Guest guest Posted November 30, 2005 Report Share Posted November 30, 2005 [note: information not to be publically posted] re: shaken baby syndrome To Ruth Sackman Foundation For Advancement In Cancer Therapies POB 1242 Old Chelsea Sta. New York, NY 10113 212-741-2790 phone 212-924-3634 fax <mailto:factltd@...>factltd@... Dear Ruth, Attached please find the compiled and updated articles and general info on Shaken Baby Syndrome. You can copy the two file attachments to a floppy disk and give it to the lawyer you found who is considering taking the Alan Yurko case in Florida. The files can be opened on any platform of OS. I removed all non-essential formatting. But you may still have to adjust word wrapping or set margins to zero, depending on the text editor being used. Articles and stories are arranged in sequential order separated by " ======= " lines. This will afford you to do word searches from within one document (easier than doing it for mult. docs). Any section of articles may be copy, pasted, and printed out. But because of the great size of the files, printing out all the articles just to read them may just waste paper. So, To avoid eye strain, I suggest you format the text to facilitate reading from the video monitor. Here's how: Once the file is opened in whatever text editor being used, you should select all text set the fonts to Ariel or Helvetica Bold in black, and set the background to medium gray or cyanish green. Then set the zoom to the maximum viewable page width and then set the font size (again by selecting " all " ) to about 12 to 16 points---whatever you find suitable for reading off the screen. thanks, Please acknowledge reciept of this email Coalition For Informed Choice. Krasner, Director 188-34 87th Drive, #4B, Hollis, NY 11423 fax/phone: 718-479-2939, email: <mailto:gk-cfic@...>gk-cfic@... " Protect your rights! Become an advocate and inform others " COMPILATION OF ARTICLES ON THE INTRUSION OF CIVIL LIBERTIES BY MEDICAL MANDATES, AND THE GROWING USE OF CRIMINAL SANCTIONS AGAINST CHILD CAREGIVERS TO DIVERT MEDICAL RESPONSIBILTY THIS DOCUMENT: CASES SPECIFIC TO ALAN YURKO, CONVICTED OF SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME (SBS) -By Krasner, CFIC Coalition For Informed Choice. Krasner, Director 188-34 87th Drive, #4B, Hollis, NY 11423 fax/phone: 718-479-2939, email: gk-cfic@... Text is formatted to facilitate reading from the video monitor. To avoid eye strain, try setting the fonts to Ariel or Helvetica Bold in black, and set the background to medium gray or cyanish green. The articles are in sequential order to facilitate word searches, and are separated by a " ======================= " line. ========================================================= ========================================================= Introductory Letter From Alan Yurko: Alan R Yurko AX13917 Washington Correctional Institution 4455 Sam Drive Chipley FL 32428-3501 USA Dear Friend Vaccines are licensed for use in healthy individuals only. My son, Alan, was vaccinated despite several contra-indications. He was a premature baby, weighing only 5lb 8oz at birth. My wife's pregnancy was complicated with maternal gestational diabetes, and group B streptococcal infection (which in itself poses a high risk of infant death). My son suffered, in his short life, from pneumonia, respiratory distress syndrome, and hyper- bilirubinemia. Despite all of this, he was given a cocktail of vaccines at eight weeks of age. The day after he was vaccinated, my baby developed a fever and started to fuss. Ten days later he elicited a high pitched scream. We were told to expect this and not to worry. A couple of days later he stopped breathing. I rushed my baby to the hospital where he died after several severe iatrogenics took place (iatrogenic diseases are those caused by physicians). Because we could not explain his injuries, and because I was the last adult alone with him, I was charged with aggravated child abuse and first degree murder. We could not afford counsel; our lawyers were public defenders. If that wasn't enough, our four-year-old daughter was taken by the authorities to 'protect her' from me-the accused who was in a maximum security facility without bond. She was used by the police and authorities to threaten and blackmail my wife to help them fabricate evidence and testify against me. My wife adamantly refused to do this. She was charged as an accessory to murder and our daughter was placed in extended custody. Here, she was sexually battered and molested when her 'protectors' left her unsupervised with two boys who had a history of deviant behaviour. My wife's charges were dismissed after great effort and cost, and our daughter was returned. They both fight every day to bring our family together, and have been fighting since 1997. More recently, we discovered that one of the vaccines given to my son-DTAP-was from a batch of vaccines that stands as the number one ranking in deaths, the number one ranking in non-recoveries, and the fourth ranking in total events reported. DTAP 7H81507, which was given to my baby, was a Hot Lot. I am serving a life sentence in Florida without the possibility of parole. I did not kill my son. His death was the result of the medical treatment he received, and a fatal reaction to his childhood immunisations. Since my conviction, I have rallied the support of an armada of scientists, doctors, and organisations which support my innocence. Doctors and scientists from 15 countries, including the US, have stood up to support us; some of these are listed overleaf. We have numerous reports from experts who, after record review, have declared my innocence. Many are up in arms at the iatrogenic implications shown in the records. One of the many reports, by independent scientists who have dedicated tireless hours of research, is attached to this letter. This report, by Drs Harold E Buttram and F Yazbak, represents nearly 2,000 hours of review and research of the case. Several organisations have started legal fund campaigns. The International Chiropractic Association has established a fund which will not only help us defray the phenomenol costs of justice, but will help others in similar straits. CHC, a veterinarian-based health concern organisation in the United Kingdom, has also started a fund to help us. Other organisations such as PAVE (Parents Advocating Vaccine Education) and AVN (Australian Vaccination Network) are helping us in an effort to raise funds. In addition, groups and organisations involved in health freedom and awareness are taking a stand to help us show this injustice and maybe prevent it from happening to others. There are many other families, like mine, who are being destroyed. We pray that you take interest and offer any assistance you can, whether it be financial, professional or spiritual. This is not just about one family's injustice. It is about hundreds of families who have and will experience such tragedy. In earnest, Alan R Yurko Family and Supporters Harold E Buttram MD, FAAEM Greg , BS F Yazbak, MD, FAAP , IRONI W Dodds, DVM Alan Scohy, MD N Megson, MD, FAAP Kris Gaublomme, MD Viera Scheibner, PhD Watt, MSc Coulter, PhD Toni Blake, MA, JD R Shanklin, MD, PhD, FRSM Warren Bruhl DC, DICCP Dr.med. Barbara Kramer O'Driscoll, pres. CHC Archivides Kalokerimos, MB, BS, Ph.D Walene , founder VACLIB Moskowitz, MD Meryl Dorey, pres. AVN Horace B Gardner, MD, JD Jillani, pres. PAVE Diodati, MA Edda West, pres. VRAN Mike Godfrey, MD, FACNAM Ingri Cassel, pres. VacLib-NIC Carley, MD Don Harkins, ed. IO Jana Shiloh, MA, CCH Colin R. Paterson, MD Judith Coates, DI hom Maxine McMullen, DC, FICCP Culbert, DSc, NHF, ICHF Molly Rangnath, ed. ICA Rev. Marvin , MD, FAAP, FACMG L. Mirkin, MD, FAAP, FASCP TWO LEGAL FUNDS: (US tax deductable) CHC Yurko Family Fund c/o O'Driscoll PO Box 1 Longnor SK17 OJD UK tel 01382 320467 email CODriscll@... _______________________ Chiropractors Hero Fund C/o Warren Bruhl, DC, DICCP 630 Vernon Avenue, Suites F & H Glencoe, Illinois 60022 USA tel (847) 835 4700 email Dc4kids@... CONTACT INFORMATION: Francine Yurko (wife of Alan) PO Box 585965 Orlando, FL 32858-5965 800-388-8035 ext. 8470 Franswrld@... Dr. Harold Buttram Woodlands Healing Research Center Family, Environmental & Preventive Medicine 5724 Clymer Rd. Quakertown, PA 18951 215-536-1890 * 800-517-9545 Fax 215-529-9034 * Email: foffice@... Web Page- http://www.woodmed.com WEB INFO ON YURKO CASE: Dr. Harold Buttram hbuttram@... www.woodmed.com/ShakenBabyAlan.htm ------- alan@... www.freeyurko.bizland.com ===================================================== Shaken Baby Syndrome or Vaccine Induced Encephalitis: The Story of Baby Alan By Harold E. Buttram, M.D. & F. Yazbak, M.D. Date: 05/25/2000 The shaken baby syndrome (SBS), as reviewed in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine and other journals,(l-4) commonly describes a combination of subdural hematoma, retinal hemorrhage, and diffuse axonal injury (DAI) as the triad of diagnostic criteria. The basic issue to be addressed in this review is whether or not in some instances, where a father has been accused of causing the death of his child from the shaken baby syndrome, the true cause of death was from a catastrophic vaccine reaction. The present reviewers believe that the demise of Baby Alan fits with such a vaccine reaction, and that the father was falsely accused and convicted of the murder of his son based on a mistaken diagnosis. By definition, the word " syndrome " refers to a group of signs and symptoms that occur together and characterize a particular abnormality. The question in the present instance is whether or not the criteria of SBS may have more than one possible cause. Vera Scheibner, Ph.D., Australian researcher, in an article reviewing the shaken baby syndrome,(5) stated her opinion that many of the cases attributed to this cause have actually been vaccine-related injuries or deaths. After having reviewed the medical records of the present case, she came to the same conclusion. She offered the following comment in support of this opinion: " Indeed, vaccines like pertussis are actually used to induce encephalitis (experimental allergic encephalomyelitis) in laboratory animals.(6) This is characterized by brain swelling and hemorrhaging of an extent similar to that caused by mechanical injuries.(7,8) In a bulletin from the National Vaccine Information Center, similar instances of mistaken diagnoses were sited; that is, instances where vaccine injuries were mistakenly diagnosed as SBS, resulting in imprisonments.(9) One of the instances was reviewed in the article: " Dr. Schweller, a San Diego pediatric neurologist, who testified (in a case in which a father was accused of brain injuring his child) that the brain damage from interior bleeding was likely triggered by the DPT shot, stressed this in a Gannett New Service Interview: is a tendency in some medical arenas to discount completely the history provided by the family if you find evidence of subdural hematoma - no matter what history is provided. Even a three-foot fall can cause fractures. It doesn't need to come from a shaking event. I'm always leery in medicine of saying something is always due to some factor, or that something is 100 percent. " ' In the present case it is important to point out that a vaccine reaction was never mentioned by any witness as a possible factor in the baby Alan's death. Instances of shaken baby syndrome, tragically, do occur, but it is also tragic when fathers or other family members are falsely accused and imprisoned as the result of mistaken diagnosis, where the true cause of the brain injuries arose from vaccines. The present case, which the authors have carefully reviewed, will be used as a model. Let the facts, as we understand them, speak for themselves. The Story of Baby Alan: Baby Alan was born on September 16, 1997. Due to a deficiency of amniotic fluid on an ultrasound test, which suggested a possible premature rupture of the membranes, labor was induced at 35 weeks gestation. The admitting officer did note that premature rupture of membranes had taken place, as the indication for the induction of labor. However, it should be stressed that the mother had not noted leakage of her amniotic fluid, as she later recalled, only a moisture at the vaginal outlet, which raises the possibility that the mother did have chronic or prolonged oligohydramnios (lack or deficiency of aminiotic fluid). (More will be said of this later.) Other conditions which placed the baby into a high risk setting included maternal gestational diabetes, anemia, group B Streptococcal vaginal infection, chronic maternal E coli urinary tract infection with proteinuria, as well as nicotine and caffeine during pregnancy by the mother. In addition, the mother had suffered from colon problems for many years and had been advised not to become pregnant, as this problem might predispose her to toxemia of pregnancy. After becoming pregnant, she became sick and remained so during her pregnancy, often to the point of dehydration, losing from her original weight of 130 pounds down to 120 pounds at one point and finally coming back to her original weight of 132 pounds at time of delivery, a net weight gain of 2 pounds. She said she was too sick to take her prenatal vitamins. When one considers that the currently recommended weight gain for pregnancy is 25 to 30 pounds, this type of situation would place the fetus at high risk for a wide spectrum of nutritional deficiencies and retarded development. It should be stressed that each one of these conditions alone would have placed the baby in a high-risk category, so that in their totality they placed a guarded prognosis on the baby at time of birth. The birth weight was 5 Ibs, 8 ounces; APGAR scores were 8 and 9. However, following birth, respiratory distress of the baby was immediately evident (as shown on birth video) with grunting respirations with marked rib and sternal retractions. The mother observed a persistent grayish color following birth. At approximately 2 hours following birth an Accu-Chek was 37; a follow-up blood glucose was 32. Arterial blood gasses on room air revealed severe hypoxia and acidosis with pH 7.38, C02 42, pO2 43, and bicarbonate 21. The BUN of 8.0 and creatinine of 0.4, were unusually low, probably from protein lack as a phase of malnutrition The infant was placed in an oxyhood with 50% 02; he was started on ampicillin and gentamycin. The baby's 7-day hospital course was complicated by continued respiratory distress, spending 3 days in the intensive care unit. 3 daily chest X-rays during this time showed persistent pulmonary infiltrates. Persistantly low serum CO2's indicated continued acidosis throughout hospitalization. Also the baby had neonatal jaundice with a maximum bilirubin of 17.4 and a decrease to 13.2 before discharge. Liver enzymes were elevated with an ALT of 58 and LDH of 520. According to the mother, symptoms of chest congestion and difficulty breathing never did clear following discharge from the hospital, with grunting and raspy breathing patterns, and with occasional brief periods of apnea. Also, the baby remained grossly jaundiced for a month after returning home, much longer than would have been expected from benign neonatal jaundice. Of special importance as related to the rib fractures, which will be discussed below, on no occasion during weekly visits to the pediatric clinic following discharge from the hospital, and one visit to a hospital emergency room, were there any reports of external injuries or bruises, nor of acute pain or discomfort, both of which almost certainly would have been noticed by an examining physicians and nurses had these injuries occurred after being taken home by the mother. On November 11, 1997, at approximately 8 weeks age (but only 43 weeks true gestational age), the baby was simultaneously given 6 vaccines including DPT, Hib, OPV, and hepatitis B. Within 24 hours of the immunizations the baby developed intermittent diarrhea, irritability, and feverishness, a pattern which progressed into the terminal illness. As related by the mother, about 10 or 11 days following the vaccines the baby developed a high-pitched cry, and its skin became warmer to the touch. Having been forewarned during the previous office visit that these things might ensue following the vaccines, she did not become overly alarmed. However, she also noticed an increasing lethargy and a falling off of the baby's feeding patterns, which had been a combination of breast and formula. This pattern continued for 3 days until the morning of November 24, when the father was alone at home with the baby and his 4-year old sister. In rapid succession the father observed that the baby began wheezing, then spit up, then stopped breathing. In efforts to restart breathing the father first lightly slapped the baby's face, then began spanking the baby's bottom while holding him by the heels, all without success. After delays from unsuccessful attempts to revive the baby, and from running to a neighbor's house to borrow the neighbors car, the father then rushed the baby to the Princeton Hospital of Orlando, where the baby was successfully resuscitated. However, according to family estimates, the baby must have been apneic a minimum of 20 minutes, considering the delays and the distances, before resuscitation was accomplished. Incidentally, emergency room records recorded 5 minutes of apnea, presumably the time between arrival in the E.R. and resuscitation. Initial laboratory tests in the Princeton Hospital showed anemia with a hemoglobin of 7.8, Hct 25.3, RBC's 2.61, elevated white blood count of 20,900 (with 61% lymphocytes, 26% neutrophils, 5% bands, and 8% mononuclears), platelets 571,000, markedly elevated liver enzymes, bilirubin 0.6, blood sugar of 337, mildly prolonged prothrombin time (a bleeding study), and elevated split fibrin products. A blood culture reported light growth of gram positive cocci, coagulase negative, probably a contaminant. It should be pointed out that the predominance of lymphocytes (61%) in the white blood count is a hallmark of a pertussis reaction (10). The patient was transferred to the Florida Hospital, Orlando, where he was placed on life support. Admitting temperature was 105 degrees. A brain Ct scan was interpreted as showing a small right subdural hematoma and one or two sites of intraparenchymal bleeding. Chest Xray showed bilateral pulmonary infiltrates (bilateral pneumonitis) and healing fractures of the 6th and 7th ribs on the left.. A spinal tap was not done due to the difficulties and hazards of performing a tap while the baby was on life-support. Intravenous heparin was administered 3 hours post-admission and was continued after the brain CT scan revealed intracerebral hemorrhages. Following a hospital admission of 75 hours, the baby was pronounced dead, being 10 weeks of age at time of death. Post-Mortem Findings (Performed by the medical examiner for Orange and Osceola Counties): Findings included minor contusions of both temporal areas of the head and a small bruise of the right lower eyelid. The brain was grossly edematous, (which may have been the precipitating factor of the apnea preceding hospital admission). There were large, fresh subdural hemorrhages, right and left hemispheres, predominantly right; also hemorrhages at the base of the brain and over some areas of the spinal cord. The brain was grossly edematous. There was a small focus of bleeding in the right eye (bleeding absent in the left eye). In addition there were old, healing fractures in the 5th, 6th 7th nd 10th ribs, all posterior on the left. The lungs were mildly hemorrhagic and were congested with scattered inflammatory cells, indicating an interstitial pneumonitis. (The heart, liver, pancreas, small intestines, gall bladder, and spleen had been surgically harvested before death for organ donations). Based on these findings, it was the medical examiner's conclusion that the baby had died from the shaken baby syndrome. As previously mentioned, the brain CT scan done soon after hospital admission showed only a relatively small subdural hemorrhage on the right, none on the left. This being the case, it can be assumed that the left subdural hemorrhage commenced following hospital admission, indicating a non-traumatic etiology. It is possible or even probable that the intravenous heparin, started 3 hours following hospitalization, may have caused or contributed to the massive bleeding found at autopsy. As another important point, the medical examiner testified during the trial that he found no evidence of meningitis on autopsy (an important point to keep in mind in view of subsequent testimony from another witness, who described heavy inflammatory cell infiltration in the meninges); but while denying the presence of meningitis, at the same time he admitted that he had not examined the spinal fluid, nor was there any description of the meninges in the autopsy report. In regards to postmortem findings in the kidneys, the defense witness pointed out during his testimony that the presence of renal lobulations and the failure of renal tubules to detach from the renal capsules (from which they are genetically derived) was an indication of delayed development or " failure to thrive " of the baby. Jury Trial: At the subsequent jury trial, taking place from February 22 to 24, 1999, the state attorney provided four major witnesses testifying for the state, including the medical examiner, who had performed the autopsy, and a neuropathologist. Against these the defense provided a single witness, a neuropathologist. More than this, two of the state witnesses were called for repeat testimonies following that of the defense witness, making a total of six witness hearings for the state, one for the defense. It is of concern to the writers of this review that, as far as can be determined from the court transcripts of the trial, none of the state witnesses had sought nor studied the medical records from the neonatal hospitalization of the baby; at least no mention was made of them. Thereforeone must wonder if they had any awareness of the multiple complications surrounding the neonatal period including severe hypoglycemia, severe hypoxia, critical hyperbilirubinemia, and ongoing respiratory distress during and following release from the hospital. Any one of these neonatal complications (severe hypoglycemia, hypoxia, and critical hyperbilirubinemia) may have caused brain damage, but the 3 together almost certainly did cause such damage, damage which of necessity had a profound effect on the subsequent course of events and which must have been the true cause for some of the post-mortem findings, rather than the shaken baby syndrome. The apparent unawareness of the state witnesses concerning these earlier complications places serious question about their understanding of the case and the sequence of events leading to the baby's death, which we believe led to faulty conclusions. At least one of the state witnesses was compelled to admit, under oath, that he had neither sought nor read the newborn hospital records. Another state witness, the neuropathologist, denied that he saw any evidence of neonatal hypoxia in his review of postmortem findings. In our opinion, no doctor who had carefully read the baby's previous medical records would have made such a statement, with their overwhelming evidence that hypoxic damage could have taken place during or following birth. Still another area of concern is that, in not a single instance, did a state witness mention the prolonged apnea of the baby preceding the terminal hospital admission, or that the apnea in and of itself could have resulted in the complications and pathologic findings later described by the neuropathologist, including the acute degenerative changes of the brain cells with reddish discoloration and swelling of the blood vessels. One wonders whether or not the connection between these findings and the apneic period ever occurred to the state witnesses, and if it did, why they did not mention it, as clearly it was a matter of major importance in the interpretation of the findings and the outcome of the case. During the trial, all of the state witnesses agreed with the medical examiner that the father was guilty of child abuse, and the baby had died of the shaken baby syndrome. The defense witness disagreed with this conclusion. It was his opinion that the baby had died from " natural causes. " Although there were a number of issues raised during the trial, for the most part, guilt or innocence of the father revolved around five major issues: the rib fractures, the unitaleral retinal hemorrhage, the cerebral hemorrhages, diffuse axonal (brain cell) injury, and meningitis. These as well as other issues will be addressed in the following: The Issue of the Birth Weight: It is well known that newborn infants of diabetic mothers tend to be larger and plumper (macrosomia) than nondiabetic mothers, a response to increased nutrient supply and hypersecretion of insulin by the fetal pancreas. However, a large retrospective review by Dr. e Rey of Montreal has also found that infants born from mothers with gestional diabetes have higher rates of newborns who are large-for-gestional-age, in addition to having complications of hypoglycemia and hyperbilirubinemia;(11) (both of these latter complications were present following birth in baby Alan). For this reason, the recorded birth weight for Baby Alan of 5 pounds and 8 ounces may have been falsely elevated, with an increased proportion of adipose tissue in relation to other tissues and organs. The Issue of Hyperbilirubinemia: The term, hyperbilirubinemia, denotes an excess of bilirubin, a condition which is potentially neurotoxic. Kernicterus is a neurologic sysndrome resulting from deposition of unconjugated bilirubin in the brain. It can occur at much lower levels of serum bilirubin in sick or premature infants than in healthy, full-term babies. While toxic levels for healthy infants is listed at or above 25 mgs/dL in current pediatric texts, levels as low or lower than l0 mgs/dL can cause brain damage in a sick or premature infant.(12) Other predisposing factors to kernicterus include acidosis, hypoxia, administration of free fatty acids (administered by nasogastric tube in the newborn intensive care unit), salicylates (aspirin) and antibiotics (both administered during newborn hospitalization), and pitocin (the mother's labor was induced with pitocin). The Issue of the Rib Fractures: At autopsy four rib fractures were found, all on the posterior left. All witnesses agreed that these fractures were old, as indicated by callus formation. The state witnesses tried to suggest that, as one callus was larger than another, this was an indication that the rib fractures had occurred at different times, thus indicating a pattern of child abuse. There are several considerations that strongly mitigate against this interpretation. First, neither the mother, grandparents nor baby-sitter noted any bruising or indication of damage surrounding the ribs following discharge from neonatal hospitalization, nor were there any indications of injury found during weekly outpatient visits to the pediatrician. Next, different sizes of callus might just as well have indicated a difference in severity of the injuries rather a difference in time of occurrence. In addition, strong evidence weighing against child abuse is found in the Journal of Trauma, (1990) in an article entitled, " rib fractures in children: a marker of severe trauma.(13) The article reviewed a study of 2,080 children seen at a pediatric trauma center in 1985-1988. Among 33 of these children, who were found to have multiple rib fractures, these injuries were accompanied by severe internal thoracic injuries in 85% of the cases. Evidence of such injuries were notably absent in the present case, before death and at autopsy. It was the suggestion of the defense witness that the rib fractures took place during labor, prior to birth. This hypothesis would tend to be supported by the work of Marvin , M.D., with the Children's Medical Center, Dayton, Ohio, who reviewed 26 cases of infants with multiple unexplained fractures that fit the criteria of a recently described condition, the temporary brittle bone disease (TBBD).(14,15) The results of this study showed a striking association between TBBD and decreased fetal movement during pregnancy, something observed by the mother of Baby Alan during her pregnancy. As an interesting sidelight, the medical examiner testified during the court trial that a " bone had broken while handling " during the autopsy. This would tend to corroborate the assumption that the bones were extremely fragile and prone to spontaneous fractures. There is also a possible and plausible role of advanced vitamin C deficiency in predisposing to rib the fractures, which will be discussed further on in a section dealing with scurvy. The Issue of Chronic Oligohydramnios: Perhaps the strongest argument that the rib fractures took place either during the pregnancy and/or the mechanical stresses of labor is based on the probability that the mother had chronic oligohydramnios (deficiency of amniotic fluid) as a result of the multiple complications of her pregnancy. The reduced amniotic fluid, in turn, would have constricted fetal movements (the mother did note a lack of fetal movement during pregnancy), this in turn leading to " temporary brittle bone disease " discussed above. 's Textbook of Pediatrics has this to say about oligohydramnios: " Oligohydramnios is associated with congenital anomalies, intrauterine growth retardation, and severe renal anomalies. . . This becomes most evident after 20 wk gestation, when fetal urination is the major source of amniotic fluid. . . The most serious complication of chronic oligohydramnios is pulmonary hypoplasia. . .(16) In other words, the presence of chronic oligohydramnios would have explained the complications that followed birth including the rib fractures, the retarded development of the kidneys found on autopsy slides, (to be described later) and the pulmonary hypoplasia. In regards to the pulmonary hypoplasia, a video of the birth scene vividly displayed marked retraction of the ribs and sternum on the baby's first cries, a finding virtually diagnostic of the reduced lung capacity, which is characteristic of hypoplastic lungs. (With reduced lung capacity, and the lungs unable to fill the chest cavity, the chest wall would necessarily be sucked in as the diaphragm contracts during inspirations). It should be remembered that the admitting physician for the mother's maternity hospitalization was under the impression that there had been premature rupture of the membranes, as an indication for inducing labor. However, birth records recorded that membranes ruptured 9 minutes before birth which would tend to rule out premature rupture. It is true that an ultrasound on August 22, 1997, 4 and 1/2 weeks before delivery, reported normal level of amniotic fluid (15 cm). However, given the fact that, following 20 weeks gestation, fetal urination becomes the major source of amniotic fluid, it is highly probable that the mother did have chronic oligohydramnios throughout much of her pregnancy because of the finding on post-mortem slides that the kidneys showed definite markers of " failure to thrive, " or retarded development (see below), and because of the constant sickness of the mother during her pregnancy with a total lack of weight gain, malnutrition, dehydration, and gestational diabetes. With the combination of these conditions, it is doubtful that the fetal kidneys would have been able to maintain a normal volume of amniotic fluid throughout the latter portion of pregnancy. Issue of the Cerebral Hemorrhages: The defense witness held steadfastly to the view that the cerebral hemorrhages were not the result of trauma but were due to a combination of insults to the blood vessels, including the prolonged period of apnea preceding the terminal hospital admission, the presence of brain edema noted at autopsy, and the presence of advanced and extensive meningitis (described below), both of which would result in swelling of the blood vessels with increased friability and fragility, making them prone to spontaneous bleeding. The hemorrhages described by the defense witness were all fresh, in his estimation taking place hours or at most within 24 hours of death, as indicated by a lack of inflammatory cell infiltration in and around the hemorrhages and by the freshness in the appearance of the red blood cells. This would necessarily place the timing of these hemorrhages to have taken place following hospitalization. A possible or probable contributory factor to fresh hemorrhages following admission was the administration of the blood thinner, heparin, as previously reviewed. Both state witnesses, in contrast (the medical examiner and the neuro-pathologist consultant), attributed the bleeding to trauma. The former estimated that the bleeding was 2 to 3 days old, the latter 2 to 5 days. Although both attributed the initial bleeding to trauma before hospital admission, these figures imply an admission of the possibility that the major hemorrhages could have started following the terminal hospital admission. As previously mentioned, neither state witness mentioned the possible role of the apneic episode preceding hospitalization and the role it could have played in the pathologic findings, as did the defense witness. The Issue of Meningitis: During his testimony the defense witness described in some detail his finding of extensive meningeal membrane infiltrations with inflammatory cells, which he felt represented meningitis, possibly viral in origin. Due to the degenerative appearances of the nerve cells, he said that it was necessarily an old process, perhaps weeks in duration, certainly present before the final hospital admission. The medical examiner, during his court testimony as a state witness, denied any findings indicating meningitis. However, as previously pointed out, he admitted that he had not examined the spinal fluid, nor was there any description of the meninges in his pathological report. The neuro-pathologist consultant, the second state witness, when asked about the presence of meningitis, replied that there are three possible types: (1) bacterial, or purulent, which was clearly not present in the baby, (2) viral, in the form of aseptic meningitis, and (3) homogenic, the result of meningeal irritation from the hemorrhages. This witness stated that, in his opinion, meningeal inflammation in the present case was the result of the latter. However, from his own statement, that " we don't see homogenic meningitis for 3 or 4 days following hemorrhage, " he tended to contradict his claim that the meningeal inflammation was homogenic, or from blood irritation. As we understand his statements, he agreed that most of the hemorrhages found at autopsy were fresh, too fresh to result in inflammatory reactions. Also, the subdural and ependymal bleeds noted on the brain Ct scan when first admitted to the hospital were small and limited, presumably too small to cause extensive reactions. There were also suggestions of small intraparenchymal bleeds on the CT scan. Once again, neither defense nor state witnesses mentioned the possibility that these same findings could represent a vaccine-induced encephalomyelitis. The Issue of Diffuse Axonal Injury (DAI): One of the pivotal issues in the case was the timing of the brain cell damage described by both the defense witness and the state witnesses, the former contending that the damage was old, almost certainly taking place during the neonatal period, the latter insisting that it was due to shaken baby syndrome. For background information, early descriptions of diffuse traumatic white matter damage (DAI) suggested that the responsible mechanism for injury was a shearing of nerve fibers at time of injury followed by swelling of the nerve axons and later by varying degrees of nerve cell death, with most of the injuries taking place in the mid and hind-brain areas and upper cervical spinal cord.(17-19) However, recent reviews of the subject have stressed that pathologic findings from traumatic axonal injury may be indistinguishable from those brought about by hypoxic events.