally, injuries to the neck due to the head whipping back and forth.

The two elements (intracranial and intraocular bleeding) in Caffey's description of the Whiplash Shaken Infant Syndrome have become the standards for "evidence" used by medial personnel and law enforcement officials to identify that a child had been viciously and intentionally shaken. And, any child who is has bleeding in the brain and/or the eyes is automatically diagnosed as an abused child.

Doctor after doctor refer to Caffey's research when performing "new" research on the association between intracranial and intraocular bleeding and possible abuse. There appears to be a vicious circle of self-proclaimed medical "experts" who all use Caffey's research as a benchmark in their research and/or evaluation of the findings of intracranial and intraocular bleeding in infants and children.

To note, Caffey's reports, dated in 1972 and 1974, reference his own research which he did in 1946. In essence, his "research" is now well over 50 years old. Yet doctors in the 21st century are still referencing data that for any other medical criteria and/or diagnosis would be ruled as outdated.

The Great Witch Hunt.

Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) has been called the great witch hunt of the 20th and 21st centuries. While many children have been legitimately harmed by someone who out of anger or frustration shakes a baby to get the child to stop crying, there is a small percentage of people who have been falsely accused of shaking a baby.

Medical personnel are paid in excess of $500 an hour to testify as medical experts in Shaken Baby cases. Medical "experts", law enforcement officials, social service workers and prosecutors pursue these type of cases as they are highly publicized and often help in the promotion of their careers.

The combination of money, recognition, career advancement and power are strong ingredients to add to the boiling brew of children's rights movements, child advocacy and criminal justice. These ingredients all result in quick medical diagnosis, sloppy law enforcement investigations, unfounded arrests and malicious prosecution.

And for the person(s) falsely accused, there is little to no recourse available when acquitted or when the charges have been dismissed.

The Interrogation.

If you're like most people, you have always been told that you have rights because you live in America. You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to have an attorney present and if you can't afford one, one will be appointed by the court. And, in a perfect world, this would be a beautiful utopia.

Unfortunately, however, interrogations aren't as simple as that. Detectives have been trained to try every trick under the sun to invoke a confession, even when you're not guilty. They will first try to befriend you, telling you that perhaps you just made a mistake. Then, they tell you they know when the baby was injured and that they can prove down to the second when the injury occurred and you are responsible. And, when that fails, then they try to get you angry. They shout, they scream, they throw things at you. And when that too, fails to invoke a confession, they finally resort to telling you things like "either you did it by accident or you're a sick person who gets a sexual thrill out of hurting children."

And.when that too fails, then they turn on the sugar and spice and try to help you "remember". The final trick they try is to tell you that you will never see your child again and that they will tell everyone they come into contact with that you are an abuser. So much for innocent until proven guilty!

It may sound too grim to believe that we live in a country where Gestapo tactics are used, but we do. There is no punishment for officers or detectives who read you your rights, and despite your requests to have and attorney present, keep holding you and questioning you against your will. It's not only a violation of your civil rights, but it happens time and time again to innocent people.

For innocent people when you hear a child has been injured you go into shock. Then shock turns to disbelief as you realize that you really aren't there to help the doctors determine what' s wrong with the baby, you're speaking to police because you're a suspect! All the while, the detectives are systematically wearing you down and down and down. And as they do so, you can' t help but think, "this is a terrible mistake."

Nonetheless, the damage is done. The police, whether or not they actually receive a confession, have ammunition to use against you should you be charged with the crime of child abuse. And, don't count on your attorney to get a video or audio tape of your interrogation..police files have a funny way of disappearing.

Once the interrogation is done then the police write up the report. If you asked for an attorney during the questioning, don't be surprised if the police report states that you failed to cooperate with them, instead of the truth. Don't be surprised if facts are suddenly altered to fit the crime.

What is Shaken Baby Syndrome?

Shaken baby syndrome is simply a term defining the injuries that a child (typically an infant) sustains when he or she is shaken to stop crying. The standard scenario is that a baby is crying, a parent/child care worker/life-in guardian gets angry and/or frustrated and shakes that baby in an effort to get him or her to stop crying.

Because the muscles in the neck of an infant are weak, and the brain is smaller than the skull cavity, when a baby is shaken the brain literally "sloshes" back in forth in the skull. This causes a bruise-like bleed on the brain known as a subdural hemorrhage. It also can cause retinal bleeding, or bleeding in the back of the eye. Both types of bleeding can only be seen using special equipment.

There is some debate as to whether or not a baby must be slammed into a surface such as the floor, wall, bed or other object. However, most medical providers agree that shaking a baby, whether or not impact into a surface occurs can result in permanent injury if not death.

