Something to think about re: shaken babies

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...ations-babies-shaken-death-continue-grow.html

I thought that this article was pretty interesting.

Frontline: The Child Cases covered the same issue of murder convictions based on questionable medical evidence.

Rickets is now back in epidemic proportions. Numbers not seen since the Victorian ages. Dang!

A child with rickets is a victim of child neglect in and of itself imo. The vitamin supplements are cheap enough that there is no excuse not to make sure the baby gets some vitamin D.

:cow:

Isn't there anybody who tells parents these things? Our pediatric nurse has reminded us several times.

One thing I have noticed is the fact that doctors sometimes recommend 2% milk for toddlers and children. Yet 2% milk doesn't have added vitamin D. It was also a good point that people are staying indoors more and blocking the sun more. Factors that affect the production of vitamin D in the body.

I know I was diagnosed with low vitamin D this past summer.

Yes rickets can be caused by neglect. But there are other factors that can affect it also.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14576626

A recent study in inner-city Birmingham found that almost one in two Asian women were vitamin D deficient.

The level was one in three in the wider Asian community, one in four in the black population and one in eight among Caucasians.

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A consultant paediatrician at Ealing's hospital, Dr Colin Michie, says the increased use of high-factor sun-cream means a lot of women who are not in at-risk groups are also vitamin D deficient.

He says the idea of screening is interesting, but he argues that providing free vitamin D supplements for all pregnant women would be cheaper and easier.

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A very interesting read here:
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/?o=3407

Donjeta said:

A child with rickets is a victim of child neglect in and of itself imo. The vitamin supplements are cheap enough that there is no excuse not to make sure the baby gets some vitamin D.

:cow:

Isn't there anybody who tells parents these things? Our pediatric nurse has reminded us several times.

Click to expand...

This isn't always the case - there are plenty of reasons that a child could have rickets without neglect. As mysteriew mentioned, 2% milk can be one culprit. Inadequate absorption of minerals is another - that's not always apparent.

While the articles are interesting, the infantile rickets theory is still considered fringe by a lot of criminal defense attorneys. The scientists and doctors who are promoting this theory tend to be more fringe doctors and the studies aren't incredibly large or have faults in their set-up. That's not to say that this cannot be a valid defense, BUT - brittle bones are more likely to be caused by a metabolic bone disorder, rather than infantile rickets/temporary brittle bone disease.

Still, I'm glad that there's a lot more attention being paid to these "shaken baby" cases and that there's critical scrutiny of the now-defunct "triad" of symptoms. After I worked a big case (a successful defense for a man I believe to be truly innocent) this summer involved alleged shaken baby syndrome, it was eye-opening how many different things can mimic these types of injuries, from genetic disorders, to symptoms of disease, to other injuries. It's scary to think how many people may be in prison because of faulty science that has not been revisited.

And then, when you look at the textbooks for child abuse specialist board certification for physicians specifically employed to spot and testify about abuse (generally at children's hospitals), it's even scarier. For child abuse specialists, there is no differential diagnosis. Once a child is slotted into the "abuse" track, very little is done in terms of ruling out other possible medical causes. It all becomes about building a case.

That's not to say that these people don't have an important job - they very much do, and most of the time, they get it right. But it is so, so hard with nonverbal infants. It concerns me that there's not more scrutiny applied. :twocents:

mysteriew,

Thanks for alerting me to this article.

Just sad.