(20,21) Quoting from a conclusion from the article by Kaur and Rutty: " Axonal bulbs... may occur in the presence of hypoxia and in the absence of head injury. The role of hypoxia, raised intracranial pressure, oedema, shift effects, and ventilatory support in the formation of axonal bulbs is discussed. The presence of axonal bulbs cannot necessarily be attributed to shearing forces alone. " (20)(Emphasis ours) The article by J.F. Geddes says much the same thing, as indicated by the following quotation: " Because of potential confusion with hypoxic axonal injury, we suggest that DAI is never used as a neuropathological diagnosis in medicolegal cases, without the aetiology of the damage being made clear. On occasion it may be impossible to be certain of the cause of axonal damge... " (21)(Emphasis ours) As previously reviewed, under direct questioning during the trial, one of the state witnesses testified that he found no evidence of neonatal hypoxia on the pathology slides. In the view of the writers of this article, it is extremely unlikely that he would have made such an unqualified statement had he been aware of events surrounding the neonatal period, during which there was a combination of hypoglycemia, hypoxia, and critical hyperbilirubinemia, the combination of which almost certainly would have caused brain damage. The defense witness, in contrast, described extensive old nerve damage in areas of the brain and in a slide of the spinal cord. In the slide of the spinal cord, in addition to the nerve damage, he identified the presence of extensive revascularization (formation of new blood vessels). Since the revascularization would necessarily have been a slow process, this necessitated the conclusion that the process was old, probably taking place during labor and/or the neonatal period. The Issue of Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (DIC): It should be pointed out that the supposed presence of acute DIC, allegedly brought about by the shaking of the infant by the father immediately preceding the terminal hospital admission, was one of the cornerstones of the case of the prosecuting attorney brought against the father, as testified by one of the state witnesses, the neuropathologist. According to the laboratory parameters for acute DIC outlined in a review by Cunningham in July of 1999,(22) one of the prime requirements for the diagnosis of acute DIC is that of a reduced platelet count. There is no equivocation on this in the Cunnihgham article. Far from being reduced, baby Alan's platelet count was markedly elevated at 571,000 on the terminal hospitalization, which would be more compatible with the timing of a vaccine-induced injury, taking place a number of days before hospital admission:(23) Defense Witness's Summation: In the defense witness's conclusion that the baby had died from natural causes, he based this conclusion on several findings: The baby was admitted to the hospital during its terminal illness with two advanced and long-standing conditions: bilateral pneumonia and meningitis. According to his words, either one might have been fatal, but both together would in certainty have caused death. The brain hemorrhages were in all probability spontaneous, due to the combination of meningitis and a prolonged period of apnea preceding the terminal hospitalization, as described above. The baby had several features of " failure to thrive, " including immaturity of the kidneys (renal lobulations, persistent attachment of renal tubules to the renal capsule), and a failure in real weight gain. He hypothesized that this may have been due to prolonged pneumonia and also a neonatal hypoxic event, as indicated by extensive nerve degeneration in the spinal column with extensive revascularization, the latter necessarily reflecting an old process and placing the timing around birth. (We now know that almost certainly such an event did take place around the neonatal period from a combination of severe hypoxia, severe hypoglycemia, and hyperbilirubinemia). Also, the defense witness's contention that there was brain/spinal injury near or at birth tends to be supported by the presence of nucleated red blood cells reported on blood counts for 3 days following birth(24) and elevated liver enzymes.(25) Trial Conclusion: In spite of a brilliant presentation by the defense witness, in our opinion correct in every particular from birth to death of the baby, the jury found the defendant guilty of murder. As for the reasons for this verdict, the descriptions by the defense witness were highly technical, and the jury may have understood little of it. Also, the defense witness had only one appearance before the jury, while the state witnesses had a total of six. In this case it would appear that numbers did count. Since the defendant had refused to plea-bargain, maintaining his innocence, the laws mandated a life sentence, and the court had no choice but to impose this sentence. In our view, the refusal of the father to plea-bargain for a lesser sentence was a courageous act, one which would have been made only by a person conscious of his own innocence. Review and Discussion: Very clearly, the infant remained seriously ill following discharge from the hospital following his newborn period. Three serial chest X-rays in the hospital showed persistent pulmonary infiltrates, which were again found at postmortem examination, indicating a persistent, bilateral pneumonia, which had been present since birth. In addition, there were indications of brain damage from neonatal hypoxia and of failure to thrive, as pointed out and described by the defense witness. The baby was born prematurely. Not to be dismissed were the mother's observations that the baby's chest congestion never did clear after being taken home from the hospital. Under these and other severely compromised conditions the baby was administered a total of 6 vaccines, including the DPT, Hib, OPV, and hepatitis B. at approximately 8 weeks of life. A serious, possibly catastrophic reaction to the vaccines would have been predictable under these circumstances. Almost certainly a medical consensus would agree that vaccinations would have been contraindicated and should not have been given. In this regards, The Physicians ' Desk Reference provides warnings or precautions for all of these vaccines to inquire into the health of the recipient before their administration. For the DPT there is a warning that immunizations should be deferred during an acute infection, the clear implication being that there are heightened risks of reactions in the presence of infection or serious illness. Prematurity has also been listed as a contraindication to vaccines in early infancy.(26) Rationale that Baby Alan's Death was Vaccine-Related: There are two possible mechanisms, either separately or in combination, by which the vaccines could have initiated a train of events culminating in death. The first would have been that of an " immune paralysis " from the vaccines, which could have resulted in a fulminating spread of the lung infections (pneumonia) to other parts of the body, including the brain. As the inflammatory cells were described to the court as lymphocytes, this would of necessity have been a viral infection, not bacterial. The second mechanism would have been a vaccine-induced encephalomyelitis, of which the pertussis, hepatitis B. and Hemophilus influenza bacillus vaccines would have been prime suspects, either individually or in combination. This requires an acceptance of the validity of the 10 or 11 day latent period in the present case, the time period between the vaccines and the onset of signs of encephalitis and/or meningitis. It is freely admitted that this flies in the face of the 3 to 7 day limitations (depending on the vaccine), imposed by current guidelines of the Congressional Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, whereby symptoms of encephalitis must occur within these time periods for the vaccines to be recognized as a cause of the encephalitis. However, based on recent medical literature, some of which will be reviewed here, there are grounds for believing that these time limitations are outdated and unrealistic. It should also be noted that minor symptoms did appear the day following immunizations as noted by the parents and grandparents, including feverishness, irritability, and diarrhea as well as feeding problems. However, there is one piece of information which outweighs all others and which carries the vaccine issue to a level of virtual certainty; that is, that the vaccines did cause the death of baby Alan. Not discovered until December, 2000 because of careless and incorrect nurse's notes in recording the diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus vaccine, as " DTP " rather than " DTaP, " (acellular), the latter being the vaccine that was actually given to the baby, as confirmed by the doctor's order sheet and also the mother's vaccine records. Further investigation has revealed that this vaccine (Connaught Labs, DTaP 7H81507) belongs to the " hottest " lot on record, according to VAERS files, ranking highest in infant deaths among more the 800 vaccine lots. " Immune Paralysis " from Vaccines, a Possible Role in Spread of Infection: There is a small but firm body of medical literature that vaccines can bring about a form of immune paralysis, opening the way for invasion by micro-organisms which the body may be harboring, micro-organisms which otherwise might remain relatively harmless. One of the most intriguing of these was reported from Germany in 1986 in a little noted Letterto-the-Editor to the New England Journal of Medicine.(27) In the study, a significant though temporary drop of T-helper lymphocytes was reported in 11 healthy adults following routine tetanus vaccinations. Special concern rests in the fact that, among 4 of the subjects, the T-helper lymphocytes dropped to levels seen in active AIDS patients. Parenthetically, if such results ensued from a single vaccine in healthy adults, it is frightening and sobering to think of the possible consequences of the multiple vaccines given to this vulnerable infant. Although this study has never been repeated (as far as we are aware) a new text by Teddy H. Spence(28) provides 20 references of studies or case reports showing immune suppression following various vaccines, four of which are cited here.(29-32) Historically, one of the earliest reports of spread of disease following vaccines is found in an older book, The Hazards of Immunization, by Sir Graham .(33) Although not necessarily opposed to vaccines, the author did give an extensive review of the potential side effects from the vaccines, including a chapter entitled, " Provocation Disease, " in which he described certain complications, including paralysis from poliomyelitis in an arm into which vaccines had been given. Significantly, this was noted most frequently following the DPT vaccine.(34) In more recent times, a similar phenomenon was observed in Oman during a polio epidemic, in which it was found that a significantly higher proportion of the polio cases had received the DPT vaccine within 30 days before paralysis than did controls.(35) It is known that the baby had a smoldering bilateral pneumonia at time of the vaccines, as well as failure to thrive. The defense witness, we believe correctly, testified that the baby had had neurologic damage from neonatal hypoxia. The immunological suppression from multiple vaccines into a highly vulnerable infant might well have resulted in a fulminating spread of the lung infection to other parts of the body, including the brain. Vaccines as a Potential Source for Cerebral Hemorrhage, Autoimmunity, and Vasculopathies: In a collection of abstracts from Med-line research from 1990 to October, 1997, on adverse reactions from the recombinant hepatitis B vaccine, Dr. Valeri of Italy catalogued a total of 45 different types of reactions in the world literature.(36) Among these were necrotizing vasculitis,(37) vaccine induced autoimmunity,(38) and segmentary occlusion of the central retinal vein.(39) In a report of 18 deaths of neonates following the hepatitis B vaccine by the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, 1991-1998, hemorrhagic phenomena were common including 2 with cerebral hemorrhages, 4 with pulmonary bleeding, 1 with bloody diarrhea, and several with blood in upper airway passages.(40) A report in PostGraduate Medicine in 1973 on acute hemorrhagic encephalitis cites vaccines as one of the possible causes.(41) As early as 1975 Urbaschek described the role of bacterial endotoxin (in this instance the pertussis endotoxin) in bleeding and coagulation disorders.(42) More recently McCuskey et al described the initial responses to endotoxemia as microvascular inflammation with activation of endothelium from its normal anticoagulation state to a procoagulation state.(43) However, in this instance blood coagulation tests may have been skewed by the administration of heparin soon after hospital admission. In a study devised to provide an animal model for the systemic and neurological complications observed following the pertussis vaccine in children, Steinman and coworkers discovered a lethal shock-like syndrome in mice after immunization with B pertussis vaccine and sensitization to bovine serum albumin. Post-mortem examination of the brains revealed diffuse vascular congestion and hemorrhages in both cortex and white matter. (emphasis ours)(44) In the case of Baby Alan, the encephalomyelopathy could have predisposed to hemorrhagic consequences due to (1) increased friability of the blood vessels, (2) brain edema with resultant shearing effects, and (3) slight but possibly significant prolongation of prothrombin time. Of passing interest, as related to retinal hemorrhages, was a study of 20 children resuscitated following events other than trauma such as near drowning, asthma, sudden infant death syndrome, and other causes in which it was found that 2 children (10%) were found to have retinal hemorrhages.(45)Thus, there are exceptions to the current belief that SBS is the sole cause of retinal hemorrhages. A New Syndrome Emerging from Tragedy?: As yet based largely on observation and a limited but suggestive body of medical literature, in many cases thought to represent SBS it appears that we may be witnessing the adverse effects from interactions of highly potent vaccines given in combination, which potentially include: Hepatitis B (hemorrhagic vasculopathies, autoimmune reactions, neuropathies), Hemophilus influenza (Hib) (hypersensitization), tetanus (hypersensitization), and pertussis (hypersensitization, brain edema, and hypercoagulability with vascular inflammation from endotoxin). A study by Terpstra found the Hib vaccine to exceed even the pertussis vaccine in the latter's sensitizing potencies.(46) Usually within a period of 12 days these interactions bring about a combination of brain edema, hypercoagulability of the blood, and inflammation of blood vessels, these in turn resulting in a shearing effect on subdural blood vessels and subdural hematomas, thus mimicking what is now thought to represent the SBS. If this does in time prove to be a newly recognized syndrome, then it should have a name. In our opinion, none could be more fitting than the " Yurko Syndrome, " in honor of baby Alan Joe Yurko. Vaccines, Scurvy, and Hemorrhagic Diatheses: In the 1970's a major contribution was made to medicine by the Australian, Archivides Kalokerinos, M.D. in his work among the Australian aborigines. After working a number of years among these people, Dr. Kalokerinos became appalled by the very high infant mortality rate, in some areas approaching 50%. Having observed cases of scurvy among the children, who were living on very poor diets of processed foods; and noting that infants frequently died following immunizations, especially if they had colds, he intuitively made a connection between vitamin C deficiency and deaths following vaccines. After improving nutrition and adding regular vitamin C supplementation, infant mortality was virtually abolished.(47,48) As a result of this work he was awarded the Australian Medal of Merit in 1978. One of the primary roles of vitamin C being the production and maintenance of connective tissues in the body, Dr. Kalokerinos hypothesized that, in infants nutritionally deficient of vitamin C, with viral infections further depleting their limited reserves, the administration of the pertussis vaccine would often throw the children into fulminating scurvy with its hemorrhagic complications, with vitamin C being consumed at enormous rates in neutralizing the pertussis toxin. In the present case, we have earlier reviewed the stormy course of the mother's pregnancy, with a total lack of weight gain from beginning to end of the pregnancy. This consideration, together with the fact that she was unable to take her vitamins, almost certainly would have resulted in gross nutrient deficiencies in the baby, especially vitamin C, resulting in heightened vulnerability to the vaccines. It could also have played a role in the rib fractures. Vitamin C deficiency may have contributed to inadequate connective tissue formation in the bones before birth, making them susceptible to " green stick " fractures during the stresses of the birth process. As well, vitamin C deficiencies are linked to anemic conditions. In his writings, Dr. Kalokerinos referred to a case with which he was involved,(49) a case with uncanny similarity to that of Baby Alan including rib fractures, retinal and subdural hemorrhages. In referring to the case, Dr. Kalokerinos quoted from a text dealing with scurvy,(50) which described fractures at the costochondral junction, including those of the ribs to the spine. In his words: " Scurvy disrupts these areas (constochondral junctions), the bone breaks down and the ribs may 'override,' forming in typical cases 'beads.' Then healing commences with new bone formation looking just like true healing fractures. Furthermore, not all the ribs may be involved in this process and the changes will not all occur at the same time - giving the impression of multiple fractures of different ages. Having heard about the case of Baby Alan and doing a review of the records, Dr. Kalokerinos offered to testify in the father's behalf, believing with a virtual certainty that the baby's death was vaccine related. The Controversy of the Latent Period following Immunizations: As previously reviewed, there was a latent period of 10 or 11 days in Baby Alan between administration of the vaccines and the onset of signs of encephalitis and/or meningitis. Not to be discounted, though, were the minor reactions noted within 24 hours of vaccines, as previously mentioned. If we think in terms of a vaccine-induced encephalomyelitis, most of the earlier literature deals with the pertussis vaccine. Flexner (1930) noted a strong tendency for the nervous system manifestations to declare themselves between the 10th to 13th days.(51) In a review of 108 cases recorded before 1929 by Gorter (1933), the onset of encephalitis as " strikingly constant, " usually observed between the 10th and 12th days following vaccination, commonly with a febrile period on the 7th and 8th days, followed by recovery until onset of encephalitis.(52) In 1929 an editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported on an increase in severe neurological complications following infections and inoculations, occurring on about the 11th day after vaccination.(53) Over 50 years later Munoz (1984), in a mice study of experimental encephalomyelitis elicited by injection of pertussigen, found the same latent period of 11 to 13 days.(54) In contrast, literature since the 1970's has reported an entirely different pattern, with the onset of encephalopathy largely falling within a 3 day period following vaccines.(55-57) We can only speculate as to this changing pattern. Perhaps it could be attributed to the fact that, in those early years, children were given only the DPT vaccine or at most DPT with the oral polio vaccine, whereas in more recent years they have been receiving the hepatitis B and Hib vaccines in addition. As previously reviewed, the hepatitis B has been implicated in hemorrhagic diatheses, autoimmune disorders and other complications; the Hib has been shown to have unusually high hypersensitizing qualities. In the text, Vaccinations and Behavior Disorders, by Greg (publication pending), the author made the following comment in regards to the latent period:(58) " Today the latent period is rarely mentioned in connection with neurological complications of immunization. . . Contemporary studies on the pertussis vaccine select an arbitrary time limit in which reactions have to occur to be considered as vaccine related. This time limit is usually from 3 to 7 days. Perhaps the only study which explores the dynamics of post DPT reactions is an independent Australian study by Karlsson and Scheibner which, with a monitor which followed breathing volumes, found particular times of stress-induced breathing following DPT injections: " 'Of special importance (for stress) are days 2, 5, 6, and 8, 11, 13-16 and 18-21. (Scheibner, 1991).(59) Dr. Scheibner's findings do have some support in two studies which showed a fairly high incidence of cardiorespiratory complications in premature infants following vaccinations.(60,61) Unfortunately, these studies were of limited duration (48 hours in one instance). Another study throwing light on the latent period is one coming from Japan, from which it was found that increased histamine sensitivity in mice, brought about by the pertussis vaccine, showed two peaks, one on the 4th day following vaccination, and a second on the 12th day.(62) In describing the mechanism of these cardiac and respiratory failures, Reisinger stated that the platelet injury by endotoxin may result in a dramatic rise in serotonin, which can initiate coronary chemoreflex causing bradycardia, hypotension and cardiac collapse.(63) Reisinger also commented that the hemorrhagic complications from the " black plague " of the Middle Ages were simply due to an unusually virulent form of endotoxemia from Pasteurella pestis, a property common to all disease-causing bacteria.(64) In order to provide an overview of the latent period issue, there are two basic classes of immune systems, the immoral or antibody producing system, which tends to produce immediate-type reactions, and cellular immunity, in which reactions are delayed. Either class is capable of producing autoimmunity.(65) Obviously, the usual 3 or 7 day limitation, which now stands as a medical-legal standard, excludes a recognition of the delayed-type autoimmune reactions and, by inference, even denies their existence. In an article by Cohen and Shoenfeld,(66) one dealing with questions of vaccine-induced autoimmunity, the authors pointed out that it is a subject about which relatively little is known, due to the comparatively little attention it has received in clinical and laboratory studies. In point of fact a more recent review on this subject cites a temporal relationship of 2 to 3 months between vaccines and autoimmune reactions.(67) For this reason it is reasonable to assume that this is an area where large numbers of adverse vaccine reactions may be taking place, unrecognized and unreported because of this lack of study. As a final comment about the latent period, in a letter to the British Medical Journal, Rosemary Fox, secretary of Parents of Vaccine Damaged Children, made the following comments:(68) " Two years ago we started to collect details from parents of serious reactions suffered by their children to immunizations of all kinds. In 65% of the cases referred to us, reactions followed the triple vaccine (diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus). The children in this group total 182 to date; all are severely brain damaged, some are also paralyzed, and 5 have died. Approximately 60% of reactions. . . occurred within 24 hours of vaccination, 80% within 3 days, and all within 12 days. " It is of importance to point out that a significant number (20%) of reactions in this series did occur beyond the 3-day limit, which now serves as the medical-legal standard for identification of pertussis-vaccine reactions. Lymphocytosis and Brain Edema following Immunization: Bringing back to mind the imflammatory cell (lymphocytic) infiltrations in the retinal and meningeal membranes in the present case, as described by the defense witness, it is of interest to review the literature on this subject. Greg pointed out that that around the turn of the 20th century it was first noted that a marked leukocytosis and lymphocytosis occurred in the blood of children with pertussis, which has been a marker for the disease ever since. Cherry pointed out that the biologically active component in pertussis is known as the " lymphocytosis promoting factor. " (69) Perhaps the most telling report concerning the present case is the previously reported case by Munoz,(70) in which an experimental encephalomyelitis was elicited in mice by the injection of pertussigen, a derivative of Bordetella pertussis, along with mouse spinal cord extract, from which there were histological findings of perivascular infiltrates, consisting largely of lymphocytes in the brain and spinal cord, findings reminiscent of the present case of Baby Alan. Although Munoz mentioned nothing about the presence or absence of brain edema, the study of Iwasa stressed the finding of brain edema as a feature of pertussis-induced encephalopathy.(71) It is of interest to point out that there are human reports which support this finding: of infants which developed increased intracranial pressure with bulging fontanelles following DPT immunizations.(72-74) With this information as a background, there is a basis for assuming the likelihood that the meningitis described from the pathological slides, with heavy infiltration of lymphcytes as well as brain edema, represents a vaccine-induced process. Allergic Sensitization Brought about by Vaccines: The increasing incidence of allergic disorders in western nations is now universally recognized, with every third child in industrialized societies having an allergic disorder.(75) Since this trend coincides with vaccine programs, reports are now appearing which address the question of a possible relation between vaccines and increasing allergies. Among these are four controlled studies, from widely separated geographic areas, showing a marked increase in allergic disorders among fully immunized children as compared to those with limited or no vaccines.(76-79) Further indications of the propensities of vaccines, especially pertussis, to induce hypersensitivity reactions and/or encephalitis are to be found in laboratory studies, the natures of which are indicated by their titles: " Pertussis adjuvant prolongs intestinal hypersensitivity.(80) " Anaphylaxis or so-called encephalopathy in mice sensitized to an antigen with the aid of pertussigen (pertussis toxin).(81) " Immunoglobulin E and G responses to pertussis toxin after booster immunization in relation to atopy, local reactions and aluminum content in the vaccines.(82) " Comparison of vaccination of mice and rats with Haemophilus influenzas and Bordetella pertussis as models of atopy.(83) " Sensitization to thimerosal in atopic children.(84) Regarding the Hemophilus influenza vaccine, possibly a result of its unusually high sensitization potential (85), it has been found that most children and adults experience a temporary decrease in the antibody to the capsule of the Hemophilus influenza bacillus following Hib vaccination. The authors cautioned that this decrease might transiently increase the risk of invasive disease if it happened during an asymptomatic colonization with H influenza type b. Finally, in a 1991 report by the National Institute of Medicine, the committee did find evidence of a causal relation between the DPT vaccine and anaphylaxis, a potentially lifethreatening allergic reaction.(86) Intriguing Studies in the Older Medical Literature: Among other reasons, we must be thankful to Greg and his previously mentioned book for bringing to light some of the older studies on vaccine reactions, studies now largely forgotten. As previously reviewed, studies of Flexner and Gorter reviewed the more prolonged latent periods between pertussis vaccine and onset of encephalitis observed in earlier decades than those reported in more recent times. Concerned reports by Byers and Moll(87) in 1948 and Toomey (88) in 1949 showed no reluctance to report on adverse reactions they observed from the pertussis vaccine, and to advise searches for greater safety in its use. Of all the earlier reports, perhaps none is more intriguing than that of Low (Chicago, 1955), who reported a study in which he performed electroencephalograms on 83 children before and after pertussis vaccinations.(89) In 2 of these children the encephalograms turned abnormal following the vaccines without signs or symptoms of abnormal reactions. From these he concluded, " This study shows that mild but possibly significant cerebral reactions occur in addition to the reported very severe neurological changes. " The implications of this study are enormous. At a time when myriads of our children are suffering from minimal brain dysfunction or related disorders, it is possible that unrecognized vaccine reactions may be occurring on a large scale and may be contributing to this pool of unfortunate children. As Greg commented: " studies such as Low's, which closely examine individual children, are extremely rare in the study of vaccine reactions and virtually non-existent in today's literature. " It is as if there has been a silent ban on studies which might reveal adverse side effects from the vaccines, and in the revealing raise questions as to whether or not, among some of the present vaccines, harmful effects may outweigh the benefits. It is not quite true that there have no other similar studies since that of Low. There is a report from Japan in which 116 immunizations were given to 61 children with a history of febrile seizures or epilepsy, who had not had a seizure for one year. It was found that " epileptic spikes (among the children) reappeared after 10 and increased among 10 out of 73 vaccine (administrations) given for DTP or DT or BCG vaccines. " (90) Conclusion: From all of the studies quoted above, especially the German study showing significant drops in T-helper lymphocytes in healthy adults following tetanus booster injections, and the study of Low just quoted (neither of which have had follow-up studies in the United States, as they should have had), a large number of adverse reactions may be taking place unsuspected and unrecognized. The adverse events from vaccines that have been reported may represent the tip of the iceberg, as compared with a much larger number that are actually taking place. All of this, we believe, has a direct bearing on the case of Baby Alan. We have previously observed that the train of events in the present case, culminating in death, could be explained by the presence of pneumonia together with a viral meningitis and/or a vaccine-induce encephalitis. Shaken baby syndrome has never caused pneumonia and meningitis. Baby Alan died of a vaccine reaction. Harold E. Buttram, M.D. & F. Yazbak, M.D. Woodlands Healing Research Center Family, Environmental & Preventive Medicine 5724 Clymer Rd. Quakertown, PA 18951 215-536-1890 * 800-517-9545 Fax 215-529-9034 * Email: foffice@... Web Page- http://www.woodmed.com Footnote: For those who may wish to contact the wife of the prisoner or the prisoner himself, they may be reached as follows: Mrs. Francine Yurko Email: FRANSWRLD@... PO Box 585965, Orlando, Florida 32858-5965 Mr. Alan Yurko, AX13917, Washington Correctional Institute, 4455 Sam Drive, Chipley. FL 32428-3501 References: 1 TJ. (November.1999), Shaken baby (shaken impact) syndrome: non-accidental head injur in infancy. Royal Soc Med,Vol 99:556-561. 2 Weston IT, (1968) The pathology of child abuse, in:Heifer RE, Kempe CH, editors, The Battered Child, University of Chicago Press, pp 77-100. 3 Caffey J (l972), On the theory and practice of shaking infants; its potential residual effects of permanent brain damage and mental retardation, Am J Dis Child, 124:161-169. 4 Guthkelch AN (1971) Infantile subdural hematoma and its relationship to whiplash injury, British Med J, 11:430-431. 5 Scheibner V. (August-Sept., 1998). The shaken baby syndrome, the vaccination link, Nexus:35-37,87. 6 Levine S. Lowinski R. (1973). Hyperacute allergic encephalomyelitis, Amer J pathol, 73: 247-250. 7 Iwasa et al, (April, 1985), Swelling of the brain caused by pertussis vaccine: its quantitative determination and the responsible factors in the vaccine, Japan J Med Sci Biol,38(2):53-65. 8 Steinman L et al, (Oct., l982) Murine model for pertussis vaccine encephalopathy: linkage to H-2, Nature, 299:738-740. 9 Hanchette J & Kaplan S. Reactions to vaccine match symptoms found in shaken baby syndrome, National Vaccine Information Center, http://www.909shot.comgnsshake. him. 10 Textbook of Pediatrics, l6th Edition, Behrman, Kliegman, Jenson Ed., 2000, Page 839. 11 Rey E, (1996) Carbohydrate intolerance in pregnancy: incidence and neonatal outcome, Clinical Investigative Medicine, 19(6):406-415. 12 See reference l0, pages 517-519. 13 VF et al, (1990), Rib fractures in children: a marker for severe trauma, J Trauma, 30:695-700. 14 ME (April, 1999), Temporary brittle bone disease, a true entity? Seminars in Perinatology, 23(2):174-182. 15 ME & Hangartner TN (1999), Temporary brittle bone disease: associated with decreased fetal movement and osteopenia, Calcif Tissue Int, 64:137-143. 16 Textbook of Pediatrics, 16th Edition, Behrman, Kliegman, Jenson Editors, W.B. Saunders Co, 2000, Page 461. 17 Oppenheimer DR, (1968) Microscopic lesions in the brain following head injury, J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry, 31:299-306. 18 Strich SJ, (1956) Diffuse degeneration of the cerebral white matter in severe dementia following head injury, J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry, 19:163-185. 19 Strich SJ, (1961) Shearing of nerve fibres as a cause of brain damage due to head injury, Lancet, 2:443-448. 20 Kaur B, Rutty GN, & Timperley WR, (1999) The possible role of hypoxia in the formation of axonal bulbs, J Clin Path, 52:203-209. 21 Geddes JF et al, (2000) Traumatic axonal injury: practical issues for diagnosis in medicolegal cases, Neuropath & Applied Neurobiol, 26:105-116. 22 Cunningham. VL. (July, 1999). A review of disseminated intravascular coagulation, presentation, laboratory diagnosis, and treatment. MLO: 42-55, (www.mlo-online.com) 23 McCuskey RS et al, (Oct., 1996) Review: The microcirculation during endotoxemia. Cardiovascular Res, 32(4):752-763. 24 Buonocore G et al, (2000) Nucleated red blood cell count at birth as an index of perinatal brain damage, Am J Obst Gyn, 181:1500-1505 25 Lackmann GM, (Aug l996) Influence of neonatal idiopathic respiratory distress syndrome on serum enzyme activities in premature healthy and asphyxiated newborns, Am J Perinatology, 13(6):329-334. 26 TheNew Complete Medical and Health Encyclopedia, Volume One, Ferguson Publishing Company, 1997. page 157. 27 Eibl M et al. (1986). Abnormal T-lymphocyte subpopulations in healthy subjects after tetanus booster immunization. (letter), New Engl J Med, 310(3):198-199. 28 Vaccination Deception, Teddy H Spence, Truth Seekers Press, 3060 Main Street, Exmore, VA 23350-0819, 2000, Pages 106-107. 29 Toraldo R et al. (Nov1992) Effect of measles-mumps-rubella vaccination on polymorphonuclear functions in children, Acta Paediatr, 81(11):887-890. 30 Munyer et al. (July-.1975) Depressed lymphocyte function after measles-mumps-rubella vaccination, J Infect Disorder, 132(1):75-80. 31 Futton A et al, (Jan.,1999) Vaccines may cause immune suppression, Vaccine, 17(2):126-133. 32 Beckenhauer WH et al, (Aug.15, 1983) Immunosuppression with combined vaccines, J Am Vet Med Assn, 183(4):389-390. 33 The Hazards of Immunization, Sir Graham , The Athlone Press. The University of London, 1967. 34 Ibid, pages 265-280. 35 Sutter RW et al, (1992), Attributable risk of DTP (diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and pertussis vaccines) injections in provoking paralytic poliomyelitis during a large outbreak in Oman, J Infect Dis, 165:444-449. 36 Contact Dr. Valeri 01139-0535-26454, public section: phone-fax 0039-30-20.90.288 ( Carla) 37 Kerleau JM et al. (1997),La Vaccinazione anti-hepatite B e una nuova cause di vasculite necrotizzante? (lettera) Rev Med lnterne, 18(6):491-492. 38 Cohen AD. Shoenfeld Y. (Dec., 1996), Autoimmunita indotta dai vaccini, J Autoimmunity, 9(6):699-703. 39 Disdier GB et al (Feb.1, 1997), Pcc isopme de a vena centrale della retina dopo vaccinazione antihepatite B con vaccino ricombinante. Presse Med, 26(2):62-65. 40 Niu MT et al, (Dec1999) Neonatal Deaths after hepatitis B Vaccine, Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, 153: 1279-1282. 41 Behan PO et al. (Oct.,1973). Acute necrotizing encephalopathy, PostGraduate Medicine, 54(4):154-160. 42 Urbaschek. (Aug.14.1975) Fortschr Med, 93(22-23):1067-1071. 43 McCuskey et al. (Oct1996) Review: the microcirculation during endotoxemia. Cardiovascular Res, 32(4):752-763. 44 Steinman L et al, Murine model for pertussis vaccine encephalopathy: linkage to H-2, Nature, 299(21);Oct., l982:738-740. 45 Goetting MG & Sowa B. (April. 1990), Retinal hemorrhage after cardiopulmonary resuscitation in children: an etiologic reevaluation. Pediatrics, 85(4):585-588. 46 Terpstra OK et al, (March-April, 1979), Comparison of vaccination of mice and rats with Hemophilus influenzas and Bordetella pertussis as models, Clin Exp Pharmac Physiol, 6(2):139-149. 47 Every Second Child, Archie Kalokerinos, M.D., , Australia, 1974. 48 Cadenas et al, (Jan.,1998), Endotoxin increases oxidative injury to proteins in guinea pig liver: protection by dietary vitamin C, Pharmacol Toxicol, 82(1):11-18. 49 A Kalokerinos, Autobiography, publication pending. 50 Scurvy, Past and Present, Alfred F Hess, M.D., J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia, 1920. 51 Flexner S (1930), Postvaccinal encephalitis and allied conditions, JAMA, 94(5):305-311. 52 Gorter E (1933), Postvaccinal encephalitis, JAMA, 101(24):1871-1874. 