Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Shaken baby syndrome: Critics fire back against a report submitted by a Swedish medical ethicist (Dr. Niels Lynøe) and his team which was critical of 'shaking' theory; ON SBS Blogger Sue Luttner wades in with a post headed; "'Shaken Baby Theory: Poking the hornet's nest."..."In an over-reaching answer to their many critics, the Lynøe team called for a more scientific approach to research in the arena: “We acknowledge the concerns expressed by all of the authors who responded with regard to child welfare and the possibility that the diagnoses may be delayed in individual cases of child abuse. However, we are very troubled by the disregard displayed by those authors to the significant methodological problems inherent in published research on shaken baby syndrome. With the exception of Ludvigsson, none of these authors expressed concern about the problems of circular reasoning, lack of comparison groups or the other methodological problems we identified in the systematic review. Where has all the critical thinking in research gone?"


PUBLISHER'S NOTE: In a previous post on her excellent Blog 'On SBS,' Swedish medical ethicist and his team submitted a report to the Swedish Government which was critical of Shaking theory. In this post 'Shaken Baby Theory: Poking the hornet's nest - Ms. Luttner describes the pointed reaction to this report: "In an email exchange last week, Dr. Lynøe wrote that his team knew the topic was controversial, but they were “rather surprised” at the vehemence of the criticisms. “I also think that there was something positive with the critical comments,” he added, “because we got the opportunity to explain and explore some aspects more."

POST: "Shaken Baby Theory: Poking the Hornet’s Nest" by Sue Luttner published  on her Blog "on SBS" on July 9, 2017.

GIST:  "The July issue of Acta Paediatrica offers a collection of free, live links to a volley of rebuttals published over the past four months to an article in March submitted by medical ethicist Dr. Niels Lynøe and most of the other experts who informed the 2016 Swedish report critical of shaking theory, commissioned by a government agency whose name is abbreviated SBU. In an email exchange last week, Dr. Lynøe wrote that his team knew the topic was controversial, but they were “rather surprised” at the vehemence of the criticisms. “I also think that there was something positive with the critical comments,” he added, “because we got the opportunity to explain and explore some aspects more.”.........In an over-reaching answer to their many critics, the Lynøe team called for a more scientific approach to research in the arena: “We acknowledge the concerns expressed by all of the authors who responded with regard to child welfare and the possibility that the diagnoses may be delayed in individual cases of child abuse. However, we are very troubled by the disregard displayed by those authors to the significant methodological problems inherent in published research on shaken baby syndrome. With the exception of Ludvigsson, none of these authors expressed concern about the problems of circular reasoning, lack of comparison groups or the other methodological problems we identified in the systematic review. Where has all the critical thinking in research gone?"

The entire post can be found at:
 https://onsbs.com/2017/07/09/shaken-baby-theory-poking-the-hornets-nest/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html 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.