A sudden child death is death in an infant which occurs precipitously and unexpectedly. The causes of most sudden child deaths are often not immediately evident to prior investigation. This is due to the fact that it takes less disease to kill an infant than it would take to kill an adult (PBS, 2011). A child can die as a result of a pre-existing medical condition. However, medical practitioners have always found it very difficult to find a link between a sudden child death and the child’s pre-existing medical condition. Hence, when medical examiners fail to diagnose a factual condition that could have possibly led an infant to die, they often presumed that their caregiver could have murdered them. This then becomes their best argument even when a caregiver swears that they brought the infant no harm. This has often led medical practitioners to prosecute child caregivers based on questionable autopsies conducted.
The above video details a comprehensive investigative documentary on medical examiners and the field of forensic pathology in determining child death cases. It is a video in which a documentary on sudden child death cases was carried out by Frontline, Pro Publica and the National Public Radio in a bid to determine their true causes (PBS, 2011). This is due to the fact that cases involving young children are often the most difficult to investigate. When an infant dies suddenly, many often presume that he may have been murdered. Caregivers are then often accused of homicide based on questionable autopsies. They are then sentenced to serve many years in jail having undergone incomprehensive trials. Thanks to the above documentary however, at least two dozen sudden child death cases have been overturned in favour of those previously accused. Moreover, more child death cases previously ruled conclusive are now being reopened and placed under retrials. This has seen hope return to victims previously sentenced to serve long jail terms based on questionable evidence.
Challenges posed by child autopsy cases
Uncovering the true causes of a child’s death is an extremely complicated procedure. As a result, medical practitioners investigating sudden child death cases are often required to bear certain qualifications to enable them draw just conclusions. First, they are often required to be board certified pathologists. They are also required to have a purview of a child’s sudden death case or consult with specialists on difficult child death cases. Aside from these, they are further required to review the child’s medical records either before or after carrying out an autopsy (PBS, 2011).
However, Frontline, Pro Publica and National Public Radio in their investigation discovered that this has often not been the case. These institutions in their investigative documentary uncovered a broken system in which most medical legal death investigations bore no accreditation. They also established in their investigation that most basic principles of science are often ignored by medical examiners as a result of failure to adhere to national medical standards. Furthermore, they discovered there was very little agreement amongst numerous medical experts on the true nature of a child’s unexpected death. These factors have often led to the wrongful prosecution and sentencing of child caregivers.
Shaken baby syndrome
Shaken baby syndrome can be described as a form of abusive head trauma resulting from violently and repeatedly shaking a baby. When a caregiver violently and repeatedly shakes a baby, the baby’s head often rotates irrepressibly causing their brain to bruise and bleed (Tuerkheimer, 2011). This often results in swelling of the child’s brain and even death. Its symptoms often encompass factors such as lethargy, respiratory failure and pale blue skin. Despite these symptoms, shaken baby syndrome isn’t so easy to diagnose. This is due to the fact that often, the condition exhibits minimal physical signs of injury. In the 2011 New York Times article ran by Emily Bazelon on baby Noah Whitmer, medical examiners recount seeing no evidence of shaking from a physical examination conducted on the child’s body.
Shaken baby syndrome is a globally accepted diagnosis in the examination of sudden infant death cases. This is due to the fact that medical examiners largely presume that there is little room for error whenever they are investigating infant injuries that could have resulted in death (Bazelon, 2011). Most practitioners often argue that when swelling as well as haemorrhaging is observed in a child’s brain, then it is a clear indication of abuse from shaking. This however isn’t always the case. Advancement in medical technology has seen the invention of cutting-edge medical equipment such as MRIs. This equipment has enabled medical examiners better penetrate into the human brain. As a result, they have been able to give diagnoses of numerous medical anomalies which mimic child abuse.
Medical anomalies which mimic shaken baby syndrome include blood disorders as well as vitamin deficiencies. Previously, they had been hard to deduce. However, medical examiners are now able to demonstrate that a haemorrhaging noticed in a child’s brain doesn’t necessarily necessitate injuries as a result of shaking. A good example of this is in the case of Melany Ware accused and imprisoned for alleged child homicide resulting from shaking (PBS, 2011). Melany served a jail term of 13 months before being acquitted due to new evidence which revealed that the child in question had died as a result of sickle-cell anaemia. When a child suffers from a blood anomaly, they may experience instances when their blood is unable to function hence resulting in haemorrhaging even when no harm has come their way. It is therefore vital that medical examiners carry out comprehensive medical autopsies on victims of sudden child death. This will enable them rule out possibilities of blood anomalies before they can conclude that internal haemorrhaging has resulted from shaking.
References
Bazelon, E. (2011, February 2). ‘Shaken-baby syndrome faces new questions in court.’ The
New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/magazine/06baby-t.html?_r=0
Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). (2011, June 28). The Child Cases. Retrieved from
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontlinr/the-child-cases/
Tuerkheimer, D. (2011). Science-dependent prosecution and the problem of epistemic
contingency: a study of shaken baby syndrome. Alabama Law Review, 62, 513.