53 JAMA, (Editorial), (May, 1929), Postinfectious encephalitis, a problem of increasing importance, 92(18):1523-1524. 54 Munoz JJ et al, (1984), Elicitation of experimental encephalomyelitis in mice with the aid of pertussigen, Cellular lmmunology, 83(1):92-100. 55 Menkes JH and Kinsbourne M, (1990), Workshop on neurologic complications of pertussis and pertussis vaccination, Neuropediatrics, 21:171-176. 56 Menkes JH, (1990), Neurologic complications of pertussis vaccination, Ann Neurology, 28:428. 57 Cody CL et al. (Nov1981), Nature and rates of adverse reactions associated with DTP and DT immunization in infants and children, Pediatrics, 68(5):650-660. 58 Vaccination and Behavior Disorders, a Review of the Controversy, Greg , Tuntable Creek Publishing, PO Box 1448, Lismore NSW 2480, Australia, 2000, pages 48-49. 59 Karlsson L & Scheibner V. (1991), Association between non-specific stress syndrome, DPT injections and cot death, paper presented to the 2nd immunization conference, Canberra, May 27-29. 60 Pourcyrous M et al, (March, 1998), Interleukin-6, C-Reactive Protein, and abnormal cardiorespiratory responses to immunization in premature infants, Pediatrics, 101(3):461. 61 Asztalos E et al, (1996) Incidence of adverse effects from routine vaccinations in premature infants, Pediatric Res, 39:293A 62 Horiuchi S et al. (1993), Two different histamine-sensitizing activities of pertussis vaccine observed in mice on the 4th and 12th days of sensitization. Japan J Med Sci Biol, 46:17-27. 63 Reisinger RC (1974) A final mechanism of cardiac and respiratory failure, SIDS, 1974, Proc. Of Camps International Symp. On SID in infancy, Also congressional Record S.1745, September 20,1973. 64 Personal communication 65 Immunobiology, A Janeway et al, Fourth Edition, Current Biology Publications, New York, 1999, Page 495. 66 Cohen DC & Shoenfeld Y. (1996) Vaccine-induced autoimmunity, J Autoimmunity, 9:699-703. 67 Shoenfeld Y & Aron-Maor A, (Feb., 2000) Vaccination and autoimmunity-'vaccinosis': a dangerous liaison?, J Autoimmunitv, 14(1):1-10. 68 Fox R (Feb. 21. 1976). Letter, British Medical Journal. 69 Cherry ID et al, (1988), Report of the task force on pertussis and pertussis immunization, Pediatrics, 81(6), Part ii Supplement: 940. 70 Refer to reference 54. 71 Refer to reference 7. 72 J & Manning F. (Feb1979), Increased intracranial pressure after diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis immunization, J Dis Child, 133:217-218. 73 Gross TP et al. (Mar., 1989) Bulging fontanelle after immunization with diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine and diphtheria-tetanus vaccine, J Pediatr, 114(3):423-425. 74Mathur R Kumari S. (June, 1981) Bulging fontanel following DPT, Indian Pediatr, 18(6):417-418. 75 The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) Steering Committee: Worldwide variation in prevalence of symptoms of asthma, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, and atopic eczema, Lancet, 1998. 351:1225-1232. 76 Odent MR (1994). Pertussis vaccine and asthma, is there a link? JAMA, 271:229-231. 77 Alm JS et al, (May 1, 1999). Atopy in children with anthroposophic lifestyle, Lancet, 353:1485-1488. 78 Kemp T et al, (Nov., 1997), Is infant immunization a risk factor for childhood asthma or allergy?, Epidemiologv, 8(6):678-680. 79 Hurwitz EL & Morgenstern H. (2000), Effects of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis or tetanus vaccination on allergies and allergy-related respiratory symptoms among children and adolescents in the United States, J Manipulative Physiol Therapy, 23:1-10. 80 Kosecka U et al, (July,1999), Int Arch Allergy Immunol, 119(3):205-211. 81 Munoz JJ et al, (April, 1987). Infect lmmunol, 55(4):1004-1008. 82 Odelram H et al, (May, 1994), Pediat Allergy Immunol, 5(2):8-123. 83 (Refer to reference 41). 84 Patrizi A (Fete 1999), Contact Dermatitis, 40(2):94-97. 85 Daum RS et se, (May, 1999), Decline in serum antibody to the capsule of the Hemophilus influenza type b in the immediate post immunization period, J. Pediatrics, 114(5):742-747. 86 Institute of Medicine, Adverse Effects of Pertussis and Rubella Vaccines, National Academy Press, 1991. 87 Byers RK & Moll FC, (1948), Encephalopathies following prophylactic pertussis vaccine, Pediatrics, 1(4):437 457. 88 Toomey J. (1949), Reactions to pertussis vaccine, JAMA, 139(7):448-450. 89 Low NL, (1955), Electroencephalographic studies following pertussis immunization, J. Pediatrics, 47:35-39. 90 Nouno S et al, (Aug., 1990) Adverse effects on EEG and clinical condition after immunizing children with convulsive disorders, Acta Paediatr Japan, 32(4):357-360. ===================================== NON-TRAUMATIC RIB INJURIES A Logical and Statistical Conclusion in the Case of Alan Yurko At first blush, a superficial review of the case of Alan Yurko might lead to the conclusion that the rib callus formations resulted from non-accidental trauma. However, a deeper review of the facts in the case, as will be shown here, will lead to an opposite conclusion. A simple knowledge of physics and minimal knowledge of anatomy will be utilized to demonstrate that, from a statistical standpoint, the probability of non-accidental trauma (child abuse) in this case approaches the vanishing point. The true etiology of the callus formation may never be known with certainty due to inadequacies in the medical records, but whatever the cause, it was not traumatic. Post-mortem findings revealed callus formations in the 5th, 6th, 7th, and l0th ribs, all posterior on the left. Chest X-rays showed callus formations in the 6th and 7th ribs. Also, upon autopsy, a pale ovoid bruise noted laterally on the left over the lower ribs. Other bruises were also noted. No internal thoracic injuries were found or reported from the autopsy. During the trial the medical examiner testified that the l0th rib had " been broken while handling, " something to be kept in mind, as will be explained later. Bruises and Internal Thoracic Injuries: an Analysis: The bruising is of special importance. Bruising would normally suggest trauma. According to a study by V.F. et al, (l990) titled, " Rib fractures in children: a marker for severe trauma, " Journal of Trauma, 30:695-700, of the 2080 children studied, 33 had multiple rib fractures. Among these 33, the injuries were accompanied by severe (emphasis mine) internal thoracic injuries in 85% of the cases. (Remember, no thoracic injuries were reported in the present case). This leaves a l5% margin for internal thoracic injuries not to have happened. Bruising and cutaneous injuries occur with a similar statistical frequency in traumatic fractures, especially in child abuse cases. My son had a bruise over callus rib formations in various stages of healing or growth. Does this indicate trauma at home, prior to the terminal hospital admission? Not so for the following reasons: The bruises could hardly have occurred during the six or seven weeks between hospitalizations save for the bruise under the right lower eyelid, which will be discussed. Baby Alan had weekly visits to a pediatrician during the intervening weeks when he was at home. During these visits he was given reflexive tests, pokes, pushes, and other forms of routine examinations by pediatricians trained to watch for signs of abuse. Not only did these weekly visits fail to reveal bruising, but there was a similar lack of such when examined during an emergency room visit. Not only did doctors and nurses fail to find and report cutaneous evidence of trauma, but Grandma and Grandpa, who lived not l0 doors away and who cared for, doted over, and changed diapers every single day, failed to note any bruises. His mother never noted them, nor did the baby's older sister, Devry. The same can be said of frequent visits from doting relatives, neighbors, neighbor's children, and friends. The bruise under the right eyelid occurred when the sister lost control of a feeding bottle. I was holding Alan in my lap when Devry, then age four, now seven, lost her grip on the bottle, the edge of which " doinked " him on the eye. The testimony of the mother, Francine, confirms this. Even more convincing is the written opinion of Horace B Gardner, M.D., J.D., an ophthalmologist who, after review of the records and the photographs of the post-mortem slides, states that the lineality of and constricted scale of this bruise would not be indicative of abuse, in that a blow by a hand or a fist would cause a " shiner " or much more diffuse ecchymoses. Dr. Gardner also pointed out that the causes for all other bruises reported at autopsy must have been iatrogenic, possibly caused by procedures such as resuscitation or handling after Alan was brought to the hospital. Upon terminal admission, quite a few nurses, doctors, and members of child protection teams did thorough examinations in which evidence of trauma, such as bruises, cuts, etc., were avidly sought. This is standard protocol when children are brought in with unexplained injuries. All reports on initial day of hospitalization failed to mention bruises or cutaneous injury except that involving the lower eyelid. Dr. Ben Guedes, the attending (terminal) physician, testified that the only bruise noted at admission and before autopsy was the eyelid. Thus the other bruises over the ribs and temporal area of the head had to have been iatrogenic, occurring while under the care of hospital staff. Applied Statistics: Returning now to the matter of internal thoracic injuries, there were no findings of internal injuries in the lungs or any of the remaining internal organs, (a number of organs had been " harvested " as donor organs before death). It is here that the previously quoted article comes into play. If these rib callus formations, indicative of healing fractures at various stages of healing, denoted multiple incidents occurring at different times, were traumatic or non-accidental, then I, the convicted, would have been very lucky after a single traumatic event to have hit the 15% margin previously discussed, without causing severe internal thoracic injury. However, the state experts at trial testified that these alleged fractures happened at different times. If these assertions are accepted, it would mean that I had to hit that 15% margin four times in a row! That carries the statistical probability of a traumatic etiology to considerably LESS than l%, or the same probability of hitting 1 through 15 on a roulette wheel four times in a row. The 15% margin is narrowed considerably when one considers that infants have great osseous plasticity and that their bones are extremely pliable due to immature ossification. If, as alleged by state witnesses, I caused the alleged fractures by squeezing, a great deal of pressure would be required. This same pressure, in all likelihood, would have caused damage to the lungs or other internal organs. This did not happen. It did not happen four times in a row. Also, if the ribs were fractured at different times, as contended by the state witnesses, when a second rib was fractured, it would have been a virtual certainty that rib fracture #1, already weakened, would have been re-fractured a second time. If each of the four ribs was fractured sequentially, then almost certainly, rib fractures #l would have been re-re-re-fractured three times, rib fracture # 2 re-re-fractured two times, and so on. In the re-fracturing, it is highly probable that the fractured fragments in at least one instance would have taken on dagger-like dimensions pointed into the internal vital organs. This also narrows the less than 1% margin for abuse-type trauma even further, exponentially so. Surely such a pattern of fractures would have caused internal thoracic injury and/or cutaneous injury, BUT THIS DID NOT TAKE PLACE. Remember, Alan was a tiny baby, premature, only 48 centimeters long. If I squeezed him, why are all of the fractures only on the left side? Did I squeeze him only on one side? That in itself is a physical improbability, I would venture to say. I have doctors who agree that it would take a team of super-orthopedic surgeons to reproduce those fractures in model and not cause thoracic or cutaneous injury. I doubt that any trauma could reproduce these alleged fractures without bruising or internal injuries, especially not four times in a row, not even once. Pain: Rib fractures are attributed to be among the most painful of fractures, with no sure means of stabilization, and with constant moving and breathing. Once again, doctors, nurses, child-protection team members, grandmother, grandfather, mother, sister, neighbors, neighbors' children, relatives, and friends never reported any indication of pain in the baby. If these had been traumatic rib fractures, surely there would have been some indication during feedings, diaper-changes, bathing, holding, swaddling, and so on. It could not have gone unnoticed. Surely pediatric examinations, with all the proddings and pokings would have elicited pain. THEY DIDN'T. On the whole, Alan was a tranquil baby. He took his feedings quietly and seemed content aside from problems of alternating constipation and diarrhea, and excluding the irritability which followed immunizations. A Metabolic Explanation for rib Fractures: We now come to an anomaly in the alleged rib fractures, in that they occurred near the posterior costochondral junctions between ribs and spine, sometimes also referred to as metaphyseal plates. This is an unusual location for traumatic fractures, as reviewed in a study by H.G. Hiller, M.D., entitled: " Battered or Not - a Reappraisal of Metaphyseal Fragility, (American Journal of Roentgenology, Radio-therapy, and Nuclear Medicine, February, l972, Vol ll4(2):241-246) In this study, a group of 145 children admitted to a pediatric trauma center for traumatic fractures were reviewed. Not one case of metaphyseal plate (costochondral junction) type was found. The study also looked at five cases of metaphyseal plate fractures from another hospital, where in all five cases the bones had a chalky appearance on X-rays. Of the two cases available for microscopic evaluation and bone scan, both revealed abnormal bone formation and were ruled non-traumatic. In his discussion the author observed that this type of trauma is common in scurvy without undue trauma to the child, and that green-stick fractures are equally common in rickets. Hiller interpreted these findings as casting doubt on the advisability of accepting multiple epiphyseal plate fractures as definite roentgenologic evidence of battering, and that they are in need of close reappraisal. The fact that the l0th rib broke " while handling " during the autopsy, as testified to by the medical examiner, would tend to confirm an unusual fragility of the bones and a vulnerability to spontaneous fractures. In the present case, considering that the fractures occurred at or near the epiphyseal plates, that there were no observations of bruising or cutaneous injury by trained experts, that a chalky appearance was indeed described by experts (but was attributed to overlay), and that it would be virtually impossible to bring about sequential rib fractures at different times without causing internal thoracic injury, as reflected in a statistical application of the study - in consideration of these things, the probability of a non-traumatic, metabolic etiology of the rib fractures becomes compelling. Additional supporting evidence in the case for non-traumatic etiology of the bone fractures would be that of temporary brittle bone disease, as described by Marvin , M.D., Ph.D., in his publications, in which he showed that unusually close uterine confinement, which reduces fetal movement, resulted in increased fetal bone fragility and vulnerability to spontaneous fractures. As outlined by and cited by , reduced movement in such instances delays fetal neo-ossification, which is controlled by a bone " mechanostat " mechanism. The history of the mother's pregnancy is suggestive of such a process, in that she was constantly sick, suffering from recurrent urinary (E coli) infections and other complications during her pregnancy. She gained only a net of two pounds, unable to take proper nourishment or even her prenatal vitamins. Lastly, one of the strongest points in differential diagnosis is found in the work of the Australian, Archivide Kalokerinos, M.B., B.S., Ph.D., noted for his work among the Australian aborigines, in which he reduced an infant morality rate approaching 50% to virtually zero. Noting features of scurvy among some of the infants and children, and observing that many deaths followed vaccinations, he hypothesized that the vaccinations provoked death by throwing the infants into fulminating scurvy. Based on these observations, he improved the nutrition of the children, provided generous amounts of vitamin C, and avoided vaccines when children were ill with colds or other minor infections. As a result of this work he was awarded the Australian Medal of Merit in l978. Dr. Kalokerinos also observed rib lesions attributed to scorbutic factors which healed with callus formations which could be mistaken (as in the present case) for healing rib fractures. CONCLUSION: Logic, science, clinical presentation, and history, combined with a statistical application, and above all, common sense, commands the conclusion of a non-traumatic etiology in the respect of callus rib formations found in the case of Alan Yurko. This fact lends great credence to the other issues of the case which have also been adjudged non-traumatic. I did not murder my baby. Alan R Yurko References: Buttram, HE & Yazbak FE, Shaken-Baby Syndrome, or Vaccine-Induced Encephalitis? The Story of Baby Alan, http://www.woodmed.com Florida Hospital, (1997) Medical records of Alan ph Ream-Yurko. VF et al, (1990), Rib fractures in children: a marker for severe trauma, J Trauma, 30:695-700. Gardner HB, (2000) Preliminary draft report of analysis of the lid and other bruises found in the case of Alan Yurko. Hiller HG, (l972) Battered or not: a reappraisal of metaphyseal fragility, Amer J Roentgen Radiotherapy & Nucl Med, 114(2):241-246. Kalokerinos A, (2000) The case of Alan Yurko, an introduction and explanation Kalokerinos A, l981, Every Second Child, New Canaan, Conn, Keats Publ. Kalokerinos A, an autobiography, publication pending ME, (1999) Temporary brittle bone disease, a true entity? Sem in Perinatol, 23(2):174-182. ME & Handgartner TN, (1999) Temporary brittle bone disease: associated with decreased fetal movement and osteopenia, Calcif Tiss Int, 64:137-143. State of Florida vs Alan R Yurko (1999), complete trial transcripts, depositions, and court records. ======================================================= From: Francine Yurko -FRANSWRLD@... KURTS31@... Date: Sat, 6 May 2000 12:55:32 EDT Thanks for the email response in reference to some info you've looked over about our son. , bare with me for a moment, I have spoken to soo many people requesting many things, some times it's hard to recall who has what. So, what information have you reviewed, do you have my medical package? What medical field are you in again? I have some medical records in my possession but not all. Because my son is dead, I have to pay for his records. For five days of records the cost was $230.00, there's at least 6 more days of record out there but between purchasing slides, copying, telephone calls, mailouts etc., I really can't afford the rest of the records right now. As far as the info on me during pregnancy, I'm getting the actual records as we speak. I'm waiting for the hospital to contact me when they're done, so for now I have to go off memory. Here we go.... I was not aware of the regeneration of amnionic fluids as you spoke of, all I know is when I went in for the last ultrasound 9/15/97 they told me I virtually had no fluid left. So little fluid that they didn't even want to do that needle in the belly test to see if the lungs were mature enough for delivery. They said seeing that they didn't know how long I'd been leaking they didn't want to take a chance prolonging pregnancy for risk of infections and other complications. So, that day they admitted me into the hospital to induce labor the next morning. I do not know why I was leaking fluids and can only guess maybe a week or so that I'd been leaking. I figured the wettness was normal pregnancy secretions. I did mention this to my doctor and that I was experiencing a gurgeling sensation in the vaginal area like I was leaking but, it was disregarded as being nothing to worry about. As for risk factors during pregnancy, here's some info whether or not they're considered risk factors: I started out at 130 lbs before pregnant, dropped down to 120 and when I gave birth at 35wks was back up to my original weight. At about 5mos into my pregnancy I began to not be able to breath and had no en ergy at all, I would get very dizzy and light headed. I was getting so weak that I couldn't work anymore. At this point is when I began seeing a doctor (7mos). It was discovered that I had gestational diabetes, but they didn't know what caused the not being able to breath, dizzy spells etc.-no tests were done. In records it states that my diabetes was controlled by diet-my diabetes was never controlled, I was crashing all the time! I have genital warts if that means anything, got em when I was 18yrs old-have not had an breakout since but I know that virus never leaves your body. Come to find out going through the medical records that I'm GBS positive, no one ever told me. I guess they did this test upon delivery-I was never aware. I also had a urinary tract infection during delivery. I do know that they gave me one shot of penicillin for the urinary infection. I do not know if I had a fever (as I said I'm getting those records-didn't realize that my records and baby's was seperate). No previous history of GBS in my daughter that I'm aware of but I delivered with a midwife for her, not in a hospital. She had no complications except that her little breast area was really inflammed for about a month. I really didn't eat/drink right during pregnancy nor did I take my vitamins properly-I was so sick all the time (I couldn't). They had me on a 1200 calorie diet for my diabetes, I tried to eat like they suggested but never having diabetes like this before I really didn't know much about it. When I had diabetes during the pregnancy of my daughter it didn't seem this severe. I only had diabetes during pregnancy and it goes away, although I believe I am possibly having problems now at this point but haven't gone in to check. I only know that I was given something in my IV bag to induce labor around 7am in the morning of 9/16 and gave birth at 2pm. Some time before actual delivery they gave me something for the pain-I had back labor too. The meds they gave only dulled my mind not the pain, it was so weird I can't even really explain. I had a vaginal delivery, no forks (or whatever they're called to help pull the baby out) were used. The records say that fluids were clear but when my water broke there was blood that came out too and it was not-as I delivered, it was some time before actual delivery. I have a birthing tape of the entire event-all the way til he was transfered to another hospital for his RDS. I do not know about internal monitoring? what is that? I wasn't told about alot of stuff from the hospital. I didn't even know he was born hypoglycemic or dehydrated until goin through the records or that his bilirubin was up to 17.4. There was other stuff too in reference to his lab work that was really high or really low. Yes I both breast and bottle fed. I still have some breast milk that has remained frozen since then (may be silly, but it's something else left of him-so to speak) I had concerns about my milk not being enough or not being full strength (like skim milk) because I had that problem with my daughter. I'm checking to see if any slides were done on the placenta. I had wanted to save it for possible future needs but the hospital didn't do that sort of thing, so I abandoned the thought. He was circumcised, I believe the day before his release from the hospital. He was in neonatal for a week-discharged on 9/23. When he was born he weighed 5lbs 9oz, when he was discharged from the hospital he weighed 5-3 (just FYI, when he died he weighed 9lbs-from ME report). The records reflect he was pink in color but he was grey (the tape proves it) then later in records it says pink but jaundis-is that a conflict? We were never sent home with a monitor like he had in the hospital. I was on medicaid at the time (prego before insurance kicked in) and medicaid doesn't pay for monitors-I checked into it. He had episodes throughout his 2.5 months of life where he would stop breathing briefly and restart, my doctor said he'd outgrow that from the RDS (he never did). He was having congestion problems his entire 2.5 months as well, but the pediatrician said he'd outgrow that too, that maybe it was from the tubes that were in his nose from birth. He began having constipation and vomiting problems, the pediatrician told me to use prune juice and try changing formula's. His belly was bloating (like a frog) but the pediatrician said that was okay, nothing to worry about. Our child had been taken into the doctor basically ever week since he was born til the time he died. Nov 2nd we took him into emergency because bright red blood was on his burp cloth after we fed and burped him. The night before I noticed matter on his burp cloth that resembled old blood (being a woman with a cycle) but thought it could be prune juice and when we saw bright red blood the next day I knew something was wrong. At the emergency room they didn't do any tests just observed his physical appearance and said he probably had a scratch on the inside of his nose and to keep his nails trim. We did keep his nails trim and he didn't move his arms or hands around to get a scratch in his nose, so I should have persued the issue. Nine days later from the emergency visit he had his shots, all four DTP, OPV, HepB and Hib. At this point he was 2months old (only a month past gestation) still having breathing and congestion problems and weighed about 8lbs. Ten days later he developed problems of not eating, he would suckle and whine, suckle and whine (really congested), not eating even half normal. He developed a high pitched cry unlike any cry I've ever heard before, he was lethargic and alittle warm, but he was a warm baby to begin with. My mother even tried to tell me his face/head looked like it was swollen but I disregarded it as he was growing. Three days later he collapsed. Our pediatrician had told us we could expect to see all of those syptoms from the shots and that they'd clear up so we disregarded them. We never got any warnings or information on the shots to know what problems occur or when and how long they last. That Monday of his collapse we were going to take him into the hospital if the problems did not subside because something did not feel right but we never got the chance. I hope this answers some of your questions to start with, and as I said I'm in the process of getting more records. Come to find out there are medical records mysteriously missing from the hospital and from the file. I may have left some information out as a result of trying to remember as much as I can to give you some insight, all at once. Never fails, just when you think you've said it all, you remember something else later however, this is all I have at this point. Any other questions or information needed just give a call or email me again. Thank you again for your interest and any assistance. Best Regards, Francine. ========================================= COMPILATION OF ARTICLES ON THE INTRUSION OF CIVIL LIBERTIES BY MEDICAL MANDATES, AND THE GROWING USE OF CRIMINAL SANCTIONS AGAINST CHILD CAREGIVERS TO DIVERT MEDICAL RESPONSIBILTY (90% OF THE MATERIAL IS SBS CASES). -By Krasner, CFIC Coalition For Informed Choice. Krasner, Director 188-34 87th Drive, #4B, Hollis, NY 11423 fax/phone: 718-479-2939, email: gk-cfic@... Text is formatted to facilitate reading from the video monitor. To avoid eye strain, try setting the fonts to Ariel or Helvetica Bold in black, and set the background to medium gray or cyanish green. The articles are in sequential order to facilitate word searches, and are separated by a " ======================= " line. ========================================================= ========================================================= Shaken Baby Syndrome or Vaccine Induced Encephalitis: The Story of Baby Alan By Harold E. Buttram, M.D. & F. Yazbak, M.D. Date: 05/25/2000 The shaken baby syndrome (SBS), as reviewed in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine and other journals,(l-4) commonly describes a combination of subdural hematoma, retinal hemorrhage, and diffuse axonal injury (DAI) as the triad of diagnostic criteria. The basic issue to be addressed in this review is whether or not in some instances, where a father has been accused of causing the death of his child from the shaken baby syndrome, the true cause of death was from a catastrophic vaccine reaction. The present reviewers believe that the demise of Baby Alan fits with such a vaccine reaction, and that the father was falsely accused and convicted of the murder of his son based on a mistaken diagnosis. By definition, the word " syndrome " refers to a group of signs and symptoms that occur together and characterize a particular abnormality. The question in the present instance is whether or not the criteria of SBS may have more than one possible cause. Vera Scheibner, Ph.D., Australian researcher, in an article reviewing the shaken baby syndrome,(5) stated her opinion that many of the cases attributed to this cause have actually been vaccine-related injuries or deaths. After having reviewed the medical records of the present case, she came to the same conclusion. She offered the following comment in support of this opinion: " Indeed, vaccines like pertussis are actually used to induce encephalitis (experimental allergic encephalomyelitis) in laboratory animals.(6) This is characterized by brain swelling and hemorrhaging of an extent similar to that caused by mechanical injuries.(7,8) In a bulletin from the National Vaccine Information Center, similar instances of mistaken diagnoses were sited; that is, instances where vaccine injuries were mistakenly diagnosed as SBS, resulting in imprisonments.(9) One of the instances was reviewed in the article: " Dr. Schweller, a San Diego pediatric neurologist, who testified (in a case in which a father was accused of brain injuring his child) that the brain damage from interior bleeding was likely triggered by the DPT shot, stressed this in a Gannett New Service Interview: is a tendency in some medical arenas to discount completely the history provided by the family if you find evidence of subdural hematoma - no matter what history is provided. Even a three-foot fall can cause fractures. It doesn't need to come from a shaking event. I'm always leery in medicine of saying something is always due to some factor, or that something is 100 percent. " ' In the present case it is important to point out that a vaccine reaction was never mentioned by any witness as a possible factor in the baby Alan's death. Instances of shaken baby syndrome, tragically, do occur, but it is also tragic when fathers or other family members are falsely accused and imprisoned as the result of mistaken diagnosis, where the true cause of the brain injuries arose from vaccines. The present case, which the authors have carefully reviewed, will be used as a model. Let the facts, as we understand them, speak for themselves. The Story of Baby Alan: Baby Alan was born on September 16, 1997. Due to a deficiency of amniotic fluid on an ultrasound test, which suggested a possible premature rupture of the membranes, labor was induced at 35 weeks gestation. The admitting officer did note that premature rupture of membranes had taken place, as the indication for the induction of labor. However, it should be stressed that the mother had not noted leakage of her amniotic fluid, as she later recalled, only a moisture at the vaginal outlet, which raises the possibility that the mother did have chronic or prolonged oligohydramnios (lack or deficiency of aminiotic fluid). (More will be said of this later.) Other conditions which placed the baby into a high risk setting included maternal gestational diabetes, anemia, group B Streptococcal vaginal infection, chronic maternal E coli urinary tract infection with proteinuria, as well as nicotine and caffeine during pregnancy by the mother. In addition, the mother had suffered from colon problems for many years and had been advised not to become pregnant, as this problem might predispose her to toxemia of pregnancy. After becoming pregnant, she became sick and remained so during her pregnancy, often to the point of dehydration, losing from her original weight of 130 pounds down to 120 pounds at one point and finally coming back to her original weight of 132 pounds at time of delivery, a net weight gain of 2 pounds. She said she was too sick to take her prenatal vitamins. When one considers that the currently recommended weight gain for pregnancy is 25 to 30 pounds, this type of situation would place the fetus at high risk for a wide spectrum of nutritional deficiencies and retarded development. It should be stressed that each one of these conditions alone would have placed the baby in a high-risk category, so that in their totality they placed a guarded prognosis on the baby at time of birth. The birth weight was 5 Ibs, 8 ounces; APGAR scores were 8 and 9. However, following birth, respiratory distress of the baby was immediately evident (as shown on birth video) with grunting respirations with marked rib and sternal retractions. The mother observed a persistent grayish color following birth. At approximately 2 hours following birth an Accu-Chek was 37; a follow-up blood glucose was 32. Arterial blood gasses on room air revealed severe hypoxia and acidosis with pH 7.38, C02 42, pO2 43, and bicarbonate 21. The BUN of 8.0 and creatinine of 0.4, were unusually low, probably from protein lack as a phase of malnutrition The infant was placed in an oxyhood with 50% 02; he was started on ampicillin and gentamycin. The baby's 7-day hospital course was complicated by continued respiratory distress, spending 3 days in the intensive care unit. 3 daily chest X-rays during this time showed persistent pulmonary infiltrates. Persistantly low serum CO2's indicated continued acidosis throughout hospitalization. Also the baby had neonatal jaundice with a maximum bilirubin of 17.4 and a decrease to 13.2 before discharge. Liver enzymes were elevated with an ALT of 58 and LDH of 520. According to the mother, symptoms of chest congestion and difficulty breathing never did clear following discharge from the hospital, with grunting and raspy breathing patterns, and with occasional brief periods of apnea. Also, the baby remained grossly jaundiced for a month after returning home, much longer than would have been expected from benign neonatal jaundice. Of special importance as related to the rib fractures, which will be discussed below, on no occasion during weekly visits to the pediatric clinic following discharge from the hospital, and one visit to a hospital emergency room, were there any reports of external injuries or bruises, nor of acute pain or discomfort, both of which almost certainly would have been noticed by an examining physicians and nurses had these injuries occurred after being taken home by the mother. On November 11, 1997, at approximately 8 weeks age (but only 43 weeks true gestational age), the baby was simultaneously given 6 vaccines including DPT, Hib, OPV, and hepatitis B. Within 24 hours of the immunizations the baby developed intermittent diarrhea, irritability, and feverishness, a pattern which progressed into the terminal illness. As related by the mother, about 10 or 11 days following the vaccines the baby developed a high-pitched cry, and its skin became warmer to the touch. Having been forewarned during the previous office visit that these things might ensue following the vaccines, she did not become overly alarmed. However, she also noticed an increasing lethargy and a falling off of the baby's feeding patterns, which had been a combination of breast and formula. This pattern continued for 3 days until the morning of November 24, when the father was alone at home with the baby and his 4-year old sister. In rapid succession the father observed that the baby began wheezing, then spit up, then stopped breathing. In efforts to restart breathing the father first lightly slapped the baby's face, then began spanking the baby's bottom while holding him by the heels, all without success. After delays from unsuccessful attempts to revive the baby, and from running to a neighbor's house to borrow the neighbors car, the father then rushed the baby to the Princeton Hospital of Orlando, where the baby was successfully resuscitated. However, according to family estimates, the baby must have been apneic a minimum of 20 minutes, considering the delays and the distances, before resuscitation was accomplished. Incidentally, emergency room records recorded 5 minutes of