3 ms·
After a personal ordeal, I directed my research career towards Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS), a highly controversial but fascinating topic at the intersection of m
by rossant 3y ago
After a personal ordeal, I directed my research career towards Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS), a highly controversial but fascinating topic at the intersection of medicine, science, and law.
I just co-edited a book published by Cambridge University Press (Shaken Baby Syndrome: Investigating the Abusive Head Trauma Controversy, Findley et al 2023). AMA.
- torstenvl 3y agoHave you served as an expert witness in child abuse/child DV cases? Most of the research focuses on intracranial injuries, especially subarachnoid hemorrhaging. Do you have a generic sense of the specificity of something like subconjunctival hemorrhages or rib fractures in the absence of other intracranial injuries?
- rossant 3y agoNo, I have not served as an expert witness. Based on the available literature, it is challenging to definitively determine whether certain findings are specific to abuse. There are limited options to reliably assess true positive and true negative rates in such cases. Rare diseases are more common than one might think, particularly in the pediatric population, and they can have a significant impact on injury thresholds. Therefore, it is important to consider that any given finding may or may not be attributed to trauma or an underlying medical condition. I believe that determining abuse is a legal matter rather than a medical one. From a scientific perspective, it may be limited to stating that the likelihood of abuse increases with the number of different injuries. Anything beyond that should perhaps be left to the discretion of the courts.