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17 results

  • Chapter 27 - Conclusion

  • from Section 6 - Postface
  • Edited by Keith A. Findley, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Cyrille Rossant, University College London, Kana Sasakura, Konan University, Japan, Leila Schneps, Sorbonne Université, Paris, Waney Squier, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, Knut Wester, Universitetet i Bergen, Norway
  • Book:
    Shaken Baby Syndrome
    Published online:
    07 June 2023
    Print publication:
    08 June 2023, pp 397-399

  • Summary

    In 1971 Dr Norman Guthkelch hypothesised a causal link between shaking infants, a relatively common practice in the UK at the time, and findings of retinal and subdural haemorrhage with no or minimal of trauma (see Chapter 2). The link between shaking and a ‘triad’ of retino-dural haemorrhage and encephalopathy would come to be known as shaken baby syndrome (SBS). This book has taken a broad overview and analysis of the state of SBS, addressing global medical, scientific, social, and legal aspects of the determination.

  • Chapter 22 - Shaken Baby Syndrome in France

  • from Section 5 - International
  • Edited by Keith A. Findley, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Cyrille Rossant, University College London, Kana Sasakura, Konan University, Japan, Leila Schneps, Sorbonne Université, Paris, Waney Squier, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, Knut Wester, Universitetet i Bergen, Norway
  • Book:
    Shaken Baby Syndrome
    Published online:
    07 June 2023
    Print publication:
    08 June 2023, pp 333-349

  • Summary

    This chapter reviews how shaken baby syndrome cases are handled in France. Since 2011, national health guidelines published by the Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS) prompt all healthcare professionals to report to the police all infants with components of the ‘triad’, including subdural haematoma and retinal haemorrhage. The scientific foundations behind these guidelines have been extensively criticised, and their repeal has been requested in front of the French administrative Supreme Court (Conseil d’État). Hundreds of families claiming to be victims of wrongful allegations of child abuse due to medical errors have gathered in an association, Adikia, the largest organization of this kind in the world. Declarative statistics obtained by this association yield interesting insight into wrongful medical determinations of SBS, including the issue of false confessions that is pervasive despite the absence of a formal plea bargaining process in the French criminal justice system.

Shaken Baby Syndrome
  • Investigating the Abusive Head Trauma Controversy
  • Edited by Keith A. Findley, Cyrille Rossant, Kana Sasakura, Leila Schneps, Waney Squier, Knut Wester
  • Published online:
    07 June 2023
    Print publication:
    08 June 2023
  • Since the early 2000s, a growing body of scientific studies in neuropathology, neurology, neurosurgery, biomechanics, statistics, criminology and psychology has cast doubt on the forensic reliability of medical determinations of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS), more recently termed Abusive Head Trauma (AHT). Studies have increasingly documented that accidental short falls and a wide range of medical conditions, can cause the same symptoms and findings associated with this syndrome. Nevertheless, inaccurate diagnoses, unrealistic confidence expression, and wrongful convictions continue to this day. Bringing together contributions from a multidisciplinary expert panel of 32 professionals across 8 countries in 16 different specialties, this landmark book tackles the highly controversial topic of SBS, which lies at the intersection of medicine, science, and law. With comprehensive coverage across multiple disciplines, it explains the scientific evidence challenging SBS and advances efforts to evaluate how deaths and serious brain injuries in infants should be analysed and investigated.