apnea, presumably the time between arrival in the E.R. and resuscitation. Initial laboratory tests in the Princeton Hospital showed anemia with a hemoglobin of 7.8, Hct 25.3, RBC's 2.61, elevated white blood count of 20,900 (with 61% lymphocytes, 26% neutrophils, 5% bands, and 8% mononuclears), platelets 571,000, markedly elevated liver enzymes, bilirubin 0.6, blood sugar of 337, mildly prolonged prothrombin time (a bleeding study), and elevated split fibrin products. A blood culture reported light growth of gram positive cocci, coagulase negative, probably a contaminant. It should be pointed out that the predominance of lymphocytes (61%) in the white blood count is a hallmark of a pertussis reaction (10). The patient was transferred to the Florida Hospital, Orlando, where he was placed on life support. Admitting temperature was 105 degrees. A brain Ct scan was interpreted as showing a small right subdural hematoma and one or two sites of intraparenchymal bleeding. Chest Xray showed bilateral pulmonary infiltrates (bilateral pneumonitis) and healing fractures of the 6th and 7th ribs on the left.. A spinal tap was not done due to the difficulties and hazards of performing a tap while the baby was on life-support. Intravenous heparin was administered 3 hours post-admission and was continued after the brain CT scan revealed intracerebral hemorrhages. Following a hospital admission of 75 hours, the baby was pronounced dead, being 10 weeks of age at time of death. Post-Mortem Findings (Performed by the medical examiner for Orange and Osceola Counties): Findings included minor contusions of both temporal areas of the head and a small bruise of the right lower eyelid. The brain was grossly edematous, (which may have been the precipitating factor of the apnea preceding hospital admission). There were large, fresh subdural hemorrhages, right and left hemispheres, predominantly right; also hemorrhages at the base of the brain and over some areas of the spinal cord. The brain was grossly edematous. There was a small focus of bleeding in the right eye (bleeding absent in the left eye). In addition there were old, healing fractures in the 5th, 6th 7th nd 10th ribs, all posterior on the left. The lungs were mildly hemorrhagic and were congested with scattered inflammatory cells, indicating an interstitial pneumonitis. (The heart, liver, pancreas, small intestines, gall bladder, and spleen had been surgically harvested before death for organ donations). Based on these findings, it was the medical examiner's conclusion that the baby had died from the shaken baby syndrome. As previously mentioned, the brain CT scan done soon after hospital admission showed only a relatively small subdural hemorrhage on the right, none on the left. This being the case, it can be assumed that the left subdural hemorrhage commenced following hospital admission, indicating a non-traumatic etiology. It is possible or even probable that the intravenous heparin, started 3 hours following hospitalization, may have caused or contributed to the massive bleeding found at autopsy. As another important point, the medical examiner testified during the trial that he found no evidence of meningitis on autopsy (an important point to keep in mind in view of subsequent testimony from another witness, who described heavy inflammatory cell infiltration in the meninges); but while denying the presence of meningitis, at the same time he admitted that he had not examined the spinal fluid, nor was there any description of the meninges in the autopsy report. In regards to postmortem findings in the kidneys, the defense witness pointed out during his testimony that the presence of renal lobulations and the failure of renal tubules to detach from the renal capsules (from which they are genetically derived) was an indication of delayed development or " failure to thrive " of the baby. Jury Trial: At the subsequent jury trial, taking place from February 22 to 24, 1999, the state attorney provided four major witnesses testifying for the state, including the medical examiner, who had performed the autopsy, and a neuropathologist. Against these the defense provided a single witness, a neuropathologist. More than this, two of the state witnesses were called for repeat testimonies following that of the defense witness, making a total of six witness hearings for the state, one for the defense. It is of concern to the writers of this review that, as far as can be determined from the court transcripts of the trial, none of the state witnesses had sought nor studied the medical records from the neonatal hospitalization of the baby; at least no mention was made of them. Thereforeone must wonder if they had any awareness of the multiple complications surrounding the neonatal period including severe hypoglycemia, severe hypoxia, critical hyperbilirubinemia, and ongoing respiratory distress during and following release from the hospital. Any one of these neonatal complications (severe hypoglycemia, hypoxia, and critical hyperbilirubinemia) may have caused brain damage, but the 3 together almost certainly did cause such damage, damage which of necessity had a profound effect on the subsequent course of events and which must have been the true cause for some of the post-mortem findings, rather than the shaken baby syndrome. The apparent unawareness of the state witnesses concerning these earlier complications places serious question about their understanding of the case and the sequence of events leading to the baby's death, which we believe led to faulty conclusions. At least one of the state witnesses was compelled to admit, under oath, that he had neither sought nor read the newborn hospital records. Another state witness, the neuropathologist, denied that he saw any evidence of neonatal hypoxia in his review of postmortem findings. In our opinion, no doctor who had carefully read the baby's previous medical records would have made such a statement, with their overwhelming evidence that hypoxic damage could have taken place during or following birth. Still another area of concern is that, in not a single instance, did a state witness mention the prolonged apnea of the baby preceding the terminal hospital admission, or that the apnea in and of itself could have resulted in the complications and pathologic findings later described by the neuropathologist, including the acute degenerative changes of the brain cells with reddish discoloration and swelling of the blood vessels. One wonders whether or not the connection between these findings and the apneic period ever occurred to the state witnesses, and if it did, why they did not mention it, as clearly it was a matter of major importance in the interpretation of the findings and the outcome of the case. During the trial, all of the state witnesses agreed with the medical examiner that the father was guilty of child abuse, and the baby had died of the shaken baby syndrome. The defense witness disagreed with this conclusion. It was his opinion that the baby had died from " natural causes. " Although there were a number of issues raised during the trial, for the most part, guilt or innocence of the father revolved around five major issues: the rib fractures, the unitaleral retinal hemorrhage, the cerebral hemorrhages, diffuse axonal (brain cell) injury, and meningitis. These as well as other issues will be addressed in the following: The Issue of the Birth Weight: It is well known that newborn infants of diabetic mothers tend to be larger and plumper (macrosomia) than nondiabetic mothers, a response to increased nutrient supply and hypersecretion of insulin by the fetal pancreas. However, a large retrospective review by Dr. e Rey of Montreal has also found that infants born from mothers with gestional diabetes have higher rates of newborns who are large-for-gestional-age, in addition to having complications of hypoglycemia and hyperbilirubinemia;(11) (both of these latter complications were present following birth in baby Alan). For this reason, the recorded birth weight for Baby Alan of 5 pounds and 8 ounces may have been falsely elevated, with an increased proportion of adipose tissue in relation to other tissues and organs. The Issue of Hyperbilirubinemia: The term, hyperbilirubinemia, denotes an excess of bilirubin, a condition which is potentially neurotoxic. Kernicterus is a neurologic sysndrome resulting from deposition of unconjugated bilirubin in the brain. It can occur at much lower levels of serum bilirubin in sick or premature infants than in healthy, full-term babies. While toxic levels for healthy infants is listed at or above 25 mgs/dL in current pediatric texts, levels as low or lower than l0 mgs/dL can cause brain damage in a sick or premature infant.(12) Other predisposing factors to kernicterus include acidosis, hypoxia, administration of free fatty acids (administered by nasogastric tube in the newborn intensive care unit), salicylates (aspirin) and antibiotics (both administered during newborn hospitalization), and pitocin (the mother's labor was induced with pitocin). The Issue of the Rib Fractures: At autopsy four rib fractures were found, all on the posterior left. All witnesses agreed that these fractures were old, as indicated by callus formation. The state witnesses tried to suggest that, as one callus was larger than another, this was an indication that the rib fractures had occurred at different times, thus indicating a pattern of child abuse. There are several considerations that strongly mitigate against this interpretation. First, neither the mother, grandparents nor baby-sitter noted any bruising or indication of damage surrounding the ribs following discharge from neonatal hospitalization, nor were there any indications of injury found during weekly outpatient visits to the pediatrician. Next, different sizes of callus might just as well have indicated a difference in severity of the injuries rather a difference in time of occurrence. In addition, strong evidence weighing against child abuse is found in the Journal of Trauma, (1990) in an article entitled, " rib fractures in children: a marker of severe trauma.(13) The article reviewed a study of 2,080 children seen at a pediatric trauma center in 1985-1988. Among 33 of these children, who were found to have multiple rib fractures, these injuries were accompanied by severe internal thoracic injuries in 85% of the cases. Evidence of such injuries were notably absent in the present case, before death and at autopsy. It was the suggestion of the defense witness that the rib fractures took place during labor, prior to birth. This hypothesis would tend to be supported by the work of Marvin , M.D., with the Children's Medical Center, Dayton, Ohio, who reviewed 26 cases of infants with multiple unexplained fractures that fit the criteria of a recently described condition, the temporary brittle bone disease (TBBD).(14,15) The results of this study showed a striking association between TBBD and decreased fetal movement during pregnancy, something observed by the mother of Baby Alan during her pregnancy. As an interesting sidelight, the medical examiner testified during the court trial that a " bone had broken while handling " during the autopsy. This would tend to corroborate the assumption that the bones were extremely fragile and prone to spontaneous fractures. There is also a possible and plausible role of advanced vitamin C deficiency in predisposing to rib the fractures, which will be discussed further on in a section dealing with scurvy. The Issue of Chronic Oligohydramnios: Perhaps the strongest argument that the rib fractures took place either during the pregnancy and/or the mechanical stresses of labor is based on the probability that the mother had chronic oligohydramnios (deficiency of amniotic fluid) as a result of the multiple complications of her pregnancy. The reduced amniotic fluid, in turn, would have constricted fetal movements (the mother did note a lack of fetal movement during pregnancy), this in turn leading to " temporary brittle bone disease " discussed above. 's Textbook of Pediatrics has this to say about oligohydramnios: " Oligohydramnios is associated with congenital anomalies, intrauterine growth retardation, and severe renal anomalies. . . This becomes most evident after 20 wk gestation, when fetal urination is the major source of amniotic fluid. . . The most serious complication of chronic oligohydramnios is pulmonary hypoplasia. . .(16) In other words, the presence of chronic oligohydramnios would have explained the complications that followed birth including the rib fractures, the retarded development of the kidneys found on autopsy slides, (to be described later) and the pulmonary hypoplasia. In regards to the pulmonary hypoplasia, a video of the birth scene vividly displayed marked retraction of the ribs and sternum on the baby's first cries, a finding virtually diagnostic of the reduced lung capacity, which is characteristic of hypoplastic lungs. (With reduced lung capacity, and the lungs unable to fill the chest cavity, the chest wall would necessarily be sucked in as the diaphragm contracts during inspirations). It should be remembered that the admitting physician for the mother's maternity hospitalization was under the impression that there had been premature rupture of the membranes, as an indication for inducing labor. However, birth records recorded that membranes ruptured 9 minutes before birth which would tend to rule out premature rupture. It is true that an ultrasound on August 22, 1997, 4 and 1/2 weeks before delivery, reported normal level of amniotic fluid (15 cm). However, given the fact that, following 20 weeks gestation, fetal urination becomes the major source of amniotic fluid, it is highly probable that the mother did have chronic oligohydramnios throughout much of her pregnancy because of the finding on post-mortem slides that the kidneys showed definite markers of " failure to thrive, " or retarded development (see below), and because of the constant sickness of the mother during her pregnancy with a total lack of weight gain, malnutrition, dehydration, and gestational diabetes. With the combination of these conditions, it is doubtful that the fetal kidneys would have been able to maintain a normal volume of amniotic fluid throughout the latter portion of pregnancy. Issue of the Cerebral Hemorrhages: The defense witness held steadfastly to the view that the cerebral hemorrhages were not the result of trauma but were due to a combination of insults to the blood vessels, including the prolonged period of apnea preceding the terminal hospital admission, the presence of brain edema noted at autopsy, and the presence of advanced and extensive meningitis (described below), both of which would result in swelling of the blood vessels with increased friability and fragility, making them prone to spontaneous bleeding. The hemorrhages described by the defense witness were all fresh, in his estimation taking place hours or at most within 24 hours of death, as indicated by a lack of inflammatory cell infiltration in and around the hemorrhages and by the freshness in the appearance of the red blood cells. This would necessarily place the timing of these hemorrhages to have taken place following hospitalization. A possible or probable contributory factor to fresh hemorrhages following admission was the administration of the blood thinner, heparin, as previously reviewed. Both state witnesses, in contrast (the medical examiner and the neuro-pathologist consultant), attributed the bleeding to trauma. The former estimated that the bleeding was 2 to 3 days old, the latter 2 to 5 days. Although both attributed the initial bleeding to trauma before hospital admission, these figures imply an admission of the possibility that the major hemorrhages could have started following the terminal hospital admission. As previously mentioned, neither state witness mentioned the possible role of the apneic episode preceding hospitalization and the role it could have played in the pathologic findings, as did the defense witness. The Issue of Meningitis: During his testimony the defense witness described in some detail his finding of extensive meningeal membrane infiltrations with inflammatory cells, which he felt represented meningitis, possibly viral in origin. Due to the degenerative appearances of the nerve cells, he said that it was necessarily an old process, perhaps weeks in duration, certainly present before the final hospital admission. The medical examiner, during his court testimony as a state witness, denied any findings indicating meningitis. However, as previously pointed out, he admitted that he had not examined the spinal fluid, nor was there any description of the meninges in his pathological report. The neuro-pathologist consultant, the second state witness, when asked about the presence of meningitis, replied that there are three possible types: (1) bacterial, or purulent, which was clearly not present in the baby, (2) viral, in the form of aseptic meningitis, and (3) homogenic, the result of meningeal irritation from the hemorrhages. This witness stated that, in his opinion, meningeal inflammation in the present case was the result of the latter. However, from his own statement, that " we don't see homogenic meningitis for 3 or 4 days following hemorrhage, " he tended to contradict his claim that the meningeal inflammation was homogenic, or from blood irritation. As we understand his statements, he agreed that most of the hemorrhages found at autopsy were fresh, too fresh to result in inflammatory reactions. Also, the subdural and ependymal bleeds noted on the brain Ct scan when first admitted to the hospital were small and limited, presumably too small to cause extensive reactions. There were also suggestions of small intraparenchymal bleeds on the CT scan. Once again, neither defense nor state witnesses mentioned the possibility that these same findings could represent a vaccine-induced encephalomyelitis. The Issue of Diffuse Axonal Injury (DAI): One of the pivotal issues in the case was the timing of the brain cell damage described by both the defense witness and the state witnesses, the former contending that the damage was old, almost certainly taking place during the neonatal period, the latter insisting that it was due to shaken baby syndrome. For background information, early descriptions of diffuse traumatic white matter damage (DAI) suggested that the responsible mechanism for injury was a shearing of nerve fibers at time of injury followed by swelling of the nerve axons and later by varying degrees of nerve cell death, with most of the injuries taking place in the mid and hind-brain areas and upper cervical spinal cord.(17-19) However, recent reviews of the subject have stressed that pathologic findings from traumatic axonal injury may be indistinguishable from those brought about by hypoxic events.(20,21) Quoting from a conclusion from the article by Kaur and Rutty: " Axonal bulbs... may occur in the presence of hypoxia and in the absence of head injury. The role of hypoxia, raised intracranial pressure, oedema, shift effects, and ventilatory support in the formation of axonal bulbs is discussed. The presence of axonal bulbs cannot necessarily be attributed to shearing forces alone. " (20)(Emphasis ours) The article by J.F. Geddes says much the same thing, as indicated by the following quotation: " Because of potential confusion with hypoxic axonal injury, we suggest that DAI is never used as a neuropathological diagnosis in medicolegal cases, without the aetiology of the damage being made clear. On occasion it may be impossible to be certain of the cause of axonal damge... " (21)(Emphasis ours) As previously reviewed, under direct questioning during the trial, one of the state witnesses testified that he found no evidence of neonatal hypoxia on the pathology slides. In the view of the writers of this article, it is extremely unlikely that he would have made such an unqualified statement had he been aware of events surrounding the neonatal period, during which there was a combination of hypoglycemia, hypoxia, and critical hyperbilirubinemia, the combination of which almost certainly would have caused brain damage. The defense witness, in contrast, described extensive old nerve damage in areas of the brain and in a slide of the spinal cord. In the slide of the spinal cord, in addition to the nerve damage, he identified the presence of extensive revascularization (formation of new blood vessels). Since the revascularization would necessarily have been a slow process, this necessitated the conclusion that the process was old, probably taking place during labor and/or the neonatal period. The Issue of Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (DIC): It should be pointed out that the supposed presence of acute DIC, allegedly brought about by the shaking of the infant by the father immediately preceding the terminal hospital admission, was one of the cornerstones of the case of the prosecuting attorney brought against the father, as testified by one of the state witnesses, the neuropathologist. According to the laboratory parameters for acute DIC outlined in a review by Cunningham in July of 1999,(22) one of the prime requirements for the diagnosis of acute DIC is that of a reduced platelet count. There is no equivocation on this in the Cunnihgham article. Far from being reduced, baby Alan's platelet count was markedly elevated at 571,000 on the terminal hospitalization, which would be more compatible with the timing of a vaccine-induced injury, taking place a number of days before hospital admission:(23) Defense Witness's Summation: In the defense witness's conclusion that the baby had died from natural causes, he based this conclusion on several findings: The baby was admitted to the hospital during its terminal illness with two advanced and long-standing conditions: bilateral pneumonia and meningitis. According to his words, either one might have been fatal, but both together would in certainty have caused death. The brain hemorrhages were in all probability spontaneous, due to the combination of meningitis and a prolonged period of apnea preceding the terminal hospitalization, as described above. The baby had several features of " failure to thrive, " including immaturity of the kidneys (renal lobulations, persistent attachment of renal tubules to the renal capsule), and a failure in real weight gain. He hypothesized that this may have been due to prolonged pneumonia and also a neonatal hypoxic event, as indicated by extensive nerve degeneration in the spinal column with extensive revascularization, the latter necessarily reflecting an old process and placing the timing around birth. (We now know that almost certainly such an event did take place around the neonatal period from a combination of severe hypoxia, severe hypoglycemia, and hyperbilirubinemia). Also, the defense witness's contention that there was brain/spinal injury near or at birth tends to be supported by the presence of nucleated red blood cells reported on blood counts for 3 days following birth(24) and elevated liver enzymes.(25) Trial Conclusion: In spite of a brilliant presentation by the defense witness, in our opinion correct in every particular from birth to death of the baby, the jury found the defendant guilty of murder. As for the reasons for this verdict, the descriptions by the defense witness were highly technical, and the jury may have understood little of it. Also, the defense witness had only one appearance before the jury, while the state witnesses had a total of six. In this case it would appear that numbers did count. Since the defendant had refused to plea-bargain, maintaining his innocence, the laws mandated a life sentence, and the court had no choice but to impose this sentence. In our view, the refusal of the father to plea-bargain for a lesser sentence was a courageous act, one which would have been made only by a person conscious of his own innocence. Review and Discussion: Very clearly, the infant remained seriously ill following discharge from the hospital following his newborn period. Three serial chest X-rays in the hospital showed persistent pulmonary infiltrates, which were again found at postmortem examination, indicating a persistent, bilateral pneumonia, which had been present since birth. In addition, there were indications of brain damage from neonatal hypoxia and of failure to thrive, as pointed out and described by the defense witness. The baby was born prematurely. Not to be dismissed were the mother's observations that the baby's chest congestion never did clear after being taken home from the hospital. Under these and other severely compromised conditions the baby was administered a total of 6 vaccines, including the DPT, Hib, OPV, and hepatitis B. at approximately 8 weeks of life. A serious, possibly catastrophic reaction to the vaccines would have been predictable under these circumstances. Almost certainly a medical consensus would agree that vaccinations would have been contraindicated and should not have been given. In this regards, The Physicians ' Desk Reference provides warnings or precautions for all of these vaccines to inquire into the health of the recipient before their administration. For the DPT there is a warning that immunizations should be deferred during an acute infection, the clear implication being that there are heightened risks of reactions in the presence of infection or serious illness. Prematurity has also been listed as a contraindication to vaccines in early infancy.(26) Rationale that Baby Alan's Death was Vaccine-Related: There are two possible mechanisms, either separately or in combination, by which the vaccines could have initiated a train of events culminating in death. The first would have been that of an " immune paralysis " from the vaccines, which could have resulted in a fulminating spread of the lung infections (pneumonia) to other parts of the body, including the brain. As the inflammatory cells were described to the court as lymphocytes, this would of necessity have been a viral infection, not bacterial. The second mechanism would have been a vaccine-induced encephalomyelitis, of which the pertussis, hepatitis B. and Hemophilus influenza bacillus vaccines would have been prime suspects, either individually or in combination. This requires an acceptance of the validity of the 10 or 11 day latent period in the present case, the time period between the vaccines and the onset of signs of encephalitis and/or meningitis. It is freely admitted that this flies in the face of the 3 to 7 day limitations (depending on the vaccine), imposed by current guidelines of the Congressional Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, whereby symptoms of encephalitis must occur within these time periods for the vaccines to be recognized as a cause of the encephalitis. However, based on recent medical literature, some of which will be reviewed here, there are grounds for believing that these time limitations are outdated and unrealistic. It should also be noted that minor symptoms did appear the day following immunizations as noted by the parents and grandparents, including feverishness, irritability, and diarrhea as well as feeding problems. However, there is one piece of information which outweighs all others and which carries the vaccine issue to a level of virtual certainty; that is, that the vaccines did cause the death of baby Alan. Not discovered until December, 2000 because of careless and incorrect nurse's notes in recording the diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus vaccine, as " DTP " rather than " DTaP, " (acellular), the latter being the vaccine that was actually given to the baby, as confirmed by the doctor's order sheet and also the mother's vaccine records. Further investigation has revealed that this vaccine (Connaught Labs, DTaP 7H81507) belongs to the " hottest " lot on record, according to VAERS files, ranking highest in infant deaths among more the 800 vaccine lots. " Immune Paralysis " from Vaccines, a Possible Role in Spread of Infection: There is a small but firm body of medical literature that vaccines can bring about a form of immune paralysis, opening the way for invasion by micro-organisms which the body may be harboring, micro-organisms which otherwise might remain relatively harmless. One of the most intriguing of these was reported from Germany in 1986 in a little noted Letterto-the-Editor to the New England Journal of Medicine.(27) In the study, a significant though temporary drop of T-helper lymphocytes was reported in 11 healthy adults following routine tetanus vaccinations. Special concern rests in the fact that, among 4 of the subjects, the T-helper lymphocytes dropped to levels seen in active AIDS patients. Parenthetically, if such results ensued from a single vaccine in healthy adults, it is frightening and sobering to think of the possible consequences of the multiple vaccines given to this vulnerable infant. Although this study has never been repeated (as far as we are aware) a new text by Teddy H. Spence(28) provides 20 references of studies or case reports showing immune suppression following various vaccines, four of which are cited here.(29-32) Historically, one of the earliest reports of spread of disease following vaccines is found in an older book, The Hazards of Immunization, by Sir Graham .(33) Although not necessarily opposed to vaccines, the author did give an extensive review of the potential side effects from the vaccines, including a chapter entitled, " Provocation Disease, " in which he described certain complications, including paralysis from poliomyelitis in an arm into which vaccines had been given. Significantly, this was noted most frequently following the DPT vaccine.(34) In more recent times, a similar phenomenon was observed in Oman during a polio epidemic, in which it was found that a significantly higher proportion of the polio cases had received the DPT vaccine within 30 days before paralysis than did controls.(35) It is known that the baby had a smoldering bilateral pneumonia at time of the vaccines, as well as failure to thrive. The defense witness, we believe correctly, testified that the baby had had neurologic damage from neonatal hypoxia. The immunological suppression from multiple vaccines into a highly vulnerable infant might well have resulted in a fulminating spread of the lung infection to other parts of the body, including the brain. Vaccines as a Potential Source for Cerebral Hemorrhage, Autoimmunity, and Vasculopathies: In a collection of abstracts from Med-line research from 1990 to October, 1997, on adverse reactions from the recombinant hepatitis B vaccine, Dr. Valeri of Italy catalogued a total of 45 different types of reactions in the world literature.(36) Among these were necrotizing vasculitis,(37) vaccine induced autoimmunity,(38) and segmentary occlusion of the central retinal vein.(39) In a report of 18 deaths of neonates following the hepatitis B vaccine by the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, 1991-1998, hemorrhagic phenomena were common including 2 with cerebral hemorrhages, 4 with pulmonary bleeding, 1 with bloody diarrhea, and several with blood in upper airway passages.(40) A report in PostGraduate Medicine in 1973 on acute hemorrhagic encephalitis cites vaccines as one of the possible causes.(41) As early as 1975 Urbaschek described the role of bacterial endotoxin (in this instance the pertussis endotoxin) in bleeding and coagulation disorders.(42) More recently McCuskey et al described the initial responses to endotoxemia as microvascular inflammation with activation of endothelium from its normal anticoagulation state to a procoagulation state.(43) However, in this instance blood coagulation tests may have been skewed by the administration of heparin soon after hospital admission. In a study devised to provide an animal model for the systemic and neurological complications observed following the pertussis vaccine in children, Steinman and coworkers discovered a lethal shock-like syndrome in mice after immunization with B pertussis vaccine and sensitization to bovine serum albumin. Post-mortem examination of the brains revealed diffuse vascular congestion and hemorrhages in both cortex and white matter. (emphasis ours)(44) In the case of Baby Alan, the encephalomyelopathy could have predisposed to hemorrhagic consequences due to (1) increased friability of the blood vessels, (2) brain edema with resultant shearing effects, and (3) slight but possibly significant prolongation of prothrombin time. Of passing interest, as related to retinal hemorrhages, was a study of 20 children resuscitated following events other than trauma such as near drowning, asthma, sudden infant death syndrome, and other causes in which it was found that 2 children (10%) were found to have retinal hemorrhages.(45)Thus, there are exceptions to the current belief that SBS is the sole cause of retinal hemorrhages. A New Syndrome Emerging from Tragedy?: As yet based largely on observation and a limited but suggestive body of medical literature, in many cases thought to represent SBS it appears that we may be witnessing the adverse effects from interactions of highly potent vaccines given in combination, which potentially include: Hepatitis B (hemorrhagic vasculopathies, autoimmune reactions, neuropathies), Hemophilus influenza (Hib) (hypersensitization), tetanus (hypersensitization), and pertussis (hypersensitization, brain edema, and hypercoagulability with vascular inflammation from endotoxin). A study by Terpstra found the Hib vaccine to exceed even the pertussis vaccine in the latter's sensitizing potencies.(46) Usually within a period of 12 days these interactions bring about a combination of brain edema, hypercoagulability of the blood, and inflammation of blood vessels, these in turn resulting in a shearing effect on subdural blood vessels and subdural hematomas, thus mimicking what is now thought to represent the SBS. If this does in time prove to be a newly recognized syndrome, then it should have a name. In our opinion, none could be more fitting than the " Yurko Syndrome, " in honor of baby Alan Joe Yurko. Vaccines, Scurvy, and Hemorrhagic Diatheses: In the 1970's a major contribution was made to medicine by the Australian, Archivides Kalokerinos, M.D. in his work among the Australian aborigines. After working a number of years among these people, Dr. Kalokerinos became appalled by the very high infant mortality rate, in some areas approaching 50%. Having observed cases of scurvy among the children, who were living on very poor diets of processed foods; and noting that infants frequently died following immunizations, especially if they had colds, he intuitively made a connection between vitamin C deficiency and deaths following vaccines. After improving nutrition and adding regular vitamin C supplementation, infant mortality was virtually abolished.(47,48) As a result of this work he was awarded the Australian Medal of Merit in 1978. One of the primary roles of vitamin C being the production and maintenance of connective tissues in the body, Dr. Kalokerinos hypothesized that, in infants nutritionally deficient of vitamin C, with viral infections further depleting their limited reserves, the administration of the pertussis vaccine would often throw the children into fulminating scurvy with its hemorrhagic complications, with vitamin C being consumed at enormous rates in neutralizing the pertussis toxin. In the present case, we have earlier reviewed the stormy course of the mother's pregnancy, with a total lack of weight gain from beginning to end of the pregnancy. This consideration, together with the fact that she was unable to take her vitamins, almost certainly would have resulted in gross nutrient deficiencies in the baby, especially vitamin C, resulting in heightened vulnerability to the vaccines. It could also have played a role in the rib fractures. Vitamin C deficiency may have contributed to inadequate connective tissue formation in the bones before birth, making them susceptible to " green stick " fractures during the stresses of the birth process. As well, vitamin C deficiencies are linked to anemic conditions. In his writings, Dr. Kalokerinos referred to a case with which he was involved,(49) a case with uncanny similarity to that of Baby Alan including rib fractures, retinal and subdural hemorrhages. In referring to the case, Dr. Kalokerinos quoted from a text dealing with scurvy,(50) which described fractures at the costochondral junction, including those of the ribs to the spine. In his words: " Scurvy disrupts these areas (constochondral junctions), the bone breaks down and the ribs may 'override,' forming in typical cases 'beads.' Then healing commences with new bone formation looking just like true healing fractures. Furthermore, not all the ribs may be involved in this process and the changes will not all occur at the same time - giving the impression of multiple fractures of different ages. Having heard about the case of Baby Alan and doing a review of the records, Dr. Kalokerinos offered to testify in the father's behalf, believing with a virtual certainty that the baby's death was vaccine related. The Controversy of the Latent Period following Immunizations: As previously reviewed, there was a latent period of 10 or 11 days in Baby Alan between administration of the vaccines and the onset of signs of encephalitis and/or meningitis. Not to be discounted, though, were the minor reactions noted within 24 hours of vaccines, as previously mentioned. If we think in terms of a vaccine-induced encephalomyelitis, most of the earlier literature deals with the pertussis vaccine. Flexner (1930) noted a strong tendency for the nervous system manifestations to declare themselves between the 10th to 13th days.