The tell tale signs of shaken baby syndrome which medical and law enforcement personnel use are retinal bleeding and bilateral (both sides of the brain) subdural hemorrhages.

What are the symptoms of Shaken Baby Syndrome?

As with any illness the symptoms typically mirror the severity of the injury. In mild SBS, symptoms may go unnoticed or may range from vomiting, irritability, poor sleeping to poor feeding. Moderate symptoms are eyes are glassy or unfocused, poor muscle tone, grimacing, twitching, lethargy, inability to suck. More serve symptoms include breathing problems, a budging soft spot (due to the increased intracranial pressure caused by the excess bleeding), seizures, or unconsciousness.

What kinds of injuries do doctors associate with Shaken Baby Syndrome?

The two tell tale signs of SBS are retinal (inner eye) bleeding and subdural hemorrhage (brain), which most often is bilateral on the front and back of the brain. Other injuries consistent with Shaken Baby Syndrome are fractures of the skull, ribs or arm bones, bruising around the chest/rib area (caused by griping too tightly as the baby is shaken), swelling of the brain (bulging soft spot) and possible older injuries in process of healing.

How to doctors discover these injuries?

Subdural hemorrhages, or bleeding within the brain, are discovered using a combination of processes. Typically, these processes are use of an EKG to determine abnormal brain wave activity, MRI and CT scans which provide a topology of the brain.

Retinal hemorrhages require that the eye be dilated. This means that drops must be placed in the baby's eyes and then optical instruments are used to view the retina and macula of the eye.

Timing of the Injuries.

The whole theory behind Shaken Baby Syndrome is that the injury is so severe (as no matter how mild it affects the brain) that the brain would immediately swell, causing almost instant distress symptoms such as choking, turning blue, altered consciousness, breathing problems or seizures. However, this could not be further from the truth.

Let's look at it from this perspective, if you were in a car driving down a street at 10 miles an hour and you were hit head on by another vehicle who was also driving 10 miles per hour, what type of injuries would you sustain? More than likely, you would sustain mild to no injuries. Most injuries, would not be apparent for several hours to several days.

If, on the other hand, you were in a car driving 60 miles an hour and were hit head on my another vehicle who was also driving 60 miles per hour, barring death, what type of injuries would you sustain? Most likely, your injuries would be significant enough that they would be obviously apparent almost immediately.

There is no such thing as one type of shaking. Contrary to what medical personnel would have you believe, Shaken Baby Syndrome injuries can range from unnoticed to those requiring immediate emergency medical assistance and even death. So with such a broad range of injury classifications, would a child who has been shaken show immediate symptoms of being shaken?

The answer is an obvious "no". Unfortunately, the medical community and the vast majority of detectives called to investigate possible shaken baby cases often point the finger had the last person who had custody of the child when the distress symptoms occurred. They simply don't take into account the most obvious which is that injuries take time to swell, bleed to the point of causing pressure in the brain. That's not to say that in some more severe shaking cases which result in severe brain damage or even death, that the distress symptoms could not have been immediate. Alternately, with milder injuries time plays a critical role in determining who could have shaken the child.

How the medical staff determines the timing of the injuries.

Most medical facilities use either a CT or MRI scan of the brain. Based upon the various shades of color that appear on these scans, the doctors can conclude whether or not the bleeding in the brain is recent or if it is an older injury. Many radiologists use computer enhanced images to better view brain bleeds. However, this use of computer enhanced images is against CT and MRI reading protocol for dating brain bleeds. Why? Because the computer takes liberties in enhancing the images and can make images appear more recent.

Think of it this way, you had a table that was covered with scratches yet you wanted to refinish it, you would strip it down to the bear wood, sand it, tag-rag off the dust and then refinish it. It would look like a new piece of furniture. However, you would lose some of the original texture and dating of the piece prior to your refinishing efforts. This is exactly what computer enhanced imaging does to original MRI and CT scans. It simply helps the radiologist to better see more bleeding or other areas which without the enhancement could not been seen.

The difficulty in SBS cases is that most doctors and medical facilities have chosen to use computer enhanced imaging to date the timing of SBS injuries. Not only does this go against MRI and CT protocol, but it is *not* an accurate method to date injuries.

Another method used by some medical facilities to date injuries sustained by an SBS victim are those images taken by an ophthalmologist concerning the retinal bleeding. While it is widely recognized that eye bleeding can't be accurately dated, it is notable that certain types of retinal bleeds take different intervals to heal. For example, retinal bleeding takes approximately 3 days to 1 week to heal. Whereas, vitreous hemorrhages (pre-retinal) bleeds can take anywhere from several weeks to a few months to heal.

