Child abuse pediatricians and false accusations: Florida: A WFTA investigation brings 'Child abuse pediatricians' under scrutiny once again in the USA in a story subheaded, "A Florida lawmaker is calling for more checks and balances over child abuse pediatricians who serve as state experts after an I-team investigation discovers several doctors wrongly accused parents (of) abuse."..."Child abuse pediatricians are a recent specialty medical field and hold enormous influence over whether a child’s medical condition is the result of abuse. Their conclusions can also determine if a child needs to be removed from their parents. But court records show, these doctors don’t always make the right call causing children, often babies, to be removed from their parents for months unnecessarily. Our investigation also found cases where doctors appeared to have come to far reaching conclusions without thorough investigations and, in other cases, where parents were arrested after a doctor’s conclusion of abuse."
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "The Doctor was probably in the room with us less than 10 minutes,”
said Vivianna Graham. “It’s just sad,” added her husband Jeremy whose
son, Tristan, is now a healthy 4-year-old."
PASSAGE ONE OF THE DAY: "In 2015, it
happened to Jeremy Graham. Graham, a firefighter and paramedic on
Florida’s west coast, was arrested and charged with aggravated child
abuse after a child abuse pediatrician determined his 4-month-old son’s
seizure was caused by a brain bleed, the result of physical abuse,
according to court records provided to us by Jeremy and his wife
Vivianna.About a month leading up to the seizure, the Grahams had visited
several doctors because their son was vomiting and “wasn’t acting
right,” said Vivianna. After an 8-month fight, the state dropped its case against the Grahams over “insufficient evidence.” Last
year, Nydia Ortiz’s son and daughter-in-law were torn about from their
newborn daughter after a child abuse pediatrician in Miami concluded
their newborn daughter’s bruises were also the result of abuse. Turns
out, it was a rare genetic disorder. It’s a problem impacting families around the country. In Texas,
recent media scrutiny has led some state lawmakers to consider
introducing a bill next year that would require an independent second
medical opinion in some cases before a child is separated from their
parents. “That system would provide the oversight and
accountability that parents deserve in facing the potential of a false
accusation of abuse,” said Eskamani. Representative Eskamani believes the
additional measure could make sense in Florida. We found child abuse
pediatricians who serve as medical directors of child protective teams
in Florida often answer to no one and operate independently from region
to region."
PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "Last summer, Vadim Kushnir and his wife found
themselves on the defense after seeking help for their newborn son, who
was having seizures. A state child abuse pediatrician determined their
newborn's seizures were "the result of shaken baby or blunt force
trauma,” according to court records“It took them two minutes of investigation to say we were abusers,” said Kushnir. The
Kushnirs fought, back spending $30,000 on attorneys and experts who
argued the baby's condition resulted from a complicated birth not abuse. The
judge agreed and in the final order, even criticized the state's
doctors for not knowing their month old son wasn't breathing at birth,
the umbilical cord wrapped tightly around his neck. One doctor who
provided testimony admitted he "never reviewed all his medical records,"
according to court records."
STORY: "Florida parents wrongly accused of child abuse by state experts is 'shocking,' says lawmaker, by reporter Katie La Grone, published by WFTA (Tampa Bay), ABC Action News, on January 13, 2020. ( Katie LaGrone is the Florida Investigative Reporter for The E.W. Scripps Company. An
award-winning investigative journalist, Katie’s reports can be seen on
ABC Action News in Tampa, WPTV NewsChannel 5 in West Palm Beach and FOX 4
in Fort Myers. As Florida’s Investigative Reporter, Katie works
to expose a wide range of consumer injustices, questionable government
spending and consumer safety concerns impacting all Floridians.)
SUB-HEADING: A Florida lawmaker is calling for more
checks and balances over child abuse pediatricians who serve as state
experts after an I-team investigation discovers several doctors wrongly
accused parents abuse.
GIST: "A Florida lawmaker believes the state’s medical experts on child abuse need more checks and balances after an I-team investigation
revealed several pediatricians have made questionable calls against parents who appeared to have done everything right. “Any
position of authority that isn’t checked by something is concerning,”
said Florida Democratic Representative Anna Eskamani of Orlando.