(51) In a review of 108 cases recorded before 1929 by Gorter (1933), the onset of encephalitis as " strikingly constant, " usually observed between the 10th and 12th days following vaccination, commonly with a febrile period on the 7th and 8th days, followed by recovery until onset of encephalitis.(52) In 1929 an editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported on an increase in severe neurological complications following infections and inoculations, occurring on about the 11th day after vaccination.(53) Over 50 years later Munoz (1984), in a mice study of experimental encephalomyelitis elicited by injection of pertussigen, found the same latent period of 11 to 13 days.(54) In contrast, literature since the 1970's has reported an entirely different pattern, with the onset of encephalopathy largely falling within a 3 day period following vaccines.(55-57) We can only speculate as to this changing pattern. Perhaps it could be attributed to the fact that, in those early years, children were given only the DPT vaccine or at most DPT with the oral polio vaccine, whereas in more recent years they have been receiving the hepatitis B and Hib vaccines in addition. As previously reviewed, the hepatitis B has been implicated in hemorrhagic diatheses, autoimmune disorders and other complications; the Hib has been shown to have unusually high hypersensitizing qualities. In the text, Vaccinations and Behavior Disorders, by Greg (publication pending), the author made the following comment in regards to the latent period:(58) " Today the latent period is rarely mentioned in connection with neurological complications of immunization. . . Contemporary studies on the pertussis vaccine select an arbitrary time limit in which reactions have to occur to be considered as vaccine related. This time limit is usually from 3 to 7 days. Perhaps the only study which explores the dynamics of post DPT reactions is an independent Australian study by Karlsson and Scheibner which, with a monitor which followed breathing volumes, found particular times of stress-induced breathing following DPT injections: " 'Of special importance (for stress) are days 2, 5, 6, and 8, 11, 13-16 and 18-21. (Scheibner, 1991).(59) Dr. Scheibner's findings do have some support in two studies which showed a fairly high incidence of cardiorespiratory complications in premature infants following vaccinations.(60,61) Unfortunately, these studies were of limited duration (48 hours in one instance). Another study throwing light on the latent period is one coming from Japan, from which it was found that increased histamine sensitivity in mice, brought about by the pertussis vaccine, showed two peaks, one on the 4th day following vaccination, and a second on the 12th day.(62) In describing the mechanism of these cardiac and respiratory failures, Reisinger stated that the platelet injury by endotoxin may result in a dramatic rise in serotonin, which can initiate coronary chemoreflex causing bradycardia, hypotension and cardiac collapse.(63) Reisinger also commented that the hemorrhagic complications from the " black plague " of the Middle Ages were simply due to an unusually virulent form of endotoxemia from Pasteurella pestis, a property common to all disease-causing bacteria.(64) In order to provide an overview of the latent period issue, there are two basic classes of immune systems, the immoral or antibody producing system, which tends to produce immediate-type reactions, and cellular immunity, in which reactions are delayed. Either class is capable of producing autoimmunity.(65) Obviously, the usual 3 or 7 day limitation, which now stands as a medical-legal standard, excludes a recognition of the delayed-type autoimmune reactions and, by inference, even denies their existence. In an article by Cohen and Shoenfeld,(66) one dealing with questions of vaccine-induced autoimmunity, the authors pointed out that it is a subject about which relatively little is known, due to the comparatively little attention it has received in clinical and laboratory studies. In point of fact a more recent review on this subject cites a temporal relationship of 2 to 3 months between vaccines and autoimmune reactions.(67) For this reason it is reasonable to assume that this is an area where large numbers of adverse vaccine reactions may be taking place, unrecognized and unreported because of this lack of study. As a final comment about the latent period, in a letter to the British Medical Journal, Rosemary Fox, secretary of Parents of Vaccine Damaged Children, made the following comments:(68) " Two years ago we started to collect details from parents of serious reactions suffered by their children to immunizations of all kinds. In 65% of the cases referred to us, reactions followed the triple vaccine (diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus). The children in this group total 182 to date; all are severely brain damaged, some are also paralyzed, and 5 have died. Approximately 60% of reactions. . . occurred within 24 hours of vaccination, 80% within 3 days, and all within 12 days. " It is of importance to point out that a significant number (20%) of reactions in this series did occur beyond the 3-day limit, which now serves as the medical-legal standard for identification of pertussis-vaccine reactions. Lymphocytosis and Brain Edema following Immunization: Bringing back to mind the imflammatory cell (lymphocytic) infiltrations in the retinal and meningeal membranes in the present case, as described by the defense witness, it is of interest to review the literature on this subject. Greg pointed out that that around the turn of the 20th century it was first noted that a marked leukocytosis and lymphocytosis occurred in the blood of children with pertussis, which has been a marker for the disease ever since. Cherry pointed out that the biologically active component in pertussis is known as the " lymphocytosis promoting factor. " (69) Perhaps the most telling report concerning the present case is the previously reported case by Munoz,(70) in which an experimental encephalomyelitis was elicited in mice by the injection of pertussigen, a derivative of Bordetella pertussis, along with mouse spinal cord extract, from which there were histological findings of perivascular infiltrates, consisting largely of lymphocytes in the brain and spinal cord, findings reminiscent of the present case of Baby Alan. Although Munoz mentioned nothing about the presence or absence of brain edema, the study of Iwasa stressed the finding of brain edema as a feature of pertussis-induced encephalopathy.(71) It is of interest to point out that there are human reports which support this finding: of infants which developed increased intracranial pressure with bulging fontanelles following DPT immunizations.(72-74) With this information as a background, there is a basis for assuming the likelihood that the meningitis described from the pathological slides, with heavy infiltration of lymphcytes as well as brain edema, represents a vaccine-induced process. Allergic Sensitization Brought about by Vaccines: The increasing incidence of allergic disorders in western nations is now universally recognized, with every third child in industrialized societies having an allergic disorder.(75) Since this trend coincides with vaccine programs, reports are now appearing which address the question of a possible relation between vaccines and increasing allergies. Among these are four controlled studies, from widely separated geographic areas, showing a marked increase in allergic disorders among fully immunized children as compared to those with limited or no vaccines.(76-79) Further indications of the propensities of vaccines, especially pertussis, to induce hypersensitivity reactions and/or encephalitis are to be found in laboratory studies, the natures of which are indicated by their titles: " Pertussis adjuvant prolongs intestinal hypersensitivity.(80) " Anaphylaxis or so-called encephalopathy in mice sensitized to an antigen with the aid of pertussigen (pertussis toxin).(81) " Immunoglobulin E and G responses to pertussis toxin after booster immunization in relation to atopy, local reactions and aluminum content in the vaccines.(82) " Comparison of vaccination of mice and rats with Haemophilus influenzas and Bordetella pertussis as models of atopy.(83) " Sensitization to thimerosal in atopic children.(84) Regarding the Hemophilus influenza vaccine, possibly a result of its unusually high sensitization potential (85), it has been found that most children and adults experience a temporary decrease in the antibody to the capsule of the Hemophilus influenza bacillus following Hib vaccination. The authors cautioned that this decrease might transiently increase the risk of invasive disease if it happened during an asymptomatic colonization with H influenza type b. Finally, in a 1991 report by the National Institute of Medicine, the committee did find evidence of a causal relation between the DPT vaccine and anaphylaxis, a potentially lifethreatening allergic reaction.(86) Intriguing Studies in the Older Medical Literature: Among other reasons, we must be thankful to Greg and his previously mentioned book for bringing to light some of the older studies on vaccine reactions, studies now largely forgotten. As previously reviewed, studies of Flexner and Gorter reviewed the more prolonged latent periods between pertussis vaccine and onset of encephalitis observed in earlier decades than those reported in more recent times. Concerned reports by Byers and Moll(87) in 1948 and Toomey (88) in 1949 showed no reluctance to report on adverse reactions they observed from the pertussis vaccine, and to advise searches for greater safety in its use. Of all the earlier reports, perhaps none is more intriguing than that of Low (Chicago, 1955), who reported a study in which he performed electroencephalograms on 83 children before and after pertussis vaccinations.(89) In 2 of these children the encephalograms turned abnormal following the vaccines without signs or symptoms of abnormal reactions. From these he concluded, " This study shows that mild but possibly significant cerebral reactions occur in addition to the reported very severe neurological changes. " The implications of this study are enormous. At a time when myriads of our children are suffering from minimal brain dysfunction or related disorders, it is possible that unrecognized vaccine reactions may be occurring on a large scale and may be contributing to this pool of unfortunate children. As Greg commented: " studies such as Low's, which closely examine individual children, are extremely rare in the study of vaccine reactions and virtually non-existent in today's literature. " It is as if there has been a silent ban on studies which might reveal adverse side effects from the vaccines, and in the revealing raise questions as to whether or not, among some of the present vaccines, harmful effects may outweigh the benefits. It is not quite true that there have no other similar studies since that of Low. There is a report from Japan in which 116 immunizations were given to 61 children with a history of febrile seizures or epilepsy, who had not had a seizure for one year. It was found that " epileptic spikes (among the children) reappeared after 10 and increased among 10 out of 73 vaccine (administrations) given for DTP or DT or BCG vaccines. " (90) Conclusion: From all of the studies quoted above, especially the German study showing significant drops in T-helper lymphocytes in healthy adults following tetanus booster injections, and the study of Low just quoted (neither of which have had follow-up studies in the United States, as they should have had), a large number of adverse reactions may be taking place unsuspected and unrecognized. The adverse events from vaccines that have been reported may represent the tip of the iceberg, as compared with a much larger number that are actually taking place. All of this, we believe, has a direct bearing on the case of Baby Alan. We have previously observed that the train of events in the present case, culminating in death, could be explained by the presence of pneumonia together with a viral meningitis and/or a vaccine-induce encephalitis. Shaken baby syndrome has never caused pneumonia and meningitis. Baby Alan died of a vaccine reaction. Harold E. Buttram, M.D. & F. Yazbak, M.D. Woodlands Healing Research Center Family, Environmental & Preventive Medicine 5724 Clymer Rd. Quakertown, PA 18951 215-536-1890 * 800-517-9545 Fax 215-529-9034 * Email: foffice@... Web Page- http://www.woodmed.com Footnote: For those who may wish to contact the wife of the prisoner or the prisoner himself, they may be reached as follows: Mrs. Francine Yurko Email: FRANSWRLD@... PO Box 585965, Orlando, Florida 32858-5965 Mr. Alan Yurko, AX13917, Washington Correctional Institute, 4455 Sam Drive, Chipley. FL 32428-3501 References: 1 TJ. (November.1999), Shaken baby (shaken impact) syndrome: non-accidental head injur in infancy. Royal Soc Med,Vol 99:556-561. 2 Weston IT, (1968) The pathology of child abuse, in:Heifer RE, Kempe CH, editors, The Battered Child, University of Chicago Press, pp 77-100. 3 Caffey J (l972), On the theory and practice of shaking infants; its potential residual effects of permanent brain damage and mental retardation, Am J Dis Child, 124:161-169. 4 Guthkelch AN (1971) Infantile subdural hematoma and its relationship to whiplash injury, British Med J, 11:430-431. 5 Scheibner V. (August-Sept., 1998). The shaken baby syndrome, the vaccination link, Nexus:35-37,87. 6 Levine S. Lowinski R. (1973). Hyperacute allergic encephalomyelitis, Amer J pathol, 73: 247-250. 7 Iwasa et al, (April, 1985), Swelling of the brain caused by pertussis vaccine: its quantitative determination and the responsible factors in the vaccine, Japan J Med Sci Biol,38(2):53-65. 8 Steinman L et al, (Oct., l982) Murine model for pertussis vaccine encephalopathy: linkage to H-2, Nature, 299:738-740. 9 Hanchette J & Kaplan S. Reactions to vaccine match symptoms found in shaken baby syndrome, National Vaccine Information Center, http://www.909shot.comgnsshake. him. 10 Textbook of Pediatrics, l6th Edition, Behrman, Kliegman, Jenson Ed., 2000, Page 839. 11 Rey E, (1996) Carbohydrate intolerance in pregnancy: incidence and neonatal outcome, Clinical Investigative Medicine, 19(6):406-415. 12 See reference l0, pages 517-519. 13 VF et al, (1990), Rib fractures in children: a marker for severe trauma, J Trauma, 30:695-700. 14 ME (April, 1999), Temporary brittle bone disease, a true entity? Seminars in Perinatology, 23(2):174-182. 15 ME & Hangartner TN (1999), Temporary brittle bone disease: associated with decreased fetal movement and osteopenia, Calcif Tissue Int, 64:137-143. 16 Textbook of Pediatrics, 16th Edition, Behrman, Kliegman, Jenson Editors, W.B. Saunders Co, 2000, Page 461. 17 Oppenheimer DR, (1968) Microscopic lesions in the brain following head injury, J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry, 31:299-306. 18 Strich SJ, (1956) Diffuse degeneration of the cerebral white matter in severe dementia following head injury, J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry, 19:163-185. 19 Strich SJ, (1961) Shearing of nerve fibres as a cause of brain damage due to head injury, Lancet, 2:443-448. 20 Kaur B, Rutty GN, & Timperley WR, (1999) The possible role of hypoxia in the formation of axonal bulbs, J Clin Path, 52:203-209. 21 Geddes JF et al, (2000) Traumatic axonal injury: practical issues for diagnosis in medicolegal cases, Neuropath & Applied Neurobiol, 26:105-116. 22 Cunningham. VL. (July, 1999). A review of disseminated intravascular coagulation, presentation, laboratory diagnosis, and treatment. MLO: 42-55, (www.mlo-online.com) 23 McCuskey RS et al, (Oct., 1996) Review: The microcirculation during endotoxemia. Cardiovascular Res, 32(4):752-763. 24 Buonocore G et al, (2000) Nucleated red blood cell count at birth as an index of perinatal brain damage, Am J Obst Gyn, 181:1500-1505 25 Lackmann GM, (Aug l996) Influence of neonatal idiopathic respiratory distress syndrome on serum enzyme activities in premature healthy and asphyxiated newborns, Am J Perinatology, 13(6):329-334. 26 TheNew Complete Medical and Health Encyclopedia, Volume One, Ferguson Publishing Company, 1997. page 157. 27 Eibl M et al. (1986). Abnormal T-lymphocyte subpopulations in healthy subjects after tetanus booster immunization. (letter), New Engl J Med, 310(3):198-199. 28 Vaccination Deception, Teddy H Spence, Truth Seekers Press, 3060 Main Street, Exmore, VA 23350-0819, 2000, Pages 106-107. 29 Toraldo R et al. (Nov1992) Effect of measles-mumps-rubella vaccination on polymorphonuclear functions in children, Acta Paediatr, 81(11):887-890. 30 Munyer et al. (July-.1975) Depressed lymphocyte function after measles-mumps-rubella vaccination, J Infect Disorder, 132(1):75-80. 31 Futton A et al, (Jan.,1999) Vaccines may cause immune suppression, Vaccine, 17(2):126-133. 32 Beckenhauer WH et al, (Aug.15, 1983) Immunosuppression with combined vaccines, J Am Vet Med Assn, 183(4):389-390. 33 The Hazards of Immunization, Sir Graham , The Athlone Press. The University of London, 1967. 34 Ibid, pages 265-280. 35 Sutter RW et al, (1992), Attributable risk of DTP (diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and pertussis vaccines) injections in provoking paralytic poliomyelitis during a large outbreak in Oman, J Infect Dis, 165:444-449. 36 Contact Dr. Valeri 01139-0535-26454, public section: phone-fax 0039-30-20.90.288 ( Carla) 37 Kerleau JM et al. (1997),La Vaccinazione anti-hepatite B e una nuova cause di vasculite necrotizzante? (lettera) Rev Med lnterne, 18(6):491-492. 38 Cohen AD. Shoenfeld Y. (Dec., 1996), Autoimmunita indotta dai vaccini, J Autoimmunity, 9(6):699-703. 39 Disdier GB et al (Feb.1, 1997), Pcc isopme de a vena centrale della retina dopo vaccinazione antihepatite B con vaccino ricombinante. Presse Med, 26(2):62-65. 40 Niu MT et al, (Dec1999) Neonatal Deaths after hepatitis B Vaccine, Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, 153: 1279-1282. 41 Behan PO et al. (Oct.,1973). Acute necrotizing encephalopathy, PostGraduate Medicine, 54(4):154-160. 42 Urbaschek. (Aug.14.1975) Fortschr Med, 93(22-23):1067-1071. 43 McCuskey et al. (Oct1996) Review: the microcirculation during endotoxemia. Cardiovascular Res, 32(4):752-763. 44 Steinman L et al, Murine model for pertussis vaccine encephalopathy: linkage to H-2, Nature, 299(21);Oct., l982:738-740. 45 Goetting MG & Sowa B. (April. 1990), Retinal hemorrhage after cardiopulmonary resuscitation in children: an etiologic reevaluation. Pediatrics, 85(4):585-588. 46 Terpstra OK et al, (March-April, 1979), Comparison of vaccination of mice and rats with Hemophilus influenzas and Bordetella pertussis as models, Clin Exp Pharmac Physiol, 6(2):139-149. 47 Every Second Child, Archie Kalokerinos, M.D., , Australia, 1974. 48 Cadenas et al, (Jan.,1998), Endotoxin increases oxidative injury to proteins in guinea pig liver: protection by dietary vitamin C, Pharmacol Toxicol, 82(1):11-18. 49 A Kalokerinos, Autobiography, publication pending. 50 Scurvy, Past and Present, Alfred F Hess, M.D., J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia, 1920. 51 Flexner S (1930), Postvaccinal encephalitis and allied conditions, JAMA, 94(5):305-311. 52 Gorter E (1933), Postvaccinal encephalitis, JAMA, 101(24):1871-1874. 53 JAMA, (Editorial), (May, 1929), Postinfectious encephalitis, a problem of increasing importance, 92(18):1523-1524. 54 Munoz JJ et al, (1984), Elicitation of experimental encephalomyelitis in mice with the aid of pertussigen, Cellular lmmunology, 83(1):92-100. 55 Menkes JH and Kinsbourne M, (1990), Workshop on neurologic complications of pertussis and pertussis vaccination, Neuropediatrics, 21:171-176. 56 Menkes JH, (1990), Neurologic complications of pertussis vaccination, Ann Neurology, 28:428. 57 Cody CL et al. (Nov1981), Nature and rates of adverse reactions associated with DTP and DT immunization in infants and children, Pediatrics, 68(5):650-660. 58 Vaccination and Behavior Disorders, a Review of the Controversy, Greg , Tuntable Creek Publishing, PO Box 1448, Lismore NSW 2480, Australia, 2000, pages 48-49. 59 Karlsson L & Scheibner V. (1991), Association between non-specific stress syndrome, DPT injections and cot death, paper presented to the 2nd immunization conference, Canberra, May 27-29. 60 Pourcyrous M et al, (March, 1998), Interleukin-6, C-Reactive Protein, and abnormal cardiorespiratory responses to immunization in premature infants, Pediatrics, 101(3):461. 61 Asztalos E et al, (1996) Incidence of adverse effects from routine vaccinations in premature infants, Pediatric Res, 39:293A 62 Horiuchi S et al. (1993), Two different histamine-sensitizing activities of pertussis vaccine observed in mice on the 4th and 12th days of sensitization. Japan J Med Sci Biol, 46:17-27. 63 Reisinger RC (1974) A final mechanism of cardiac and respiratory failure, SIDS, 1974, Proc. Of Camps International Symp. On SID in infancy, Also congressional Record S.1745, September 20,1973. 64 Personal communication 65 Immunobiology, A Janeway et al, Fourth Edition, Current Biology Publications, New York, 1999, Page 495. 66 Cohen DC & Shoenfeld Y. (1996) Vaccine-induced autoimmunity, J Autoimmunity, 9:699-703. 67 Shoenfeld Y & Aron-Maor A, (Feb., 2000) Vaccination and autoimmunity-'vaccinosis': a dangerous liaison?, J Autoimmunitv, 14(1):1-10. 68 Fox R (Feb. 21. 1976). Letter, British Medical Journal. 69 Cherry ID et al, (1988), Report of the task force on pertussis and pertussis immunization, Pediatrics, 81(6), Part ii Supplement: 940. 70 Refer to reference 54. 71 Refer to reference 7. 72 J & Manning F. (Feb1979), Increased intracranial pressure after diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis immunization, J Dis Child, 133:217-218. 73 Gross TP et al. (Mar., 1989) Bulging fontanelle after immunization with diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine and diphtheria-tetanus vaccine, J Pediatr, 114(3):423-425. 74Mathur R Kumari S. (June, 1981) Bulging fontanel following DPT, Indian Pediatr, 18(6):417-418. 75 The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) Steering Committee: Worldwide variation in prevalence of symptoms of asthma, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, and atopic eczema, Lancet, 1998. 351:1225-1232. 76 Odent MR (1994). Pertussis vaccine and asthma, is there a link? JAMA, 271:229-231. 77 Alm JS et al, (May 1, 1999). Atopy in children with anthroposophic lifestyle, Lancet, 353:1485-1488. 78 Kemp T et al, (Nov., 1997), Is infant immunization a risk factor for childhood asthma or allergy?, Epidemiologv, 8(6):678-680. 79 Hurwitz EL & Morgenstern H. (2000), Effects of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis or tetanus vaccination on allergies and allergy-related respiratory symptoms among children and adolescents in the United States, J Manipulative Physiol Therapy, 23:1-10. 80 Kosecka U et al, (July,1999), Int Arch Allergy Immunol, 119(3):205-211. 81 Munoz JJ et al, (April, 1987). Infect lmmunol, 55(4):1004-1008. 82 Odelram H et al, (May, 1994), Pediat Allergy Immunol, 5(2):8-123. 83 (Refer to reference 41). 84 Patrizi A (Fete 1999), Contact Dermatitis, 40(2):94-97. 85 Daum RS et se, (May, 1999), Decline in serum antibody to the capsule of the Hemophilus influenza type b in the immediate post immunization period, J. Pediatrics, 114(5):742-747. 86 Institute of Medicine, Adverse Effects of Pertussis and Rubella Vaccines, National Academy Press, 1991. 87 Byers RK & Moll FC, (1948), Encephalopathies following prophylactic pertussis vaccine, Pediatrics, 1(4):437 457. 88 Toomey J. (1949), Reactions to pertussis vaccine, JAMA, 139(7):448-450. 89 Low NL, (1955), Electroencephalographic studies following pertussis immunization, J. Pediatrics, 47:35-39. 90 Nouno S et al, (Aug., 1990) Adverse effects on EEG and clinical condition after immunizing children with convulsive disorders, Acta Paediatr Japan, 32(4):357-360. ==================================== Vaccination Nation: Children On The Frontline Reactions to vaccine match symptoms found in `shaken baby' cases By JOHN HANCHETTE and SUNNY KAPLAN Gannett News Service The Detroit News Friday, September 4, 1998 Gray of smalltown Harrah, smack in the middle of Oklahoma, likes country music and loud, action shows on television. He likes rolling through the park in his wheelchair as his father jogs behind him, pushing. He likes it when his father holds him in the swimming pool. , 9, can hear and understand. But he cannot walk. He cannot talk. He cannot see or swallow. He is fed through a tube. His tongue keeps thrusting out of his mouth. He is still in diapers. He has daily seizures that no medicine yet can control, and he's been having them since the day after his first DTP vaccination at the age of 6 weeks. A federal claims court has ruled the shot caused the brain damage. This fall, will receive about $425,000 -- the first of possibly $2 million in federal compensation payments to help him through the few years that medical science says he has left. For some, however, it wasn't always clear the vaccine caused 's injuries. Soon after the inoculation in southern California where they lived at the time -- and immediately after 's first signs of brain damage -- his father, Larry Gray, was investigated on suspicion of assaulting his son by shaking him. The child was taken from his parents for six months, until a doctor quietly told a police detective the DTP shot could do similar damage and the abuse investigation was halted. The accusations outraged Larry Gray in 1989, but many parents encounter worse. Many have been jailed on the same criminal suspicions of causing what is commonly known as shaken baby syndrome. Today, these two seemingly unrelated segments of early childhood -- one of them medical, the other legal -- have begun to bump into each other as defendants are increasingly turning to vaccine reactions in explanation of shaken baby charges. As police and prosecutors frequently attribute infant mortality and injury to brain damage from shaken baby syndrome -- and often blame parents for the assaults -- defense attorneys in several cases are arguing the death or disability may have been caused by the baby's recent vaccination. Almost all Americans have to be vaccinated to enter society. You can't get into day care centers, schools or the military without immunization. Most properly view the disease-stopping shots as life-savers. But in statistically rare circumstances, one out of 62,000 shots in the case of the DTP vaccine, the consequences can be dire. " I think vaccines are dandy, " said Gray's lawyer Curtis Webb. " They save millions of lives. But I think we should look at the hundreds of lives ruined and say, `How do we solve this?' We, as a society, are saying it's acceptable to hurt some children on behalf of others. To me, that is outrageous. The broader goal should be to encourage that vaccines be made as safe as reasonably possible. " While shaken baby syndrome is all too real -- and while many parents abuse their infants -- some scientists think social workers, paramedics, pediatricians, hospital emergency room doctors and law enforcement officers may be mistaking vaccine reaction damage for evidence of parental abuse. Dr. Schweller, a San Diego pediatric neurologist who testified in the Gray hearing before the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program that the brain damage from interior bleeding was likely triggered by the DTP shot, stressed this in a Gannett News Service interview: " There is a tendency in some medical arenas to discount completely the history provided by the family if you find evidence of a subdural hematoma -- no matter what history is provided. Even a three-foot fall can cause fractures. It doesn't need to be some type of shaking event. I'm always leery, in medicine, of saying something is always due to some factor, or that something is 100 percent. " In four months of research on various facets of childhood immunization, GNS has discovered shaken baby cases in which the deaths and injuries in question followed the infant vaccinations closely enough that medical experts and pediatric scientists testified under oath there may be a connection. The DTP inoculation, most reactive of the childhood vaccines, usually was singled out by defending parents and their expert witnesses as the damaging shot. DTP stands for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (or whooping cough). Scientists say the culprit in DTP reactions is the pertussis portion of the inoculation, mainly because it is made from the killed whole cells of pertussis bacteria. Endotoxins -- or poisons produced by certain bacteria and released from the cell wall upon death of the germs -- are present in the pertussis portion of DTP. These endotoxins sometimes make the walls of blood capillaries more permeable, according to numerous researchers and the American Medical Association's official encyclopedia of medicine. Federal databases provided GNS under the Freedom of Information Act show that of the $916 million awarded so far to parents of vaccine-injured and dead children by the federal government's National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, 81 percent have been for DTP cases. " Some of the symptoms being quoted as shaken baby syndrome could be attributed to the DTP vaccine, particularly the whole-cell pertussis component, " said Dr. Mark Geier, a land physician and geneticist who has testified in numerous vaccine damage cases. He noted that one of the symptoms of shaken baby syndrome that prosecutors frequently stress is " bleeding on both sides of the brain because of being shaken back and forth. " But, explained Geier: " A baby that has a DTP shot potentially has interference with blood clotting, and you might end up with bleeding on both sides of the brain. It looks like it could have been shaken baby. " The contention of DTP damage is key in the most recently famous legal battle over shaken baby charges -- the widely covered New York City case of Malcolm Scoon, 40, a quiet, religious Queens anesthesiologist who last spring turned down plea bargain offers in protestation of his innocence. Scoon was sentenced to two to six years on Rikers Island when a jury believed shaken baby charges in the February 1996 death of his daughter, h. Scoon was released from Rikers in mid-August while his conviction is appealed. h Scoon was frail since her 11-weeks premature birth at 2 pounds 1 ounce, and her brief medical record featured several indicators mitigating against DTP vaccination, including meningitis -- potentially deadly inflammation of the membranes that cover the spinal cord and brain. Despite her premature birth, her pediatrician put her on an accelerated vaccination schedule. Malcolm Scoon, certified in infant CPR, actually revived his 5-month-old daughter when he found her limp and without breath in their Cambria Heights home a week after she had received her second series of DTP shots and HiB shot. This relatively new vaccine protects against Haemophilus Influenza Type B, which can trigger meningitis. Some scientists believe adverse reactions to that inoculation include contraction of the disease. What Scoon characterized to GNS in a Rikers Island prison interview as mild jostling designed to revive breathing, with the baby's head held firmly in palm of hand -- the prosecution portrayed as violent, destructive shaking. The autopsy showed no broken bones or bruises, a sole mark on one arm, but bleeding behind the eyes and in the brain cavity. The prosecution exaggerated the shaking as so violent, the mother, Lois Scoon complained, " It was as if she'd been thrown from a seven-story building, or from a car. Does that sound right? She had no fractures. " h was rushed to Long Island Jewish Hospital, where, according to court testimony, the father's request that she be intibated to assist breathing was ignored, and several other treatment mistakes made, including 40 minutes when no one paid much attention to the desperately ill child at all. The hospital quickly reported Scoon for suspicion of shaking the baby, and he was questioned by detectives even before the little girl died. Harvard neuro-radiologist testified at Scoon's trial that h died from brain damage caused by a clot in a vein in the brain, but he didn't believe the prosecution's shaken baby theory. He said it was possible the DTP vaccination seven days before could have caused an infection leading to the clot. Dr. Enid Gilbert-s, a physician and much-published pediatric pathologist who practices in Tampa Fla., and teaches at the University of South Florida, testified for Scoon at the trial. She was adamant four months later, in GNS (Gannett News Service) interviews, that shaken baby syndrome had nothing to do with h's death: " This was meningitis, and a blind man on a galloping horse could have seen that. The baby had all the symptoms of onset before the seizure. The vaccine could have contributed, but the baby had meningitis. " The large blood clots in the brain veins were not of the type found in shaken babies, she said: " Malcolm Scoon is innocent, and the verdict is an unbelievable miscarriage of justice. That often happens, where a hospital accuses someone of child abuse. A lot of injustices are done. " Scoon's new lawyers are preparing an appeal based in part on the claims of vaccine reaction, as well as assertions the judge and jury ignored prosecutorial misconduct. The controversial DTP, while still widely available to private pediatricians should they choose to use it, and administered broadly in developing nations by the World Health Organization -- is gradually fading from at least federal use -- even though the Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control still vigorously defend DTP. Under development for a decade and a half, a much safer DTaP vaccine has been licensed for infants since 1996 and for booster doses in toddlers since 1992. The " aP " stands for " acellular pertussis. " This means that instead of using the whole bacteria cell -- including the poisonous endotoxins contained in the cell wall -- as in the reactive DTP shot, the vaccine maker extracts only the portion of the whooping cough germ that will trigger the body's immune system to develop protective antibodies against the disease. The CDC is purchasing 80 percent DTaP and only 20 percent DTPH -- a combination that includes the HiB vaccine to protect against a bacteria that often causes meningitis. The CDC makes the massive federal buys to distribute at public clinics and for state and county public health departments. When DTaP three years ago was recommended as the preferred vaccine, the CDC acknowledges it first used up a six-month inventory of the more reactive mixture. Schweller, the San Diego neurologist in the Gray's case, was trained at the Mayo Clinic and has been an expert witness in several shaken baby cases. He reviewed the Scoon medical records and " saw a reasonable doubt " that the father shook the baby. Schweller is concerned that hospital physicians and social workers these days are all too willing to jump to conclusions whenever they see brain bleeding and retinal hemorrhages: " If one sees both, there are rules they have that this has to be shaken baby syndrome, and can't be anything else. " When you have that attitude that nothing else can be responsible, and the history given by the family is held not accurate, you're going to have some cases where mistakes are going to be made. " The current shaken baby diagnostic process is based on conventional wisdom that doesn't hold up, according to Schweller: " You read in a scientific article that you can't develop a head injury unless you have a violent act or a 10-foot fall, and it doesn't fit the spectrum of injury that pediatricians and neurologists routinely see. " Schweller also believes death-case reasoning is too " circular. " He explained: " When they're deciding if it's a homicide, the child protective officer will quote the medical examiner, and the medical examiner will quote the child protective services official. They're not making independent judgments, just giving supporting views. " The San Diego neurologist believes major national legal battles over this issue are imminent. He points to " a growing chasm between vast numbers of people in the pediatric field and other people in the neurology field -- sometimes it depends on who screams and yells the most to get to what the truth is. " Misinformation routinely gets repeated in court, he contended, " so you get this body of people who, if you say something else did it, they attack you as a whacko who has some other agenda. " Shaken baby prosecutions are increasing so rapidly