POST: The Syndrome, The shaken baby witch hunt," by Scott H. Greenfield, published in his Blog ''Simple Justice" on April 10, 2016.
GIST: "For reasons that aren’t clear, it seemed as if the “Shaken Baby Syndrome” had been thoroughly debunked and, like its predecessor, the Satanic Cult Hysteria, as best reflected in the outrageous McMartin Preschool prosecutions, somehow faded out of the legal system as another of our horribly misguided leaps into the abyss. Sorry. It’s not gone. While the name has been changed a bit to “Abusive Head Trauma,” it’s still very much with us. The Syndrome, a new documentary by director/producer Meryl Goldsmith and investigative reporter Susan Goldsmith, provides a deep dive into its origins, its promoters and, of course, the fact that it is based entirely on flawed science that has managed to grip the imagination of the legal system and public, neither of which is well known for its high expectations of reason. And unironically, one detail which is both shocking and yet wholly unsurprising is that the same physicians who were at the heart of the ritualistic cult hysteria went on to create this new “diagnosis” to explain the unexplainable, to provide a means to prosecute and convict based upon the mythology that a trio of symptoms* could not be explained except as the result of the violent shaking of a baby, homicide. As The Syndrome goes on to show, not only is this untrue, as there is a lengthy laundry list of medical conditions that can produce the symptoms, as well as other physical causes (a fall, for example) that proponents of Shaken Baby Syndrome adamantly denied were possible, but that there was one huge and critical medical component to actual cases of Shaken Baby Syndrome that was utterly ignored: If someone violently shook a baby, there would be neck trauma, as the neck muscle is the “weak link” in a baby’s anatomy. Without neck damage, the one thing known with certainty is that the baby was not shaken. The documentary offers, among others, the views of Dr. John Plunkett, a forensic pathologist, who has been one of the leading defense experts against the mythology of SBS. Dr. Plunkett was prosecuted, and acquitted, in Washington State for perjury for his testimony. He calls out the physicians who have made lucrative careers teaching prosecutors how to convict innocent defendants for a crime that didn’t occur. It’s a long documentary, at almost an hour and a half, probably far lengthier than necessary for the purpose of making its point to lawyers, and incorporates the well-known melodrama of innocents being convicted, being interrogated, and in some instances, being acquitted or exonerated after the fallacy of the offense was demonstrated. And yet, a quick name change from SBS to Abusive Head Trauma and the prosecutions continue. The Syndrome provides a good background for any lawyer defending against this charge. It gives the basic science that demonstrates why the mythology of the three tell-tale symptoms fails as proof of a crime. It explains the “white knight” attitude of physicians and prosecutors, who believe that they are doing it to save the children, and refuse to acknowledge that science precludes the efficacy of SBS. But The Syndrome takes the issue deeper, showing how a cottage industry has been created around this religion, and how its proponents will go to extreme lengths to preserve its legal viability despite medical knowledge to the contrary. Buried within the movie are the perpetual problems of how the law permits, and embeds, junk science that comports with non-scientific “common sense.” It shows how zealous prosecutors will ignore contrary evidence, even ridicule or attack those who make their job of convicting harder, in their effort to let no dead child go unpunished. Its length aside, this is a movie that every criminal defense lawyer, judge and prosecutor needs to see."
The entire post can be found at:
http://blog.simplejustice.us/2016/04/10/the-syndrome-the-shaken-baby-witch-hunt/
See Indiewire story: Casey Cipriani's interview with Meryl Goldsmith "on fighting a medical standard in the Syndrome."... Originally from the Detroit suburbs, Meryl Goldsmith is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker. Goldsmith got her bachelor's degree in Film and Video from the University of Michigan with a semester studying film in Santiago, Chile. Her senior year, she began making documentaries about electronic music, partnering with music and art label Ghostly International, with whom she collaborated for years. Goldsmith teamed up with an investigative journalist on her feature directorial debut, "The Syndrome." "The Syndrome" premieres theatrically and on VOD on April 15. W and H (Women and Hollywood); : Describe the film for us in your own words. MG: It's a story about a group of renowned doctors willing to risk their careers to stand up for science, justice and families and what happens when they do. We identify three key promoters of the diagnosis who built careers off promoting Shaken Baby Syndrome, and you see and hear them throughout the film. It's both hard-hitting and heartfelt, mixing archival and present day, including shocking secret tapings. W and H: What drew you to this story? MG: My cousin Susan Goldsmith and her incredible story instincts, credentials and experience. This was one of the best stories that one of the best reporters in the country had found -- no one has told it, and it desperately needs to be told. It's a criminal justice crisis: There are an estimated 1,000 innocent people in prison. It is an opportunity for us to potentially help a lot of people. W and H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater? MG: The innocent people in prison, the families torn apart, that this could happen to you or someone you love and that this is a criminal justice crisis that we as a country need to fix. [I also want them to think about] the inspirational doctors standing up for the innocent people. That we all need to stop going fuzzy in the head when we hear the words "child abuse" and we should look at the science. That they want to tell people to see the film. W and H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film? MG: Editing. Even with everything being structured beforehand, there was just so much footage. And finding all of the footage we needed. We received a secret taping of one of the Shaken Baby Syndrome conferences so it was worth the wait! Also it was an enormous hurdle to find a family facing charges and willing to be filmed while going through it."
http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/meryl-goldsmith-on-fighting-a-medical-standard-in-the-syndrome-20160414
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.
The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.
Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com;
Harold Levy;
Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