Regardless of the method use to date the injuries, there is currently NO test available that can pinpoint the exact time of an injury. The closest dates provide a 1-4 day window.and that' s a significant timeframe when you're dealing with this kind of case.

Can other diseases, illnesses or conditions cause Intracranial and Intraocular bleeding?

Yes, yes, yes! Unfortunately, the vast majority of medical personnel will state that a child who shows these types of injuries has been a victim of abuse.

Strangely enough, however, the same medical personnel who claim that a child is abused whenever there is bleeding in the eyes and in the brain would be the first people who wouldn't think twice about diagnosing an accidental trauma if an adult was in a car accident or had received even a minor trauma to the head and was suffering from the same symptoms.

What are the most common diseases, illnesses or conditions which could cause Intracranial and Intraocular bleeding?

Meningitis
Meningitis, is most commonly known for the very serious and life threatening bacterial form of the disease. However, meningitis can also be a viral disease. There are many forms of viruses which we have all experienced from time to time. The most common are colds and the dreaded flu bug. The best way to describe viral meningitis is to think of it as a cold in the fluid which surrounds the brain, optic nerves and spinal cord. And, it, like any virus can make a child quite ill.

Viral meningitis is quite common in young children, particularly those under a year in age and during the spring and autumn months. Viral meningitis, while not as serious as it's bacterial sister, is quite a serious illness, and although rare, can lead to death. Symptoms of meningitis in infants may include: blank or starring expression, fever, stiff or excessively floppy neck/poor head control, excessive crying or fussiness which is not comforted by rocking or holding the child, sleepiness, vomiting, diarrhea, coughing, seizure, breathing problems which may initially appear as if the baby is choking.

Meningitis can only be diagnosed by testing the spinal fluid. This is done with a process called a spinal tap. This is simply a long needle which is inserted into the spine between the vertebrae and some of the spinal fluid is removed.

When an infant or small child has meningitis, even the viral form, often the spinal fluid shows signs of xanthrochromia, which means "yellow" in color. Normal spinal fluid is clear. However, when an infection such as meningitis irritates the lining of the brain, it causes some bleeding within the cranial cavity. As the blood breaks down, the red cells become yellow. Yellow spinal fluid is typically an indication of old bleeding (greater than 6 hours old) in the brain.

Like the brain, spinal fluid surrounds the optic nerve. When there is an infection, such as meningitis, in the spinal fluid it causes irritation to the optic nerve, the nerve in turn becomes inflamed and swells. This swelling causes a domino reaction in the eye which causes pressure on the retina which in turn brings about retinal bleeding. This combined with the increased intracranial pressure caused by the bleeding of the brain lining is a deadly mix causing bleeding the eye.

There is no cure or treatment for viral meningitis. However the majority of children who contract this disease recover completely within 7-10 days with very little to no adverse effects.

Childhood Immunizations such as Comvax

It is hotly debated in the medical community that immunizations are a necessity to keep the general population free from once deadly illnesses such as small pox, tetus, etc. Most in the medical community would agree that the benefits of immunizations far outweigh the risks. However, there are risks involved with immunizations. Many of this risks are not readily available to parents without significant and time consuming research and most medical personnel simply rely on supporting reports from their peers to determine the validity of vaccinations.

Amazingly enough, there have been so many reports of children becoming ill, left with permanent injuries and even deaths directly related to childhood immunizations that our Federal government has set up a compensation fund to assist the parents and guardians of children who have been injured by vaccinations.

As parents, we are told that any adverse side effects will typically occur within 48 hours of our child's immunization. But, according to the National Injury Compensation Board, injuries related to vaccinations can occur up to 45 days after an immunization!

So, why aren't we told this? My theory is that many of the doctors who so avidly promote new immunizations are the same doctors who receive in excess of $40,000 per year (in pay and perks and in addition to their regular salary) directly from the pharmaceutical companies. In my opinion, there is little difference between the large pharmaceutical companies and those from the tobacco industry who failed to provide adequate information to the consumer in an effort to make money selling their products.

One only needs to read the reported adverse reactions on, for instance, Merck's Comvax packaging to discover that bleeding in the eye can occur up to 14 days after an immunization to realize that while remote, it has been reported by guardians of children who were under a strict clinical study.

Yet many doctors and others in the medical community refuse to believe that a child could develop bleeding in the eyes as a result of immunizations.

Other Illnesses

There are a variety of other illnesses and conditions, which are very, very rare and most hospitals use blood tests to rule them out. Some examples are: Canavan's Disease and Thrombocytopenia (excessive bleeding in the organs.)