in some locations that parents are beginning to band together to protest. In Great Britain, at least two groups have been formed. One is named the Five Percenters because of their claim that pediatricians " routinely misdiagnose " abuse in at least one out of 20 brain injury cases " without reference to the facts surrounding the case. " Another, Parents Against Injustice, claims about 15 shaken baby cases are misdiagnosed in England each year. Several British pathologists are backing them up. Parents accused of shaken baby assaults also are aware of a vast disparity in sentencing in the deaths of infants. Malcolm Scoon -- in a case legal and scientific experts deem extremely questionable -- drew a longer sentence than , the Delaware teen who in November 1996 heaved his and his girlfriend's newborn son into a Dumpster after she ordered him to " get rid of it. " For the infanticide, he recently drew 24 months, plus 300 hours of community service, which includes counseling teen-agers on parenthood. ===================== WELL BEINGS: May/June/July 1998 Vaccination Alternatives' Newsletter Published five times per year by Vaccination Alternatives PO Box 346, New York, NY 10023, voice/fax: 212-873-5051 e-mail: va-sk@... Copyright 1998 by Sharon Kimmelman. [No Longer Published] Special Feature ADULT VICTIMS OF SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME: A Modern Day 'Witch' Hunt -The Wrongful Prosecution of Dr. Malcolm Scoon- by Sharon Kimmelman I respectfully offer this article with the intention that the innocent parents, whose children's injuries made them suspects of child abuse, will be exonerated. May government overreaching be beaten back to once again serve the people and not enslave them. May the winds of truth blow hard and cleanse the land. Centuries ago the most heinous of crimes was to practice witchcraft. The accusation alone was enough to destroy someone's life. Proclaimed witches would be burned to free their souls. God-fearing people considered this a humane act. Such atrocities were mostly visited upon independent free-thinking women. The accusation of 'witchcraft' evolved into a mere pretext that could be used to obtain wealth or drive out a commercial competitor. In the last century, mainstream medicine has used the " heresy " of wholism to harass, vilify, and destroy those who threaten its hold on the commerce of healing. This includes even dissidents within its ranks. During the cold war, witch-hunting infected politics: win an election by accusing your opponent of being a communist. ______________________________________________________________ " Ignorant and clumsy physicians blame all sickness which they are unable to cure or which they have treated wrongly, on witchery. " Barbara G. , " The Women's Encyclopaedia of Myths and Secrets " ---------------------------------- Today, one of the most heinous of crimes is child abuse. And the medical profession has discovered a new application of the cowardly practice of false accusations in its attempt to redirect blame and disperse suspicion. In February of 1996, a story splashed across our newspapers reporting that a baby was admitted into Long Island Jewish Hospital. Her father, Dr. Malcolm Scoon, an anesthesiologist, was accused of violently shaking his 5-month-old daughter h hard enough to cause her injuries resulting in death. There were pieces missing. My colleague Krasner, Director of Coalition For Informed Choice, and I were sure that vaccination played a part in this baby's demise. We both called the defense lawyers at the time to alert them to the connection between vaccination and brain injury. I learned others did the same. A Grand Jury, convened in the late Summer of 1996, charged Dr. Scoon with manslaughter in the 2nd degree (recklessly causing death) and criminally negligent homicide (causing death by criminal negligence). At some point, the Scoons switched attorneys. first contacted Malcolm's wife, Lois in the Fall of 1996 after seeing her on Geraldo's CNBC talk show proclaiming her husband's innocence. He spoke with her several times up to and through the trial, supplying the family with medical information to assist in developing a case of " reasonable doubt " needed to exonerate Malcolm. I attended the trial thinking that my presence would be appreciated and useful. I've spent over 15 years listening to parents share their experiences. Too many have seen their own and others' children fall ill and die following vaccination. I attended all but 4 days of the month long trial, keeping written records of the days' events. I offered the vaccine package inserts after hearing inaccuracies in the defense's questioning, I gave them notes I made about inconsistencies and vaccine contraindications. I also commented on the prosecution witnesses' cavalier attitude and how they simply did not acknowledge the periodic medical assaults to this baby and her resulting deteriorating condition. A Brief History: h had been conceived on the Scoon's third attempt at in-vitro fertilization, an invasive and expensive medical ordeal. Lois Scoon developed pre-eclampsia (a septic condition). Her pregnancy was terminated using the high-tech " birth " procedure of major abdominal surgery commonly known as C- (caesarean) section. h was delivered on 9/17/96, 11 weeks prematurely, a tiny button of a baby weighing 2 pounds 1 ounce. She could not thrive on her. She was put in an incubator and hooked up to life support and monitors for weeks. She was given six blood transfusions. Lois expressed breast milk for her. h had common preemie problems like apnea (sudden stop breathing) up until 10 days before she was released and it is possible she had brain and retinal hemorrhaging (the defense's doctors suggested that this was not picked up because the sonogram done of her head at birth was not able to detect bleeding just under the skull where old blood was found in later CT scans and autopsy). She was kept in the birth hospital for two months.The Scoons sought out the follow-up care of a pediatrician who specialized in premature infants. They called LIJ Hospital for a referral in their area and were given the name of Dr. Herbert Goldman, an old doctor, practicing about 40 years. He saw h on 12/4/95, she was two and one-half months out of the womb, but really only minus two days old and only five and one half pounds. Nevertheless, the doctor had planned to begin vaccination at that visit. Malcolm, common sense rising up through his medical training, asked to postpone it. She suffered digestive problems from the infant formula; the doctor suggested it be changed. At the next visit on 12/18/95, only two weeks later, she had gained less than one pound, grown only one-half inch, she was still in the 5% group, yet her head circumference grew 20 percentile units. The doctor, a specialist, did not remark this to the parents. Medical opinion says brain hemorrhages can spontaneously rebleed. If vaccines have been observed to initiate brain hemorrhages and swelling in babies without a predisposition like h had, why did the doctor begin and continue to vaccinate her? This should have alerted the pediatrician. Transfusion increases the incidence of hemorrhaging. Didn't he know the vaccine package inserts warn about contraindications to vaccination? The legal " informed consent " provision requires that parents be informed. Why did he give them none? He wrongfully took the legal decision upon himself. The term " catch-up " growth was used to describe her growth but the numbers were disproportionate. Despite the fact that she was still congested and her head was growing faster than the rest of her (contraindications to vaccination), the doctor administered the triple diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus and haemophilus influenza meningitis 'b' (Hib) vaccines. On the third well baby visit one month later, he noted " no bad reactions " even though there were some. He noted " possible clonis-spastic displegia " a neurological impairment. Was this the result of the four vaccines given at the prior visit? He gave her a hepatitis 'b' and an oral polio vaccine. Again he gave Lois no information about the risks of these vaccines. And again he did not note that Lois had observed adverse reactions. He did note her body measurements; her head size jumped to 50% while her weight and length crept up to 15% and 8%. [Measurements from h's pediatrician's chart of her growth] h Date Weight(lbs) Length (in) HeadCirc.(cm) Birth 9/17/95 2.1 -- 14.0 -- 25.5 -- Visit 1 12/ 4/95 5.5 5% 18.0 5% 33.0 10% Visit 2 12/18/95 6.3 5% 18.5 5% 35.0 30% Visit 3 1/15/96 8.2 15% 20.0 8% 37.5 50% Visit 4 2/12/96 10.0 25% 21.3 24% 39.0 65% At her last well baby visit on 2/12/96, she was still congested and fussy and had been more irritable after the last vaccinations. The doctor noted clonis again; her feet did flex some, there was still tightness. He noted her weight was up to 25% (10 lbs.), her length was up to 24% (21.3 in.) but her head size jumped up to the 65% (39 cm.). Despite this seemingly abnormal growth and observed neurologic impairment, he administered another triple DPT and a second Hib vaccine. Then he gave Lois some Tylenol for expected fever and " crankiness " which happened. When adults react to a drug, symptoms are taken seriously; when babies react, they're called " cranky " . Lois mentioned they were planning a trip to Florida and asked if the airplane flight might adversely affect h. The doctor said it was of no concern. If he had heeded the marked increase in h's head circumference and questioned possible intracranial pressure due to her predisposition to hemorrhaging, wouldn't he have cautioned that pressure changes from high altitudes might place her at risk or aggravate her condition? But then he never even acknowledged she had a condition. The Scoons took that week-long vacation in Florida around a convention Malcolm was attending. Lois described h as being cranky or fitful and fussy. She didn't eat well and she was drowsy. They returned. Monday was a holiday. Malcolm was off work. Although h usually woke Lois at 5 a.m., Lois had to wake her to feed her. She was more congested than usual, her nose needed suctioning. The mucus was thicker. She was even fussier than usual and took less than one oz. of formula. Lois noticed that the back of h's head was very warm. It happened that Lois had a toothache and called around to find a dentist who would see her for an emergency appointment. She left around noon. When your child is not well, who better to leave her with than your spouse who is a health professional. Malcolm sat opening a stack of mail. He went to check on h who needed to be changed. He prepared a tub of water to give her a half bath. The water was too warm, he left it to cool. After a while he heard sounds from the next room. He found her gasping. He tried to rouse her calling her name and tapping her. Then he sat her up and shook her as he supported her head. He gave her some rescue breaths (he had recently been re-certified in infant CPR). She was alternately fighting, waving her little fists, going limp, and getting rigid. When she was fading he gave her chest compressions. She didn't stabilize. He called 911 at 1:36 p.m. EMS took them to Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Hospital. In the ambulance, h continued to fight, this time to knock away the oxygen mask. At the hospital, the doctors did not listen to Malcolm, instruct them to give her a tracheotomy; she couldn't breathe. He dressed in sweat clothes and sneakers with a two days growth of beard. Maybe they didn't listen or believe that he was a doctor himself because he wasn't dressed like one. There are serious questions about the emergency room treatments and procedure, what was and was not done. After coming home to an empty house, Lois arrived at the hospital around 6:45 p.m., the first thing she was asked was if she shook her baby. She was shocked to be greeted in this way. She remarked during the trial that although she knew they had the obligation to do an investigation, it was started so soon. I' d say not soon enough if it was SBS. You see, courses on reporting child abuse instruct professionals to report any suspicion of child abuse or neglect immediately. But h was admitted into the hospital at about 2 p.m. The call to Social Services was made at 5 p.m. How many medical procedures were done in that three hour period? It was brought out in cross-examination that just about every doctor had made some kind of mistake, misinterpretation, overlooked something, forgot to mark something in the chart, left out data, mishandled and mislabeled lab fluids and tests. Even Fisher said in her summation that " Yes, they made 150 mistakes. But does anyone of them look like someone who would turn their backs on .... " . I believe that child abuse was reported when the hospital knew that Malcolm was aware of the doctors' fatal errors and that was the only way it could cover itself. Dowd, the defense attorney, made the observation: wasn't it interesting that all of the doctors from LIJ were being represented by the same law firm. Odd coincidence. The Scoons stayed at the hospital two and a half days from 2/19. The evening of 2/21, they decided to go home to showerand change clothes, and return to the hospital. They weren't home an hour when four detectives arrived at their front door. Another coincidence? The detectives said they were there to question Malcolm. Lois invited them into the living room. The police said the questioning had to be done at the precinct. At around 8:00 p.m. the Scoons were taken to the police station in separate police cars. They were questioned separately and kept there for 12 hours. At LIJ, h was medically determined to be brain-dead. The staff asked Lois if she would donate the baby's organs. When she finally said no, they moved to take the baby off the respirator; if you can't harvest the organs, then why not. With intervention by a religious leader the baby was scheduled to be transported to St. 's Hospital. Its administrators tried to block the admission of this baby. Bad press, you know. But the baby was admitted and even though the Scoons fought to get it to do everything possible to maintain their baby's life, the hospital policy was to gave only minimal care. The Scoons wanted to provide every opportunity for a miracle recovery. They visited h every day. But on 3/13, they were called to the hospital saying h was unstable. They came immediately to reaching into her bed to touched their baby. When she stabilized, Lois sent Malcolm back to work. Several times one of the doctors asked Lois if she wanted to hold her baby. Lois has been hesitant throughout. She was concerned that in the very short time that it took to disconnect and reconnect the respirator tube from the fragile baby and place h in her arms might be enough to kill her. The doctor lifted h out of her bed, disconnected the respirator, placed her in her Lois' arms. The baby's heart stopped. An autopsy was done immediately. Amazingly enough, the autopsy reports concurred with the carbon copy opinion of the doctors. You don't come to a conclusion in opposition to the facts unless you've got a strong bias or you are ordered to do so. Prosecution: The Assistant District Attorneys (ADAs) Marjorie Fisher and Lucinda Suarez were the prosecuting attorneys for " the People " . Both of them had an arrogant edge. After a couple of days of hearing the court clerk announce " in the matter of " The People against Dr. Malcolm Scoon " , I thought, " No, it is not the people who are mounting this case, it is the hospital and they're using the DA's office as their lawyers. They want this case as a feather in their cap, a human trophy... to flaunt the unbridled power of the state prosecutors. Maybe they should be called executioners. Fisher gave the opening statement. In effect, she said that Dr. Scoon " snapped " and shook his baby to death. She took a phrase out of context from the video-taped statement he gave at the police precinct at 3:30 a.m. after being awake for three days and blew it up into a dramatic act of what never really happened for all the jurors to see. Then one by one, in came seventeen witnesses, fourteen of whom were doctors (could they have been trying to bankrupt the Scoons?), to give their expert opinions as to the cause (that none of them witnessed) of the baby's injuries and her death. It was all speculation. But because they were doctors, published articles, held positions on important committees and in hospitals with large reputation, earned large salaries, testified in court for large sums of money, their opinions were more valuable than people who offered reasonable explanations for what happened to h. I listened to the contrived definitions of these doctors, some local, some flown in from Iowa and Canada. I heard them speak so definitively about their conclusions of SBS, as if they were facts. They tried to establish the definition of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) which implies a cause. Here is an example of the medical incompetence: Nurse Dennis from LIJ said that she took crummy notes when h was admitted. There were no medical record for the first 40 minutes. Dr. Silver was asked about the first blood sample drawn from h to go for testing because there was a question of her having bacterial meningitis, their early diagnosis. It was uncovered that the sample went for testing 40 hours after it was drawn, it was probably refrigerated and that there was no notation of the antibiotics she was receiving at the time. Dowd brought it to his attention that the lab manual said that in order for test results to be valid, blood must be tested within 8 hours, must not be refrigerated, and antibiotics/medication administered to patient must be noted on request slip. The results were triply invalid. Silver's response was that he was not familiar with the lab manual protocol. Dr. Goodrich who made the pronouncement of brain-death, looked at two CT scans and testified at how they showed a rapid deterioration of h's brain over time. When the defense brought to his attention that the scans were taken only minutes apart, he look flustered and admitted his error in interpretting the images. Dr. Silver stated that h was well until this sudden neurological catastrophe. She absolutely was not! He said that SBS is a precise term. Wrong again. It is a syndrome with a theoretical model, meaning they can not reproduce it. They do not know what kind of degree of force actually causes these injuries. There is noteworthy disagreement in the medical/ scientific communities, however. Some say that it is impossible to generate the gravitational force to cause injuries of this severity without impact being part of the scenario. They all agreed that the force required to produce these injuries had to have been equivalent to being thrown from a 4th story window or hurled from a car in a crash. Silver also said that he had seen about 25 " SBS " babies who, like h, had not a mark on them. How, I kept asking myself, can they believe that it is possible to generate enough force so that " to an observer it appears the baby's head would fly off " with no grip marks, with no neck injuries, with no chipped vertebrae, and no fractured bones? I believe that vaccine injuries and deaths are being hidden in this " syndrome " in the same way they have been hidden within the mis-diagnosis of " Sudden Infant Death Syndrome " for some 30 years. Vaccination sets the internal biochemistry haywire while the exterior is unaffected, like in resulting " autism " , deafness or paralysis. Vaccines can turn the inner world to chaos. The myriad doctors all said nothing but shaken baby syndrome could cause the type injuries h had. There were days of testimony on her eye injuries alone. But they didn't bring in the iatrogenic (doctor/ hospital/ medicine-caused) factors, so critical, so glaring. They all made their conclusions and worked backwards to substantiate them. I am not surprised. This is the modern way science incorporated is done nowadays. Of course, there is a diagnosis called Tursin syndrome, coined in 1904, which describes the very same brain and retinal hemorrhages seen in h. No cause is implied because it is simply an observation. One doctor called it a " waste basket diagnosis " . For that matter, so is SBS. The only difference is that with SBS the cause is assumed and firmly believed without any witness or evidence. Diagnoses, syndromes, assumptions, conclusions drawn so far from the pure science and actual fact, like taffy, fall apart the farther you draw them. When the pediatrician testified, Fisher asked him if he had discussed " doubling up on the shots " . He replied that he never heard of the term. But if you look at his records, he spread them out and gave some every month. It certainly looks like that is what he was doing. He gave h vaccines when she was the equivalent of 12 days old, one month and 12 days, and 2 months and 6 days. That's one and one-half months early, and three or four weeks apart. The norm is 2, 4, and 6 months of age. They brought in Dr. Alandy from the Manhattan medical examiner's office. Color slides of the baby's body, organs, and microscopic tissue slides were admitted into evidence. With all the inconsistencies, here is the most unbelievable piece of non-evidence they used to make this diagnosis of SBS stick. In autopsy they found one 1/2 " pink bruise in the fatty tissue on the back of the baby's right arm, two inches below the shoulder, invisible on the skin. This, they claimed, is the damning evidence h was violently shaken. The prosecutors admitted that this baby was handled by dozens of hospital staff over the three weeks she was in two hospitals. The pinkness indicated a recent bruising. When the defense brought this out, the prosecution brought in another doctor from the Queens medical examiner's office at the 11th hour to say the tiny bruise was really tan to brown and dated it back to February 19th. But Dr. Mastry, the neuropathologist who prepared the microscopic slides, did not conclude that h's death was caused by shaking. Interestingly, she was not called by the prosecutor to testify. The prosecution was hell-bent on its goal of sending this man to prison. Why? Were they directed to silence him? Could it be because Long Island Jewish Hospital needed to hide their wrongdoing or malpractice at all costs? The prosecution seemed to spare no trick, tactic, or impropriety to influence the jury. For instance, Fisher tried to get a chart entered into evidence that her team had made up. The defense objected and the judge agreed. She then took this large chart and propped it up in front of her table in full view of the jury. When the defense shouted its objection once again, she threw up her arms and waving them about wildly shouted back, " I forgot, I forgot, it was a mistake. Aren't I allowed to make a mistake. " The ADAs periodically reminded the jury that they were not required to prove a motive, but they sure did infer malice of forethought. At some point the prosecution realized that and went back to its position of " I don't know why he did it " , still, of course, inferring that he did something hurtful. Their blatant disregard for " due process " was disturbing. These ADAs are an innocent person's worst nightmare. I must apologize in advance for the following likeness, but honestly, it came to me as I watched these two strut and posture, gesticulate and bark out questions in the courtroom. I have seen Nazi footage shot of their treatment of people in ghettos showing the Gestapo's loathing and disdain, their utter disgust for those who they believed were so different from themselves. After a week or so one juror, a pediatrician, said that she had a conflict with her work schedule. She was dismissed. Too bad, she was the only " peer " of Malcolm's in the jury. Some days later, another juror came forward asking to be excused. He said that he had developed such great dislike and prejudice against the prosecutors that he would be unable to render a fair verdict. Was it against them or the fact that their case was without merit? If it was the second reason, his presence on the jury would be important. He was not questioned about it and he, too, was excused. The most misleading factor in the case was the use of the term " healthy " to describe this frail baby. The definition chosen by the prosecution was one who grows, can suck and excretes. Even sick ones do that. The norm, average people, live with frequent dis-ease and periodic medicating, yet in wanting to be thought of as " good enough " = " normal " = " healthy " . So, the definitions get warped. A detective on call on 2/19/96 was sworn in as a witness to introduce the video made of Malcolm Scoon's statement to the police. It was shown to the jury. In it, Malcolm was told that he was not required to give a statement without a lawyer present. He cooperated fully and spoke without hesitation. Despite his exhaustion, he was clear, cooperative, and detailed. He did not contradict himself, answering all questions asked of him, relevant or no. He was polite when Suarez interrupted him, led his responses, and put her own " facts " into his sentences. How was he to know they were weaving a criminal case around him. He described h's birth, the doctor's visits, her vaccination and reactions, the trip, and what happened the morning of 2/19. The ill-fated word here was 'shake'. That is all they needed to hear. Any and everything else he said was disregarded. In the video, Suarez gave him a small limp rag doll and asked him to demonstrate what he had done to h. Although Malcolm carefully placed his fingers behind the doll's head explaining what he was doing and why, it flopped this way and that with even a small amount of motion. Nothing he demonstrated could have caused even a frail infant's injury. All the doctors agreed. Defense: Lois Scoon had been not been allowed to observe the prosecution's case in order to be called as a witness in her husband's defense. I spoke with her several times. She is a confident, articulate woman with an unwavering faith in God and in her husband's innocence. She sat outside the courtroom for the first half of the trial accompanied by her pastor, sometimes her sister (a baby nurse), fellow parishioners, and other family members. Dowd called Lois as his first witness. When she took the stand she was mostly calm, well-spoken, deliberate, detailed and attentive. She answered Dowd in clear and concise sentences. The jury learned that she was well-educated and that she herself had been a social worker who, at times in her career, had made home visits to people accused of child abuse. I could not help but wonder if she had ever questioned her use of the power that the state had " given " her. Dowd brought out her commitment to have a child by asking about the difficult medical route of in-vitro fertilization. In cross-examination, the prosecution tried to corner Lois between two scenarios: <<So, you were an attentive mother, well-read, concerned. Right? If your baby was so sick, why did you leave for 6 hours and not call home? If your baby was not so sick, how can you explain her brain injury and bleeding retinas? Fisher tried every trick to build a case of overwhelming and unmanageable stress which supposedly " caused " Malcolm to " snap " . She make up lies <<Isn't it true your husband made you cut up your credit cards?, <<what about debt from a past marriage? Even though the jury was instructed to disregard it, they still heard it. Suarez punctuated each question to the defense's witness with, " Correct, Doctor? " , squawking like a pirate's parrot. And whenever the defense's witnesses, in cross-examination, began to utter explanations that the ADA did not want the jury to hear, she would interrupt them. This was objected to some of the time; the judge had to reprimand them both throughout. Drs. Leestma, , and world renowned Enid s testified for the defense. They insisted that h had advanced bacterial meningitis. Why didn't they make any connection with the 2 doses of meningitis vaccine the child was given? Even the vaccine producers admit that a vaccination can give you the very disease they claim it prevents. Was Dowd concern about polarizing his own medical witnesses? Even the government acknowledged vaccine injuries. Fisher challenged s' diagnosis saying, where is the organism that caused meningitis. s said it is extremely rare to see them but the slides depicted certain types of white blood cells tracking infection to the brain along the blood vessels. Fisher's doctors all said an absence of the organism means no meningitis. After presenting these four very credentialed doctors, the defense rested its case on April 1st. Were there more witnesses? Had the lengthy and costly prosecution's case forced the truncation of defense's case? The Summation: Dowd gave an impassioned speech to the jury, beseeching them, whatever they were considering, to use their hearts and their humanity, realizing that they must consider if there was a reasonable doubt in the case made by the prosecution. He reminded them that we all have rights-the lawyers, the judge, the observers,-that we each have the same rights, that each of us would want only the highest quality of decision made by thoughtful people. Somehow, I heard a plea for leniency even if they thought him somewhat guilty. How did the jury interpret this preoccupation with " the way the system works. " The defense chose a singular focus: meningo-encephalitis as cause of death. I think this narrow single-pointed approach was a major flaw in its case. It's just another medical opinion and everyone knows that doctors disagree. Medical experts were brought in to refute the diagnosis of " shaken baby syndrome " claiming that all of the injuries that the baby displayed were caused by overwhelming infection. It should not have been pitting one medical opinion against another, but rather developing as many scenarios as possible, exploring the full spectrum of " reasonable doubt " . As you have read, there were many. As my colleague, Walene , author of " Immunization: The Reality Behind the Myth " said in a recent letter, " ...we have to do more than counter 'their' data with more data, ...we'll run out of time, energy, and money long before our opponent does. " Fisher's summation was mechanical; she skillfully picked up each of the threads she spun throughout the twenty three days of the trial and drew them together into a neat fabric called " guilty " . She reminded the jury again that the prosecution was not required to establish a motive, and yet her hypothetical story that Malcolm " snapped " was used throughout as if it were so. Fisher picked apart Lois' testimony saying that she was living in a delusional world, that after losing her baby she couldn't bear the idea of losing her husband and so she was lying. Fisher said, in effect that no one in touch with reality, would call what the Scoons lived through as 'no stress'. I feel that the defense could have made Lois' experience of 'no stress' more understandable to the jury by explaining how she was dealing with stress. Actually their large and loving network of family members and church " family " enabled the Scoons to deal with those difficult times. The fact of the matter is that the real stress and debt came from the DA's wreckless decision to take this case. These accusations act as filters in looking at evidence; it is difficult to see the evidence itself. In her last minutes, Fisher asked the jury to pay particular attention to certain pieces of evidence: Malcolm's video taped statement at the police precinct, Lois' testimony, the phone records, the EMS and fire reports. She finally " rested " . I looked at the faces of the Scoon extended family. They looked to me the way I felt... stunned. I once watched a nature show which depicted hyenas, strong and fierce animals; they run fast, have good survival instincts. Their foremost enemy was a very small wild dog called the dingo. Alone they are not much of a threat. But they don't work alone. I watched as a pack of dingoes singled out one of the hyenas and began to bite at its ankles. Alternately nipping and retreating, unceasingly wounding, first one, then the other, then the first until the hyena, weakened from loss of blood and exhaustion, collapsed; the dogs feasted. I watched Suarez and Fisher act like those wild dogs. They were out for blood. What drives people in this way? I asked an activist in the home birth movement; she said: Performance ego. Historic victimhood of women. Hostility against parents. Women against men. It was my feeling throughout that the prosecution spoke more plainly, more matter-of-factly than the defense. The prosecution questioning was simpler, easier to follow. Dowd's questions rambled, they were convoluted and at times even he lost his line of his questioning because of it. The bottom line is this: if the jury doesn't understand it, it's useless. Shortly after the jury began deliberation, they asked for the very documents referred to by Fisher. The next day the jury reviewed the transcript of Dr. (a defense witness who did not eliminate the possibility of death caused by shaking, although it was at the bottom of his list) and the documents describing h's eye injuries. Although the jurors were selected as a non-sequestered jury, a few days before the end, the prosecutors made a motion that the jury be sequestered to keep them insulated from the media coverage which they said had already occurred at notable times during the trial. After settling possible hardships a few might suffer, the judge decided to, indeed, sequester them. I wonder how much the undesireability of being kept away from family and friends over a weekend influenced their one and one-half day deliberation. The jury reached and revealed its verdict at 4:00 that Friday. Lois said that everyone, including the prosecutors were shocked that they found Malcolm guilty of the top charge: manslaughter in the second degree. I was told that after the jurors, some of whom were in tears, brought back a verdict of guilty, the prosecutors walked out into the hallway where their colleagues clapped for them. What a sad commentary. The Scoons are preparing an appeal. They will not rest until Malcolm's innocence is recognized. [end] You may send any letter of support for Malcolm and Lois via this newsletter. The Scoons have established an appeal Defense Fund. For more information and to contribute, please call Pastor Tony Fontele at 718-276-0300. ============================================ Several parents are fighting criminal charges of killing or injuring their infants by shaking them with claims that the baby's brain damage actually resulted from recent vaccination. Gannett News Service, in a four-month review of current childhood immunization, has found such legal action includes the following cases: Ex-Cop Found Not Guilty In Alleged 'Shaken-Baby' Case Carey -- Almost 3 now, is the developmentally disabled son of former Union County, N.J., police officer Carey and his wife, Helen. Bill Carey, 33, is no longer a cop. He now drives a limousine part-time for a living. He was suspended from his law enforcement job when he was indicted 18 months ago on a felony aggravated assault charge of shaking until his brain bled. The charge stems from 's hospitalization for seizures at 5 months of age on the day of his second DTP, HiB, and oral polio vaccinations in March 1996. That was when the Careys lived in White House Station, N.J., just west of Bridgewater. Now they live in Washington Township in Warren County, and Carey is on trial in Flemington, N.J. He could get five to 10 years in prison. Neither parent had ever faced criminal charges for anything before their son's health problems. But the father was found not guilty Tuesday, Sept. 1, by a 12-person jury after two days of deliberation. The jury heard defense testimony that 's symptoms occurred after a DTP vaccination that may have caused the seizures and brain damage. Neither parent had ever faced criminal charges for anything before their son's health problems. had reacted badly to his hepatitis-B and first DTP vaccinations -- the parents remember him crying inconsolably " day and night, " arching his back stiffly, projectile vomiting, showing little appetite, sleeping most of the time, flushing hot and cold. The medical records back them up. Symptoms were severe enough that was hospitalized twice shortly before Christmas 1995. The diagnosis came back " milk intolerance " and " colic. " In the meantime, his head ballooned from 351/2 centimeters to 461/2 centimeters -- so noticeable that visiting relatives worried aloud; so large that instead of infant headgear, had to wear the hats of his older brother , now 5, and so fast the pediatrician at one point worried about " water on the brain " but changed her recommendation for a CT scan after telling the parents the baby " had a big head because his father had a big head. " About four hours after his second DTP shot on March 22, 1996, -- recalled the father who was watching him -- " started screaming like he had never screamed before, " rolled back his eyes, went stiff, then limp, then started gurgling. The paramedics gave oxygen and took to Hunterdon Medical Center, where the convulsion