Eskamani was responding to our investigation that found several cases
where child abuse pediatricians, who were hired to be the state’s
experts on abuse, wrongly accused Florida parents of child abuse. Child abuse pediatricians are a recent specialty medical field and
hold enormous influence over whether a child’s medical condition is the
result of abuse. Their conclusions can also determine if a child needs
to be removed from their parents. But court records show, these doctors
don’t always make the right call causing children, often babies, to be
removed from their parents for months unnecessarily. Our investigation
also found cases where doctors appeared to have come to far reaching
conclusions without thorough investigations and, in other cases, where
parents were arrested after a doctor’s conclusion of abuse. In 2015, it
happened to Jeremy Graham. Graham, a firefighter and paramedic on
Florida’s west coast, was arrested and charged with aggravated child
abuse after a child abuse pediatrician determined his 4-month-old son’s
seizure was caused by a brain bleed, the result of physical abuse,
according to court records provided to us by Jeremy and his wife
Vivianna.
About a month leading up to the seizure, the Grahams had visited
several doctors because their son was vomiting and “wasn’t acting
right,” said Vivianna. After an 8-month fight, the state dropped its case against the Grahams over “insufficient evidence.” Last
year, Nydia Ortiz’s son and daughter-in-law were torn about from their
newborn daughter after a child abuse pediatrician in Miami concluded
their newborn daughter’s bruises were also the result of abuse. Turns
out, it was a rare genetic disorder. It’s a problem impacting families around the country. In Texas,
recent media scrutiny has led some state lawmakers to consider
introducing a bill next year that would require an independent second
medical opinion in some cases before a child is separated from their
parents. “That system would provide the oversight and
accountability that parents deserve in facing the potential of a false
accusation of abuse,” said Eskamani. Representative Eskamani believes the
additional measure could make sense in Florida. We found child abuse
pediatricians who serve as medical directors of child protective teams
in Florida often answer to no one and operate independently from region
to region. Last summer, Vadim Kushnir and his wife found
themselves on the defense after seeking help for their newborn son, who
was having seizures. A state child abuse pediatrician determined their
newborn's seizures were "the result of shaken baby or blunt force
trauma,” according to court records. “It took them two minutes of investigation to say we were abusers,” said Kushnir. The
Kushnirs fought, back spending $30,000 on attorneys and experts who
argued the baby's condition resulted from a complicated birth not abuse. The
judge agreed and in the final order, even criticized the state's
doctors for not knowing their month old son wasn't breathing at birth,
the umbilical cord wrapped tightly around his neck. One doctor who
provided testimony admitted he "never reviewed all his medical records,"
according to court records. With the legislative session starting
this week, Eskamani says it may be too late to file legislation here
this session, but she vows to bring up the issue in Tallahassee and invites other families
to share their stories with her of being torn apart and wrongly accused. “The doctor was probably in the room with us less than 10 minutes,”
said Vivianna Graham. “It’s just sad,” added her husband Jeremy whose
son, Tristan, is now a healthy 4-year-old. The Florida Department of Health oversees child abuse pediatricians
who serve as experts for the state. According to an agency spokesperson,
their top priority is the health and safety of children but says child
protective teams are open to receiving input from others who are also
involved in protecting the health and safety of Florida’s children."
See previous post of this Blog at the link below for a similar story from Texas: (November 15, 2019)..."Do no harm: 'Child abuse pediatricians': They come under scrutiny once
again by reporters Keri Blakinger and Mike Hixenbaugh in their excellent
NBC News/Houston Chronicle series 'Do no harm,' which has been
highlighting the plight of parents who’d been accused of child abuse
based on mistaken reports by doctors..."The reporting showed that child
welfare workers removed some children from homes after receiving reports
from state-funded child abuse pediatricians that were later called into
question, leading to traumatic family separations and monthslong legal
fights." Major Development: The series has prompted a daylong hearing by
Texas lawmakers." https://smithforensic.blogspot.com/search?q=%22child+abuse+pediatricians%22
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;
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices.""
Two Blogs Now: The Charles Smith Blog; The Selfless Warriors Blog: I created the Charles Smith Blog in 2007 after I retired from The Toronto Star to permit me to keep digging into the story of the flawed pathologist and the harm he had done to so many innocent parents and caregivers, and to Ontario’s criminal justice system. Since then it has taken new directions, including examinations of other flawed pathologists, flawed pathology, and flawed science and technology which has marred the quality of justice in courtrooms around the world. The heart of the Blog is my approach to following cases which raise issues in all of these areas - especially those involving the death penalty. I have dedicated 'The Selfless Warrior Blog’ (soon to appear) to those exceptional individuals who have been ripped out of their ordinary lives by their inability to stand by in the face of a glaring miscarriage of justice. They are my ’Selfless Warriors.’ Enjoy!