was noted as " most likely " an adverse reaction to DTP. Transferred to Woods Hospital the next day, continued to have uncontrollable seizures. Full skeletal X-rays revealed no broken bones, bruises or any sign of physical trauma. An MRI, a form of X-ray, however, showed three subdural hematomas " consistent with shaken baby syndrome. " Child abuse authorities were called by the hospital. The next day, was taken from his parents and placed with an aunt. In February 1997, he was indicted on the criminal charges, which just came to trial in August. Carey's attorney, ph E. Krakora of town, based his defense on " the pretty compelling case that the intracranial bleeding was connected to administration of a vaccine. " Defense witness Dr. Mark Geier, a land pediatric geneticist, testified that the batch of DTP s's shot came from was included in 17 other seizure cases that were reported to the Food and Drug Adminstration by parents and physicians. Dr. Jan Leisma, a Chicago pediatric pathologist, testified 's interior brain bleeding was parallel with known reactions to the DTP vaccine which mimick symptoms of child abuse. The lawyer told GNS, " There is nodispute had a neurological condition in March that contraindicated thesecond DTP vaccine. ... If the pediatrician had picked up on the initial contraindications, my man would never be in the courtroom. " ****************************************************************** `COMPENSATION PROGRAM DRAGS THEIR FEET' Gray -- When Gray, now 9, was born in Covina, Calif., his father, Larry, was 21, and his mother, Debby, was 18. The day after his first DTP shot at six weeks of age, the previously healthy baby went into a seizure in his father's arms and stopped breathing. His father gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and the infant spent the next four months in hospitals. Queens Valley Hospital documented an acute encephalopathy (acquired brain damage) and took note that the seizure followed the vaccine, but at the second one, UCLA Medical Center, someone changed the diagnosis to " infant shaking syndrome. " Gray and his wife were told by social workers if they tried to visit the child again, they would be arrested. The social workers sent the baby to live with his paternal grandmother, where the parents were allowed to visit their baby one hour a week. " The social worker interrogated my mom as if she were a criminal, too, " remembers the father. Finally, in September 1989, remembers Larry Gray's current lawyer Curtis Webb of Idaho, " One of the doctors involved quietly told the detective that the DTP vaccine could do this damage, too, so the police didn't pursue it. " The baby was returned to the parents, but they broke up. Larry Gray became his son's care-giver. Lawyer Webb filed a claim with the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. It went to hearing in 1993. " The Justice Department fought this with absolutely no holds barred, " recalled Webb. " They insisted the kid had been shaken. The mother came back to testify along with the father. They were both treated by the federal government as if they were child abusers. " The U.S. Court of Claims special master in charge of the hearing did not agree. On Aug. 4, 1993, he ruled for Gray, finding the brain damage was clearly connected to the DTP shot. In 1996, Larry Gray moved to Harrah, Okla., where he has a cousin who could help take care of . Now, five years after the compensation ruling, he still hasn't seen a penny. Only in August did Gray, his lawyer, and the Justice Department reach final agreement on a life-care plan. The first payment is expected in autumn. " The compensation program drags their feet, " the father said. " It is not their life they are putting on hold, it is ours. " California doctors told Larry Gray his son would not live past 1998. " As soon as we won, " recalled Webb, " the Justice Department lawyers called me saying they still believed this child was shaken and the only way they'd agree to a settlement is if the money was put into a reversionary trust, meaning the money would revert back to the government if the child dies. " Webb, who has handled more than 100 cases before the vaccine compensation board, asked, " Do I think they're waiting for the kid to die? I think there's something to that. That surely is what Larry Gray believes. In some cases, the delay on settlement is legitimate, but the Justice Department has contributed to the delay in this case. " The Justice Department denies this, blaming Gray's move to Oklahoma for the delay -- contending it meant starting all over on a life-care program for the child. " Now, whenever I see a shaken baby prosecution, I wonder, " Webb told GNS. " It's usually exactly the same setting as this case. The kid gets the DTP shot at 2 months or 4. The kid goes into an epileptic state. The kid is diagnosed with some sort of brain hemorrhage. The kid is taken away from the parents after the hospital says it was shaken. It makes me think this happens more often than you might think it does. " Seemingly healthy infants left debilitated ****************************************************************** Devin -- Court records show Devin, born in the second week of 1993, appeared a healthy boy until May 19, when he was given his second set of DTP shots in a suburb of St. , Minn. For the next four days he was cranky, started frequent projectile vomiting, and kept spiking fevers. At a St. urgent care center, he was diagnosed with an ear infection. On the evening of May 24, in the care of his father while his mother was at work, Devin went into convulsions while being changed and had trouble breathing. Devin's father began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Devin was rushed to a hospital where CT scans and MRIs showed retinal hemorrhages and serious brain injury: an accumulation of trapped blood under the skull in the spaces adjacent to the brain, caused by bleeding from nearby blood vessels -- subdural hematoma. Devin continued to have seizures in the hospital. The vertebrae in Devin's neck were normal, there were no fractures, no skin bruising, and there were no external signs of trauma. The hospital, however, decided Devin's injury " very clearly fits " shaken baby syndrome and notified police. The father, , having been the last one with the baby, was charged by the state of Minnesota with first-degree assault and malicious punishment. The case came to trial in April 1995. Defense lawyers Barbara Z. and Louis Tourinus argued that Devin suffered from a reaction to the DTP, which they said exacerbated a prior subdural hematoma incurred during a difficult birth. -- who had lost his car salesman job in the meantime -- was found not guilty on both counts by state Judge R. Schurrer. The judge ruled " the court cannot find that Devin suffered from shaken baby syndrome " and that prosecutors had offered " no evidence to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant was any more likely than any other individual to shake or otherwise assault Devin. " From his brain injuries, according to court records, Devin suffered " significant difficulties in mental and behavioral development " and needs special schooling. After the father's acquittal, lawyer filed a claim with the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program in Washington -- the agency set up a decade ago to help compensate families of vaccine-injured children. Special master Hastings, one of several appointed by the U.S. Court of Claims to hear such matters, threw the claim out: " Petitioner is not entitled to a program award. " In his written analysis, the special master said the ear infection " is simply a better explanation for the symptoms that Devin did display " after the vaccination. Although Justice Department lawyers defending against the claim brought it up, Hastings insisted he was not influenced by the shaken baby charge on the father's record. He wrote, " I should point out that I would resolve this case in the same fashion, even were there no evidence at all concerning the possibility that Devin was the victim of child abuse. " But then, in his case analysis, the special master meticulously detailed the suspicions of hospital physicians that Devin " very clearly fits the diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome " and concluded " the evidence pointing to trauma as the cause of Devin's injury is simply far superior to the scant evidence pointing to his vaccination. " Dr. Schweller, a San Diego pediatric neurologist who testified as an expert in both the and Gray federal claims hearings, contends the DTP vaccine -- while not a cause of original brain bleeding -- " in these cases is consistent with causation in rebleeding " if subdural hematoma has previously occurred. The current shaken baby diagnostic process is based on conventional wisdom that doesn't hold up, according to Schweller: " You read in a scientific article that you can't develop a head injury unless you have a violent act or a 10-foot fall, and it doesn't fit the spectrum of injury that pediatricians and neurologists routinely see. " SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME -- THE VACCINATION LINK -- Many infants who suffer the so-called 'shaken baby syndrome' may be victims of undiagnosed vaccine damage. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Extracted from Nexus Magazine, Volume 5, #5 (August-September '98). PO Box 30, Mapleton Qld 4560 Australia. Telephone: +61 (0)7 5442 9280; Fax: +61 (0)7 5442 9381 © 1998 by Viera Scheibner, PhD 178 Govetts Leap Road Blackheath, NSW 2785 Australia Telephone: +61 (0)2 4787 8203 Fax: +61 (0)2 4787 8988 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Recently there has been quite an " epidemic " of the so-called " shaken baby syndrome " . Parents, usually the fathers, or other care-givers such as nannies have increasingly been accused of shaking a baby to the point of causing permanent brain damage and death. Why? Is there an unprecedented increase in the number of people who commit infanticide or have an ambition to seriously hurt babies? Or is there something more sinister at play? Some time ago I started getting requests from lawyers or the accused parents themselves for expert reports. A close study of the history of these cases revealed something distinctly sinister: in every single case, the symptoms appeared shortly after the baby's vaccinations. While investigating the personal medical history of these babies based on the care-givers' diaries and medical records, I quickly established that these babies were given one or more of the series of so-called routine shots-hepatitis B, DPT (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus), polio and HiB (Haemophilus influenzae type -shortly before they developed symptoms of illness resulting in serious brain damage or death. The usual scenario is that a baby is born and does well initially. At the usual age of about two months it is administered the first series of vaccines as above. (Sometimes a hepatitis B injection is given shortly after birth while the mother and child are still in hospital. However, a great number of babies now die within days or within two to four weeks of birth after hepatitis B vaccination, as documented by the records of the VAERS [Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System] in the USA.) So, the baby stops progressing, starts deteriorating, and usually develops signs of respiratory tract infection. Then comes the second and third injections, and tragedy strikes: the child may cry intensely and inconsolably, may stop feeding properly, vomit, have difficulty swallowing, become irritable, stop sleeping, and may develop convulsions with accelerating progressive deterioration of its condition and mainly its brain function. This deterioration may be fast, or may slowly inch in until the parents notice that something is very wrong with their child and then rush it to the doctor or hospital. Interestingly, they are invariably asked when the baby was immunised. On learning that the baby was indeed " immunised " , the parents may be reassured that its symptoms will all clear up. They are sent home with the advice, " Give your baby Panadol " . If they persist in considering the baby's reaction serious, they may be labelled as anxious parents or trouble-makers. So the parents go home, and the child remains in a serious condition or dies. Until recently, the vaccine death would have just been labelled " sudden infant death " , particularly if the symptoms and pathological findings were minimal. However, nowadays, with an alarmingly increasing frequency, the parents (or at least one of them, usually the father) may be accused of shaking the baby to death. The accused may even " confess " to shaking the baby, giving the reason, for example, that having found the baby lying still and not breathing and/or with a glazed look in its eyes, they shook it gently-as is only natural-in their attempt to revive it. Sometimes, ironically, they save the baby's life, only to be accused of causing the internal injuries that made the baby stop breathing in the first place, and which in fact were already present when they shook the baby to revive it. No matter what the parents say or do, everything is construed against them. If they are crying and emotional, they will be accused of showing signs of guilt. If they manage to remain composed and unemotional, they will be called calculating and controlling-and guilty because of that. In another scenario the distraught parents try to describe the symptoms to an attending doctor in hospital or a surgery but are totally at a loss to understand what has happened to their baby. To their shock and dismay, they later discover that while they were describing the observed symptoms, the doctor or another staff member was writing three ominous words in the medical record: shaken baby syndrome. Many of these parents end up indicted and even sentenced to prison for a crime that somebody else committed. Some of these cases have been resolved by acquittal on appeal or have been won based on expert reports demonstrating vaccines as the cause of the observed injuries or death. However, only God and a good lawyer can help those parents or care-givers who happen to be uneducated, or have a criminal record, particularly for violence, or have a previous history of a similar " unexplained " death of a baby in their care, or, worse still, a vaccine-injured baby with a broken arm or fractured skull. More and more often, the unfortunate parents are given the option of a " deal " : if they confess and/or plead guilty, they will get only a couple of years in prison; but if they don't, they may end up getting 20 years. I was told by a social worker in the United States that many foster parents are rotting in US prisons. First, they are forced to vaccinate their charges, and then, when side effects or death occur, they are accused of causing them. Inevitably the possibility exists that infanticide or child abuse is involved in some of the cases. However, there is no determinable reason why so many parents or other care-givers would suddenly begin to behave like this. It is incredibly insensitive and callous to immediately suspect and accuse the distraught, innocent parents of harming their own baby. MEDICAL STUDIES Let's now have a look at medical literature dealing with shaken baby syndrome and child abuse. Caffey (1972, 1974)1,2 described the " whiplash shaken infant syndrome " as a result of manual shaking by the extremities with whiplash-induced intracranial and intraocular bleedings, linked with permanent brain damage and mental retardation. He referred to his own paper, published almost 30 years prior to the above-quoted papers, which described what he called " the original six battered babies in 1945 " . The essential elements in this description were subdural haematomas, intraocular bleedings and multiple traction changes in the long bones. These findings became a benchmark of the " evidence " that a child had been shaken before developing these signs. Reece (1993)3 analysed fatal child abuse and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and considered the critical diagnostic decisions. He emphasised that distinguishing between an unexpected infant death due to SIDS and one due to child abuse challenges paediatricians, family physicians, pathologists and child protection agencies. On the one hand, they must report instances of suspected child abuse and protect other children in the family; and on the other, all agree that the knowledge in this area is incomplete and ambiguity exists in many cases. Duhaime et al. (1992)4 wrote that " patients with intradural haemorrhage and no history of trauma must also have clinical and radiographic findings of blunt impact to the head, unexplained long-bone fractures or other soft tissue inflicted injury, in order to completely eliminate the possibility of spontaneous intracranial haemorrhage such as might rarely occur from a vascular malformation or a bleeding disorder " . While it is not disputed that some parents and care-givers may cause the above injuries by mistreating infants, one must take great care in interpreting similar pathological findings of injuries caused by other insults which have nothing to do with mechanical injuries and mistreatments of infants. I shall never forget the father of a 10-month-old infant, who, after being acquitted on appeal of causing shaken baby syndrome, said words to the effect, " We still don't know what killed our baby " . It did not occur to them and nobody told them that it was the vaccine that killed their baby. So what else can cause brain swelling, intracranial bleeding, ocular retinal haemorrhages, and broken skull and other bones? Ever since the mass vaccination of infants began, reports of serious brain, cardiovascular, metabolic and other injuries started filling pages of medical journals. Indeed, vaccines like the pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine are actually used to induce encephalo-myelitis (experimental allergic encephalomyelitis) in laboratory animals (Levine and Sowinski, 19735). This is characterised by brain swelling and haemorrhaging of an extent similar to that caused by mechanical injuries (Iwasa et al., 19856). Munoz et al. (1981)7 studied biological activities of crystalline pertussigen-a toxin produced by Bordetella pertussis, the causative agent in pertussis and an active ingredient in all types of pertussis vaccines whether whole-cell or acellular-in a number of laboratory experiments with mice. They established that minute amounts of pertussigen induced hypersensitivity to histamine (still detected 84 days after administration), leucocytosis, production of insulin, increased production of IgE and G1 antibodies to hen egg albumin, susceptibility to anaphylactic shock and vascular permeability of striated muscle. A dose of 546 nanograms per mouse killed 50 per cent of mice. Typically, the deaths were delayed. When a dose of five micrograms of pertussigen was administered, most mice did not gain weight and died by day five; the last mouse died on day eight. A one-microgram dose of one preparation killed four out of five mice. They first gained weight from days two to five, but then remained at nearly constant weight until they died. Even the one that survived for 16 days (it was then killed) experienced crises (stopped putting on weight) on the days when the others died. Had that one lived longer, it might have died on day 24. This is another of the critical days-identified by Cotwatch research into babies' breathing-on which babies have flare-ups of stress-induced breathing, or die, after vaccination. Interestingly, when laboratory animals develop symptoms of vaccine damage and then die, it is never considered coincidental; but when children develop the same symptoms and/or die after the administration of the same vaccines, it is considered coincidental or caused by their parents or other carers. When all this fails, then it is considered " mysterious " . Delayed reactions are the norm rather than the exception. This has been explained as a consequence of an immunological intravascular complexing of particulate antigen (whole-cell or acellular pertussis organisms) (Wilkins, 19888). However, vaccinators have great difficulty with this, and as a rule draw largely irrelevant timelines for accepting the causal link between administration of vaccines and onset of reactions-usually 24 hours or up to seven days. However, most reactions to vaccines are delayed, and most cases are then considered unrelated to vaccination. One only has to peruse a product insert of hepatitis B vaccine to see that besides local reactions, a number of neurological signs may occur, such as paraesthesia and paralysis (including Guillain-Barre syndrome, optic neuritis and multiple sclerosis). Devin et al. (1996)9 described retinal haemorrhages which are emphatically being considered the sure sign of child abuse, even though these can be and are caused by vaccines. Goetting and Sowa (1990)10 described retinal haemorrhage which occurred after cardiopulmonary resuscitation in children. Bulging fontanelle due to brain swelling was described by and Mannino (1979)[11] as a direct reaction to the DPT vaccine. They described a case of a seven-month-old baby who, nine hours after the third DPT vaccination, developed a bulging anterior fontanelle and became febrile and irritable. Bruising and easy bleeding is one of the characteristic signs of the blood clotting disorder, thrombocytopenia-a recognised side-effect of many vaccines. Its first signs are easy bruising and bleeding and petechial (spotlike) rash. Thrombo-cytopenia may result in brain and other haemorrhages (Woerner et al., 198112). The convulsions which follow one in 1,750 doses of the DPT vaccines (Cody et al., 198113) can result in unexplained falls in bigger children who can sit up or stand, which may cause linear cracks of the skull and other fractures. When one considers that babies are supposed to get a minimum of three doses of DPT and OPV (oral polio vaccine), then the risk of developing a convulsion is one in 580, and with five doses the risk rises to one in 350. This means that a great number of babies develop convulsions after vaccination between the ages of two to six months, at about 18 months, and at five to six years. The convulsions often occur when the parent or another carer is not looking, and the child, while standing or sitting on the floor, simply falls backwards or onto its arm. All these signs can be misdiagnosed as a result of mechanical injuries, particularly so because vaccinators simply refuse to admit that vaccines cause serious injuries, or they only pay lip service to the damage caused by the pernicious routine of up to 18 vaccines with which babies are supposed to be injected within six months of birth. The court system should therefore be more open to the documented viable and alternative explanations of the observed injuries, and be more wary of the obviously biased statements of the provaccination " experts " , that nothing else but vigorous shaking can cause retinal haemorrhages-even though such statements only reflect their ignorance. Such " experts " then go home and continue advising parents to vaccinate, and thus, with impunity, they cause more and more cases of vaccine-injured babies and children. THE UK MEASLES EPIDEMIC THAT NEVER WAS The term " Munchausen syndrome per proxy " has been used to identify individuals who kill or otherwise harm a child in order to attract attention to themselves. The term was used in many instances in the 1980s when earlier attempts were fashioned to explain some of the cases of sudden infant death. According to Meadow (1995),14 " Munchausen syndrome per proxy " is flamboyant terminology originally used for journalistic reasons. It was a term commonly applied to adults who presented themselves with false illness stories, just like the fictional Baron von Munchausen who travelled on cannon balls. The term is now used to apply to parents of children who present with false illness stories fabricated by a parent or someone else in that position. While the term may have some validity in describing this special form of child abuse in the documented cases of parents slowly poisoning their child or exposing it to unnecessary and often dangerous and invasive medical treatments, more recently it became a way for some doctors to camouflage the real observed side-effects of especially measles (M), measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) and measles-rubella (MR) vaccinations in the UK. Many thousands of British children (up to 15,000 in my considered opinion) developed signs of autism usually associated with bowel symptoms after being given the above vaccines in 1994. The Bulletin of Medical Ethics published two articles, in 1994 and 1995, dealing with this problem. The October 1994 article ( " Is your measles jab really necessary? " ) stated that during November 1994 the UK Government would be running a mass campaign of measles vaccination with the intention of reaching every child between the ages of five and sixteen. It claimed that the purpose of this campaign was to prevent an epidemic that would otherwise occur in 1995, with up to 200,000 cases and up to 50 deaths. The article also showed that since 1990 there have been only 8,000 to 10,000 cases of measles each year in England and Wales, and that coincidentally there was an epidemic of only about 5,000 cases in Scotland in the winter of 1993 & endash;94. Between May and August 1994 the notification rate in England and Wales dropped sharply, so there was nothing that clearly suggested an imminent epidemic. The nine-page article in the August 1995 issue of BME stated among other things that on 14 September 1992 the Department of Health (DoH) hastily withdrew two brands of MMR vaccines following a leak to the national press about the risk of children developing mumps meningitis after administration of these vaccines. Both brands contained the Urabe mumps vaccine strain which had been shown to cause mumps meningitis in one in 1,044 vaccinees (Yawata, 199415). Based on the epidemiology of measles, there was never going to be a measles epidemic in 1995 and there was certainly no justification for concomitant rubella vaccination. The mass campaign was planned as an experimental alternative to a two-dose schedule of measles-mumps-rubella vaccination. The UK Government knowingly misled parents about the need for the campaign and about the relative risks of measles and measles vaccination. The DoH broke the European Union's law about contracts and tendering to ensure that specific pharmaceutical companies were awarded the contracts to provide the campaign vaccines. All this must have been extremely fortunate for the drug companies in question, since the supplies of measles and rubella vaccines-which they'd been left with in 1992 and for which there was virtually no demand-were soon to go out of date. The vaccination campaign achieved very little. Indeed, in 1995 there were twice as many cases of serologically confirmed rubella in England and Wales as in the same period of 1994: 412 cases against 217. Six cases of rubella in pregnant women were reported. The data indicate that more measles cases were notified in the first quarter of 1995 (n=11) than in the first quarter of 1994 (n=9). Despite this, there were several claims from government doctors that measles transmission had stopped among school children. Higson (1995)16 wrote that two DoH officials tried to justify the success of the measles and rubella vaccination campaign by using data that cannot be used to give year-on-year comparison for measles infections. Indeed, he wrote that the data collected by the public health departments on the measles notifications show no indication of benefit from the highly expensive campaign. The British government spent some £20 million purchasing the near-expiry-date measles and rubella vaccines. Some 1,500 parents are now participating in a class action over the damage (most often the bowel problems and autism) suffered by their children. Wakefield et al. (1998)17 published a paper in the Lancet in which they reported on a consecutive series of children with chronic enterocolitis and regressive developmental disorder which occurred 1 to 14 days (median, 6.3 days) after M, MMR and MR vaccinations. They also quoted the " opioid excess " theory of autism, that autistic disorders result from the incomplete breakdown and excessive absorption of gut-derived peptides from foods, including barley, rye, oats and milk/dairy product casein, caused by vaccine injury to the bowel. These peptides may exert central-opioid effects, directly or through the formation of ligands with peptidase enzymes required for the breakdown of endogenous central-nervous-system opioids, leading to disruption of normal neuroregulation and brain development by endogenous encephalins and endorphins. A number of British parents approached me last year and complained that their children had developed behavioural and bowel problems after vaccination (as above), and that instead of getting help from their doctors they were told that they just imagined the symptoms or caused them in order to attract attention to themselves. The term " Munchausen syndrome per proxy " was used. It caused a lot of hardship and marital problems and did nothing for the victims of vaccination. Their stories were horrifying. EDUCATION ON VACCINE DANGERS In summary, the trail of vaccine disasters is growing. Not only do vaccinations do nothing to improve the health of children and other recipients, they cause serious health problems and hardship for their families by victimising the victims of vaccines. Parents of small children of vaccination age should use their own judgement and should educate themselves about the real dangers of this unscientific, useless, harmful and invasive medical procedure. No matter how much vaccines are pushed, vaccination is not compulsory in Australia (though the Liberal Federal Minister for Health has announced his plan to make it so in the near future-which, to me, sounded more like a threat at the time), and parents do not have to vaccinate their children. Those parents who think they are safe when they follow the official propaganda may be in for a rude awakening: they may be accused of causing the harm which resulted from vaccination. I also urge medical practitioners to use their own judgement and observations and study the trail of disaster created by vaccination. They should listen when their patients and especially the parents of small children report side effects of vaccinations. The inability to listen and observe the truth has created a breed of medical practitioners who inflict illness rather than healing, who become accusers rather than helpers, and who are ultimately just covering up-whether consciously or unknowingly, but with frighteningly increasing frequency-for the disasters created by their useless and deadly concoctions and sanctimonious ministrations. Maybe the term " Munchausen boomerang " should be introduced to describe those members of the medical profession who victimise the victims of their own harmful interventions (vaccines in particular). I would like to remind those who may still think the risks of vaccine injury are outweighed by the benefits from vaccines, that infectious diseases are beneficial for children by priming and maturing their immune system. These diseases also represent developmental milestones. Having measles not only results in a lifelong specific immunity to measles, but also a non-specific immunity to a host of other, more serious conditions: degenerative diseases of bone and cartilage, certain tumours, skin diseases and immunoreactive diseases (Ronne, 198518). Having mumps has been found to protect against ovarian cancer (West, 196619). So there is no need to try to prevent children from getting infectious diseases. Moreover, according to orthodox immunological research, vaccines do not immunise, they sensitise; they make the recipients more susceptible to diseases (Craighead, 197520). It is the vaccinated children who suffer chronic ill health (asthma and constant ear infections being two of many vaccine side effects); who develop side effects to diseases like pneumonia or atypical measles (which carries a 12 to 15 per cent mortality risk); or who may have difficulty going through even such innocuous diseases as chicken pox because their immune system has been suppressed by vaccines. In my closing remark, I urge parents to ask themselves a few questions. Have you noticed how much the vaccines are pushed by threats, coercion, victimisation and monetary punitive measures, with parents then being accused of causing what are clearly side effects of the vaccines? Would you succumb to the same type of pressure if any other product were pushed with the same vengeance? Wouldn't you be suspicious and ask what's wrong with the product if it has to be forced upon consumers? Why do so many informed parents, as well as many informed medical doctors, now refuse vaccination? Shouldn't you be suspicious of a medical system which forces itself upon you, which won't accept responsibility for vaccine injuries and unlawfully tries to take away your constitutional, democratic and legal right to have control over your own and your children's health without being hassled and victimised? ENDNOTES: 1. Caffey, J. (1972), " On the theory and practice of shaking infants " , Am. J. Dis. Child 124, August 1972. 2. Caffey, J. (1974), " The whiplash shaken infant syndrome: manual shaking by the extremities with whiplash-induced intracranial and intraocular bleeding, linked with residual permanent brain damage and mental retardation " , Pediatrics 54(4):396-403. 3. Reece, R. M. (1993), " Fatal child abuse and sudden infant death syndrome " , Pediatrics 91:423-429. 4. Duhaime, A. C., Alario, A. J., Lewander, W. J. et al. (1992), " Head injury in very young children mechanisms, injury types and opthalmologic findings in 100 hospitalized patients younger than two years of age " , Pediatrics 90(2):179-185. 5. Levine, S. and Sowinski, R. (1973), " Hyperacute allergic encephalomyelitis " , Am. J. Pathol. 73:247-260. 6. Iwasa, A., Ishida, S., Akama, K. (1985), " Swelling of the brain caused by pertussis vaccine: its quantitative determination and the responsible factors in the vaccine " , Japan J. Med. Sci. Biol. 38:53-65. 7. Munoz, J. J., Aral, H., Bergman, R. K. and Sadowski, P. (1981), " Biological activities of crystalline pertussigen from Bordetella pertussis " , Infection and Immunity, September 1981, pp. 820-826. 8. Wilkins, J. (1988), " What is 'significant' and DTP reactions " (letter), Pediatrics 81(6):912-913. 9. Devin, F., Roques, G., Disdier, P., Rodor, F. and Weiller, P. J. (1996), " Occlusion of central retinal vein after hepatitis B vaccination " , Lancet 347:1626, 8 June 1996. 10. Goetting, M. G. and Sowa, B. (1990), " Retinal haemorrhage after cardiopulmonary resuscitation in children: an etiologic evaluation " , Pediatrics 85(4):585-588. 11. , J. and Mannino, F. (1979), " Increased intracranial pressure after diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis immunization " , Am. J. Dis. Child 133:217-218. 12. Woerner, S. J., Abildgaard, C. F. and French, B. N. (1981), " Intracranial haemorrhage in children with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura " , Pediatrics 67(4):453-460. 13. Cody, C. L., Baraff, L. J., Cherry, J. D., Marcy, S. C. and Manclark (1981), " Nature and rates of adverse reactions associated with DTP and DT immunizations in infants and children " , Pediatrics 68(5):650-660. 14. Meadow, R. (1995), " What is and what is not 'Munchausen syndrome per proxy'? " , Arch. Dis. Child 72:534-538. 15. Yawata, Makoto (1994), " Japan's troubles with measles-mumps-rubella vaccine " , Lancet 343:105-106, 8 January 1994. 16. Higson, N. (1995), " Evaluating the measles immunisation campaign " , British Medical Journal 311:62. 17. Wakefield, A. J., Murch, S. H., , A., Linnell, J. et al. (1998), " Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis and pervasive developmental disorder in children " , Lancet 351:637-641, 28 February 1998. 18. Ronne, T. (1985), " Measles virus infection without rash in childhood is related to disease in adult life " , Lancet, 5 January 1985, pp. 1-5. 19. West, R. O. (1966), " Epidemiologic studies of malignancies of the ovaries " , Cancer, July 1966, pp. 1001-07. 20. Craighead, J. E. (1975), " Report of a workshop: disease accentuation after immunisation with inactivated microbial vaccines " , J. Infect. Dis. 1312(6):749-754. About the Author: Viera Scheibner, PhD, is a retired principal research scientist with a doctorate in natural sciences. During her distinguished career she published three books and some 90 scientific papers in refereed scientific journals. Since the mid-1980s when she helped develop the Cotwatch breathing monitor for babies at risk of cot death (sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS), she has done extensive research into vaccines and vaccinations and in 1993 published her book, Vaccination: The Medical Assault on the Immune System. Dr Scheibner is often asked by lawyers to provide expert reports for vaccine-damage court cases, and she regularly conducts lectures. Her previous articles for NEXUS covered the SIDS/vaccines link (2/05) and the brain-eating bugs/vaccines connection (3/03). ============================= Child Abuse or Misdiagnosis? Lawyer Wins Acquittal By Raising Alternate Cause For What Looked Like Shaken Baby Syndrome The New Jersey Law Journal October 26, 1998 By Henry Gottlieb ph Krakora, a New Jersey lawyer with a knack for winning acquittals for seemingly guilty clients, is one of the first lawyers in the nation to successfully raise the defense that a DPT vaccination was responsible for what looked to prosecutors like shaken baby syndrome. Krakora triumphed for Carey of Whitehouse, who was tried for endangering a child's welfare in particular, causing brain damage to his 5 month old son by shaking him violently. Now three, is severely developmentally delayed and it's too early to determine how well he will function. No one saw Carey shake the infant, and there was no testimony that he was anything but a model father. But the prosecution presented medical evidence that shaking was the injury's only possible cause for the injuries. Most damaging to the defense was evidence that suffered retinal bleeding, which occurs in 90 percent of shaken baby cases, but rarely otherwise. Krakora, a former assistant deputy public defender now in private practice, countered with the theory that 's injuries were caused by a pre existing medical condition that wasn't discovered until the child had an adverse reaction to a vaccination against diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus. The defense worked. On Sept. 29, a Hunterdon County jury found Carey not guilty, putting Krakora in the company of a small group of lawyers in Oklahoma, Minnesota and New York who have used DPT shot evidence to undermine shaken baby prosecutions. Their results have intensified the debate over the reliability of shaken baby syndrome diagnoses as evidence in criminal cases. " This was one of the first cases of its type, and I don't know of any on the appellate level, " says Rob Parrish, chief child abuse counsel in the Utah Attorney General's Office and one of the organizers of last month's Second National Conference on Shaken Baby Syndrome, in Salt Lake City. The meeting attracted hundreds of doctors, lawyers and child welfare experts. One of the attendees, pediatric surgeon Shaw of Pasadena, Calif., who has written about shaken baby syndrome and DPT shots, says the evidence against Carey seemed to point to the syndrome, " but I think they had a good defense lawyer. " A RECORD OF RAISING EYEBROWS Before becoming of counsel in 1996 to Schenck, Price, & King of town, Krakora had a series of eyebrow raising victories as an assistant deputy public defender in Essex County. In 1989, he convinced a jury that a man who shot his sleeping son at point blank range was acting in self defense; in 1992, he won an acquittal even on misconduct charges by arguing entrapment on behalf of a state trooper who admitted participating in a drug deal. In 1995, his cross examination of the prosecution's chief witnesses was credited by jurors as the crucial element of his win for a murder suspect who risked a trial only because the prosecutor wouldn't let him plead guilty and go to jail for 30 years. In the Carey case, though, the prosecution's evidence made a harder target: competent doctors and a compelling body of medical research. " In terms of the type of evidence that we had to deal with, this was more like a medical malpractice case than a criminal trial, " Krakora says. On March 22, 1996, Carey was at home, off duty from his job as an officer in the Union County Police Department, when he called 911 to summon an emergency medical team. His son, for whom he was caring while his wife was at work, had suffered a violent seizure, Carey told the ambulance crew. The boy was taken to Hunterdon Medical Center in Flemington and later to Wood University Hospital in New Brunswick. Three pieces of information that emerged during the crew's response later became relevant. First, Carey was asked whether he had shaken the baby. He said no. Second, Carey told them that had received a DPT shot earlier in the day. Third, one of the workers found Carey's behavior suspicious. Unlike most parents who refuse to let a sick child out of their sight, Carey refused to go to the hospital with . Instead, while the team took to the hospital, Carey waited at home until his wife arrived from work, and then they went to the hospital together. Notes by the crew and one of the first doctors who examined mentioned Carey's reference to the DPT shot, but within a couple of days, a sinister consensus emerged among doctors who examined the child and gave him a dozen tests from a culture of his blood to a magnetic resonance image of his brain. Wood doctors Elaine Donoghue, an expert on the symptoms of physical abuse, and Mark Engel, a pediatric ophthalmologist, concluded that was suffering from shaken baby syndrome. BRAIN AND RETINA DAMAGE Shaken baby syndrome is an umbrella term for the symptoms that occur when an infant is held firmly by the rib cage and shaken back and forth. Babies have more fluid between their brain and skull than do adults or older children, so the violent shaking causes the brain to move at a slower rate than the skull itself and the brain hits against the skull. Similarly, the child's retinas are damaged by the bumping of the eyes in their sockets. Shaking a baby can cause rib injuries, brain damage and death. Even absent an eyewitness to the abuse, there have been diagnoses and criminal charges based on testing that showed bleeding in the brain and eyes. The most famous conviction was last year, against Louise Woodward, the English nanny accused of shaking an 8 month old Boston boy. That child died, and Carey didn't, but Carey had the bleeding and neurological damage associated with classic shaken baby syndrome, the prosecution alleged. Under direct examination by Assistant Prosecutor Marcia Crowe, doctors Donoghue and Engel testified at Carey's trial that they considered other possibilities. But as Donoghue put it, 's injuries were " all consistent with shaken baby syndrome " and she believed in her diagnosis " to a reasonable degree of medical certainty. " And there was no dispute that Carey had been 's only care giver on the day he suffered the brain damage. LINK BETWEEN SYNDROME AND SHOT A family court judge certainly believed the medical testimony. In 1996, acting on an application by the Division of Youth and Family Services, Hunterdon County Superior Court Judge Edmund Bernhard transferred custody of to a relative of the Careys and ruled that could never be alone with his parents, even his mother, Helen, who insisted her husband was innocent. From the start, Krakora's defense focused on the DPT shot, which had been administered earlier in the day of 's seizure. For years, medical experts have been observing a relationship between shaken baby syndrome and DPT vaccinations, but it has been a perverse link. As millions of parents know, DPT shots can cause fever and pain so severe that children will wail for hours the kind of crying that can drive a frustrated parent to shake a baby. Pediatric surgeon Shaw says doctors who administer DPT shots should give explicit warnings to parents not to let reactions to DPT shots lead them to abusive behavior. But Donoghue and University of Utah doctor n , another prosecution expert in the Carey trial, testified that there is an overwhelming consensus among doctors in the field that although a DPT shot can cause fevers, which can lead to seizures, there is no causal link between DPT shots and the bleeding symptoms associated with shaken babies. PLANTING DOUBT Krakora's defense was more subtle than a direct assertion that the bleeding and neurological injuries were caused by the DPT shot. He argued that suffered from a previous neurological condition that mimicked shaken baby syndrome, which was discovered and misdiagnosed as shaken baby syndrome after 's adverse reaction to the DPT shot. 's medical history was Krakora's best ammunition in instilling a sense of reasonable doubt in the shaken baby syndrome diagnosis. First, at birth, had respiratory problems attributable to his delivery by Caesarean section, and he was given oxygen. Second, from the time of his birth, the ratio of 's head size to body size was so high, it was " off the charts " in terms of what is considered normal. The Careys and their pediatrician, Durga Gaviola of South Plainfield, had discussed the possibility of a CAT scan to determine whether the head size was caused by an abnormality, but the scan was never performed, Gaviola testified. Third, at the age of 2 months, had been hospitalized for three days because of uncontrollable, projectile vomiting. Gaviola testified for the prosecution that none of 's previous problems indicated he had a neurological problem that could have caused bleeding in the brain. But during cross examination of Gaviola, questioning of his own expert witness on DPT vaccines, Mark Geier, and in his openings and summations, Krakora trumpeted the notion that all the problems should have been a tipoff that should not have been given the DPT shot. Doctors are almost universally insistent on administering such shots, particularly because pertussis, better known as whooping cough, is usually fatal. But there are side effects to the vaccination, and Shaw says doctors are cautious about giving DPT shots to children with some conditions, particularly children who are subject to seizures. Krakora presented evidence that 's medical history particularly his head size and his hospitalization for projectile vomiting 3 months before his seizure made him a bad candidate for the DPT shot. And the evidence of cranial bleeding that looked like shaken baby syndrome symptoms could have been caused by a number of other causes, such as pressure on the brain. After the acquittal, Krakora said his largest fear was the damage done to his case by pediatric ophthalmologist Engel. There was no strong medical evidence on the defense side to refute the tests that showed retinal bleeding, that most conclusive evidence of shaken baby syndrome. " I was surprised that the prosecutor didn't make more of that testimony in her summation, " Krakora says. Crowe declines to comment. For Carey, the acquittal is worth more than vindication. He has regained custody of and he has been reinstated, with more than a $100,000 in back pay, as a Union County police officer. An open question is whether a malpractice action could be brought. Given Krakora's victory on the theory that a pre existing condition, exacerbated by the DPT shot, could have been diagnosed if a CAT scan had been ordered, doctors could be a target of such a suit. But so could 's father. After all, there was plenty of evidence and the standards of proof are a lot easier in a civil trial that suffered from shaken baby syndrome at the hands of his father. Krakora declines to comment on the possibility of future litigation. ===================== Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 Subject: SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME AND DPT From: Bronwyn Hancock -bronwyn@... Here is an article published in Australian Doctor Weekly on 12th February, 1999 (pg 56), in the " Law in Practice " section of the magazine. It is a milestone in the fight to get justice to prevail for this to be broadcast like this to doctors all over the country. (Lets hope they bother to read it!!) Ah, this is only a taste of much bigger things to come!.... DOUBT OVER SHAKEN BABY Strange Cases by Dr Maree Bellamy How reliable is medical evidence related to shaken baby syndrome? The UK manslaughter case involving Australian nanny Louise Sullivan has highlighted the syndrome, but a US case casts doubt over its diagnosis.... A US lawyer has successfully used the defense that a DTP vaccination was responsible for what prosecutors claimed was shaken baby syndrome. Carey was tried for causing brain damage to his five-month-old son by shaking him violently. Now three, is severely developmentally delayed. No one saw Carey shake the infant, and no one testified that he was not a good father. But the medical evidence presented by the prosecution suggested that shaking was the only possible cause of 's injuries. The " New Jersey Law Journal " reported that a Hunterdon County jury found Carey not guilty of the allegations. The results have fuelled debate over the reliability of shaken baby syndrome diagnoses as evidence in criminal cases. On 22 March 1996, Carey was at home, off duty from his job as an officer in the Union County Police Department, when he called an emergency medical team. His son had experienced a violent seizure, Carey told the ambulance officers. The boy was taken to Hunterdon medical Center and later to Wood University Hospital. Three pieces of information that emerged during the ambulance officers' attendance later became relevant. First, Carey was asked whether he had shaken the baby. He said no. Second, Carey told them had received a DTP shot earlier in the day. Third, one of the workers found Carey's behaviour suspicious. Unlike most parents who refuse to let a sick child out of their sight, Carey refused to go to the hospital with . Instead, while the team took to the hospital, Carey waited at home until his wife arrived from work, then they went to the hospital together. Notes made by the ambulance team and one of the first doctors who examined mentioned Carey's reference to the DPT shot, but within a couple of days consensus emerged among the doctors who examined and investigated the child. Although Carey did not die, he exhibited the bleeding and neurological damage associated with classic shaken baby syndrome, the prosecution said. In 1996, a family court judge transferred custody of to a relative of the Careys and ruled that could never be alone with his parents-even his mother, who insisted her husband was innocent. The defence focused on the DTP shot, which had been administered earlier in the day of 's seizure. For years, medical experts have been observing a relationship between shaken baby sundrome and DTP vaccinations, but the medical basis of this link has never been properly established. Prosecution experts in the Carey trial testified that there was an overwhelming consensus among doctors in the field that, although a DTP shot could cause fevers which could lead to seizures, there was no causal link between DTP shots and the bleeding symptoms associated with shaken babies. It was argued that had a previous neurological condition that mimicked shaken baby syndrome, which was discovered and misdiagnosed as shaken baby syndrome after 's adverse reaction to the DTP shot. At birth, had respiratory problems attributable to his delivery by caesarean section. From the time of his birth, the ratio of 's head size to body size was so high, it was " off the charts " in terms of what is considered normal. The Careys and their paediatrician had discussed the possibility of a CAT scan to determine whether the head size was caused by an abnormality, but the scan was never performed. At the age of two months, was hospitalised for three days because of uncontrollable, projectile vomiting. On the basis of these medical factors, it was alleged should not have been given the DTP shot. It was argued that cranial bleeding could have been caused by several other causes, such as pressure on the brain. Carey has regained custody of and has been reinstated as a police officer with more than $100,000 in back pay. Given the victory based on the theory that a pre-existing condition, exacerbated by the DTP shot, could have been diagnosed of a CAT scan had been ordered, it is now possible the doctors treating earlier could find themselves embroiled in litigation. (Dr Bellamy is the editor of Law in Practice and a practising GP) ============================================ Some sites with info... http://hometown.aol.com/ohnoapr/myhomepage/index.html http://www.access1.net/gtmail/ http://www.jps.net/tumnus/karenanderson/ http://www.famvi.com/index.html http://www.mjbovo.com/AbuseLinks.htm#nine http://www.wrongfullyaccused.org/ http://www.the-facts.com/ http://www.shadow-net.com/ http://www.firedocs.com/familyjustice/index.shtml http://www.fathermag.com/news/1790-fake-rape.shtml ALSO sometimes truths are not told..... While I could not stress enough that as a mother I am heart and incensed when children are taken from mothers, I also care more for truth in the false allegations, many of which are laid at the feet of therapists and " sex-abuse validators " who have one job or no pay. There are too many fathers behind bars or forever without their children because someone misused reporting of alleged molestation--or " accepted " the word of a validating " expert " or hired that person primarily to CREATE such a report--to take too swiftly any claim of the same ... ......Some of the people who share these stories, if one comes to know others in their lives and gain a fuller picture, totally and absolutely BELIEVE what they are saying so that they, like the younger children who repeat " stories " which are provably not so, are not altogether " lying " in the sense of intent anyway. In telling the mother yesterday about my concern for a double whammy, her tenuous battle to be free of an MSbP label far from over, I tried to be clear that NCADRC deals with attorneys and others handling FALSE ALLEGATIONS of child abuse or neglect so that we are not usually able to deal with those which are apparently valid when, all things considered, we find ourselves at cross concerns if not purposes (re justice). Barbara Barbara , Communications Director, NCADRC P. O. Box 8323, Roanoke, Virginia 24014 USA 540/345-1952; Fx: 540/345-1899; Email: BH@... (National Child Abuse Defense & Resource Center; Toledo, Ohio-based: 419/865-0513; Fax: 419/865-0526 website: www.falseallegation.com) (Re: MSbP, see also: www.stop-abuse.org, click on " Plugs " at Press material) ================== Visit original page at LineOne: http://www.lineone.net/cgi-bin/loadcontent.pl?page=/cgi-bin/drecgi/express/00/ 06/26/news/n0240-d.html DOCTORS' CHILD ABUSE THEORY THAT IS TEARING FAMILIES APART By Lucy ston and Calvert Scores of families are being torn apart by doctors using a highly controversial psychiatric theory to diagnose child abuse by parents. A growing number of children are being taken into care after their parents are accused of Munchausen's by proxy-creating illnesses or disorders in someone else to gain medical attention. Two leading consultants in the field, Professor Southall and Dr s, have recently been suspended after allegations they falsely accused families. (BB Note: They have been suspended since Dec. 99 and remain under investigation in several official and professional inquiries in UK as well as individual actions by affected families.) Such is the concern that a support group, Dare to Care, has been set up to help parents. It has assisted 50 families who say they were wrongly accused. All but six-who are still fighting-have now been cleared. Founder Penny Mellor said some parents are blamed for undiagnosed illnesses in their offspring. Children can be taken away because they display problems that could have been caused by other factors such as an adverse reaction to drugs or routine vaccinations. She said: " This is legalised kidnapping. It devastates the lives of parents and the children it seeks to protect, who are often put into a loveless and sometimes abusive care system that churns out dysfunctional adults. " In one case a mother was accused of breaking her child's bones. She later proved her son had brittle-bone disease. In another a four-year-old boy was put on the at-risk register after the mother was accused of trying to suffocate him and burn his skin with corrosive. She later proved his breathing problems and blisters were caused by a severe allergy to foods and chemicals. Some parents are accused of causing behavioural problems. In one, a pregnant woman and her two hyperactive sons were locked in a psychiatric unit and videoed 24 hours a day for four months at a cost of £100,000. The woman later proved her sons had a severe form of autism and a neurological malfunction, attention deficit disorder. In a similar case two children aged 12 and 13 were taken into care because of violent and unruly behaviour and now claim they are being physically abused by care staff. A police investigation has been launched into the allegations. The phrase " Munchausen's by proxy " was coined in 1977 by Professor Roy Meadow. It was popularised by Professor Southall in the Beverly Allitt case, in which a nurse was jailed for killing four babies in her care and trying to murder nine others. Perpetrators are said to fit a profile. However, some experts say many of the characteristics of this could apply to non-abusing parents. They include showing an " unnatural " interest in the child's health, trying to be a perfect mother and even denying they are abusers. Once a case gets to court doctors only have to demonstrate that on the balance of probabilities a parent is abusing a child. Pragnell, a social care consultant, said that once accused, families stand little chance. " The system is stacked against them, " he said. " Parents often have to face a legal system, social services and police who all work hand in hand with each other. " © Express Newspapers, 2000 ===================== http://www.offspringmag.com/highlights/excerpts.cfm?story=shots Offspring Magazine JUNE/JULY 2000 Who's Calling the Shots? By Walecia Konrad with on Ginsburg When , a mother in Northern Cambria, Pennsylvania, took her daughter Brittany to the doctor at four months, she'd already fallen behind in her immunizations. So the pediatrician's nurse suggested a quick fix: They'd give the baby girl both doses of her DTP shot (for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis), which are routinely administered at two-month intervals. balked. " Isn't there a reason they space them apart? " she asked. When offered instead to bring her daughter back one month later, the nurse called the doctor in. Despite her protests, the pediatrician gave her daughter the second shot anyway. stormed out of the office, vowing to find another doctor. When she didn't come back for her next scheduled visit two months later, she got a call from the pediatrician's office. An apology? Hardly. The staffer warned that she'd be reported to child services for neglect if she didn't get her daughter vaccinated properly. " The doctor is the one who should have been reported, " fumes . " She didn't want to deal with anyone who asked any questions. " Threats? Harassment? Over childhood immunizations? There was a time-not so long ago, either-when vaccinations were a simple, routine part of child care, as nonconfrontational as diaper changes. And there's no denying that vaccines have been one of the major medical triumphs of the last forty years: Smallpox has been eradicated, and both polio and diphtheria have been all but wiped out in the Western Hemisphere. It's estimated that before 1963 there were as many as 4 million cases of the measles and 500 deaths from that disease annually in the U.S.; in 1999 there were just 86 occurrences. The Hib vaccine has helped stem the number of cases of Haemophilus influenzae type b-once the leading cause of childhood bacterial meningitis and postnatal mental retardation-from 20,000 a year in the early '80s to 54 in 1998. But vaccines have become the subject of a fierce debate between a growing cadre of anti-vaccine activists and the medical establishment. The activists claim that vaccines can, in fact, hurt children-causing brain damage, autism, even death-and they want to allow parents to opt out of the mandatory immunization schedule and to improve the safety of the shots children get. " Parents have a right to informed consent-to get all the information and then make a decision, " says Dawn , founder of Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education (PROVE). Doctors and public health officials, by and large, have reacted with patronizing dismissal, characterizing advocates as a fringe element- " misguided folks " peddling " misguided information, " as one doctor says. Then last summer there was a flurry of news that brought attention to the anti-vaccine case: Safer versions of two core vaccines-DTP and polio-were put on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's schedule, a move that backhandedly acknowledged the activists' claims. After that came the rotavirus debacle, in which the new vaccine, supposed to guard against a severe form of childhood diarrhea, was found to cause life-threatening bowel obstructions in infants. Just nine months after introducing the vaccine, the Federal Drug Administration recommended that it be pulled. As rotavirus made headlines, more and more parents began wondering what was going on. If the doctors had made a mistake this time, maybe they didn't really know that much after all. Maybe we should all be worrying about immunizations. Suddenly, the vaccine safety movement had gone mainstream. Where does that leave you? Most likely in your pediatrician's waiting room, wondering how seriously you should take the anti-vaccine claims and whether your doctor is (a) really up on this debate and ( telling you all you need to know about the side effects of the twenty-four shots of vaccine your child will likely get over the next four years. The vaccine whirlwind starts literally at birth, when many hospitals inoculate infants against hep-atitis B, an incurable disease that causes severe liver damage, but one that is usually transmitted sexually. By your baby's two-month checkup, he's due for an onslaught of shots: a second dose of hep B and the first shots for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis; polio; and Hib. Just watching the needles piercing your infant's thigh is painful. Whatever happened to the polio vaccine we drank from a cup as kids? That's the one the CDC took off its vaccination list last year, after vaccine safety advocates spent years publicizing what the government already knew: The tiny number of polio cases occurring annually in the U.S. were actually caused by the oral vaccine, which contained the live virus. By the time of your child's four-month well-baby checkup, you're full of questions. Your son ran a slight fever after his last shots-a common minor reaction. But do you need to worry? Like many parents, you turn to the Internet for reassurance. Your search only raises your anxiety. At the National Vaccine Information Center's Web site (www.909shot.com), for example, you read about a Swedish study of 215,000 children who received the DTP shot. One in 17,000 either died from a reaction or ended up with permanent brain damage. The CDC site (www.cdc.gov/nip) says, " The risks of serious disease from not vaccinating are far greater than the risks of serious reaction to the vaccination, " but how are you to judge the real danger to your child? It doesn't help that all your Web surfing has landed your name on a couple of e-mail lists. Your inbox is full of dire messages with scary subject lines like " The Damning Evidence That the Medical Establishment Has Chosen to Ignore. " One, headlined " Dirty Vaccines, " implies that vaccines made with bovine material might be carrying mad cow disease. Every doctor visit is starting to feel like a game of Russian roulette. Meanwhile, your son, now one year old, is due for his first measles-mumps-rubella shot, and frankly, you're terrified. This is the vaccine that some activists claim is linked to the skyrocketing incidence of autism in the U.S. and Britain. Scientists dispute that there's any such connection, but what if . . . ? FOR THE COMPLETE STORY PICK UP THE JUNE/JULY ISSUE OF OFFSPRING AVAILABLE ON ================== Re: Shaken Baby Syndrome Regina v- Warren Walters, Supreme Court of New South Wales Criminal Division No. 70031 of 1996 - Australia s Law Firm, where I am employed three days a week (as a para/legal) acted on behalf of the father in the above Shaken Baby Syndrome Murder Trial in April 1998. As soon as I heard my firm was acting for the father, I endeavoured to place the link with vaccination and helped the Solicitor in charge and subsequently the Barrister. I have been researching vaccine damage for legal claims for the past eight years and s have had three successful workers' compensation claims in New South Wales and presently have two common law actions on foot. Two doctors in Australia who are very experienced on the subject of vaccination (both GP's one of whom is retired) gave evidence on behalf of the father. I knew them both personally so it wasn't difficult to obtain their services. The father was subsequently found not guilty, but I wonder if this would have been the case had I not had a background in vaccine research and not been working at s at the time. I believe that it is important to obtain very extensive medical documentation of the baby prior to death to establish the health of the child particularly the health following any vaccinations and any adverse reactions. The detailed documentation should include birth records/medical reports etc. and any subsequent visits to medical practitioners/copy record cards etc. It is also important to have a very extensive report following death from a forensic pathologist. The 72 hour period prior to death is very important and a detailed chronology should be obtained from father/mother/other person who came in contact with the baby detailing every minute of those 72 hours. Lengthy statements should be taken from everyone who had contact with the baby from birth to death particularly in regard to health issues including vaccination. It was obvious in the Walters case that vaccination was a contributing cause with the baby having other underlying medical problems. Rikki Lee Walters had hepatic mitochondrial abnormality, andibiotic use in the neonatal period, cytomegalovirus infection causing pneumonia, poor feeding and fluid intake causing a depletion in glutathione, multiple antigen vaccination administered while she was suffering a significant viral infection, adverse reaction to the vaccination. I can provide a copy of the full Judgment of Acting Judge Black handed down on 24.4.98 if anyone is interested. I will be attending the NVIC conference in Washington in September and will take copies of this judgment with me for those who may want one. My travel arrangements following the conference are to travel to Canada (Montreal) on 11.9.2000, Quebec City, Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver, San Francisco-Home 4.10.2000. The full details of the Australian Shaken Baby Case is detailed in my book - Vaccination-The Right Choice? released in Australia in February this year. Whilst the book concentrates on Australian conditions, there is considerable information from US and UK. The US information was provided to me by a law firm in the US and was obtained under freedom of information and I believe that this information has not been disseminated to the public previously. I would be happy to bring copies of the book to the NVIC vaccination conference if you feel anyone would be interested in purchasing a copy. I am presently assisting Alan Yurok who is in jail in Florida for shaken baby syndrome and was able to put him in touch with one of the GP's who gave evidence in the Walters case. I would be pleased to hear from you in relation to this matter and willing to assist those charged with shaken baby syndrome as much as I can . Sincerely, Maureen Hickman, Para/Legal s Law Firm Auburn, Sydney, NSW Australia personal e-mail: acii@... PO Box 274 Ettalong Beach NSW 2257 Australia. ============== UK MOTHER CONVICTED OF DOUBLE MURDER OF JUST VACCINATED INFANTS Belkin wrote: This mom was convicted by a UK jury of murder on the basis of some supposed expert saying the odds of 2 kids dying in similar circumstances are 73 million to one. The next to last paragraph reveals the common link in the children's deaths-they were just vaccinated. What is the matter with the medical profession? Why don't they investigate the obvious link in situations like this instead of persecuting the parents? I'm going to work on calculating the odds of two kids in the same family dying within 24 hours of vaccination so the right ones go to jail-vaccine manufacturers. November 28 1999 NEWS REVIEW http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/resources/aboutuscont.html?19533625 3362#COPYRIGHT Sally is in jail for killing her two baby sons, but her father, a retired policeman, insists the court got it wrong, reports Margarette. SHADOW OF A DOUBT Eighteen days ago Sally was convicted of the double murder of her baby sons, and Harry, born a year apart and each destined to live no more than a few weeks. The 35-year-old lawyer, who once appeared to be the woman with everything-a high-flying job as a solicitor, a £250,000 house in Cheshire's stockbroker belt and a devoted husband-got her first taste of prison life within 24 hours of arriving in the hospital wing of Styal women's jail, where she was sent for assessment. Another prisoner, frustrated at being separated from her own children, smashed a plastic cup into 's face, leaving her with two black eyes. It was not a staggeringly violent attack-the woman who carried it out later apologised-but it is unlikely to be the last. faces many years inside a prison system where child killers are regarded as the bottom of the heap, prey to the attentions of the vicious or deranged. Does she deserve this fate? The 10 jurors who brought in a majority verdict of guilty after two days of deliberation at Chester crown court clearly think so, but 's family and legal team insist the case was a miscarriage of justice. As the jury pronounced its guilty verdict, 's husband stood up and opened his arms in a gesture of astonishment. He has pledged to stand by her, come what may, utterly convinced of her innocence. The thought that cold-bloodedly murdered two of her babies is appalling. But the thought that she might not have done so, and is a bereft mother now serving a double life sentence for a crime she did not commit, scarcely bears thinking about. It is a difficult case, and is hardly the most sympathetic of characters. After the trial it emerged that she had a history of depression and drink problems. One would expect her family to rally round. Her father, speaking for the first time about her case, is a former senior policeman with years of experience dealing with the criminal courts. And medical experts who examined the evidence also have misgivings about the verdict. What is troubling is that was convicted without the cause of death of either baby being definitively established. The trial opened with the assertion that Harry, who died in January 1998, was a victim of shaken baby syndrome, and that both babies had been subjected to abuse, even though when died, in December 1996, his death was ascribed to a respiratory infection, that is, natural causes. When the " evidence " for shaking was challenged, it was suggested that one or both babies might have been smothered, or even strangled. The prosecution said there were too many coincidences: both babies died at approximately the same age, at the same time of evening; both were alone with , and found in her bedroom. The odds against a double cot death in this sort of family were said to be 73m to one. The strongest aspect of the case against , therefore, was the very human assumption that lightning doesn't strike in the same place twice. was brought up in Wiltshire, where her father, Lockyer, was chief superintendent of the southern half of the county. Her teenage years were blighted by her mother Jean's eight-year battle against breast cancer. died shortly after her daughter went to university. Despite this, her father says they have " many, many happy memories " of family life. " We were enormously proud of Sally. Let's face it, the policeman's daughter, like the vicar's daughter, has to be that little bit better than everyone else and she never put a foot wrong. " After Southampton University, joined a finance house in London and met her husband, a solicitor. was keen to have children, his wife apparently less so, wishing she could have a few more years to establish herself in her career. But at 32, with time ticking on, she fell pregnant with . " She suffered depression, yes, and drink was one of the escape routes, " says her father. " Losing her mother so young was very hard on her. After died she sought professional help. What she had was not a drink problem, but a bereavement problem. She was never the sort to have gin on her cornflakes, but she did have a problem and she tried to deal with it. Sally is a compassionate person who loves children. If people could see the preparations she made for her babies, her sheer joy at having them, they would never believe she could do them harm. " Eleven weeks after was born, while her husband was away on business, she left the baby one evening in his Moses basket by her bed while she made a cup of tea. When she returned he was " this dusty grey colour " . Her panic was such that it was all the emergency team and hospital staff could do to contain her while they attempted to resuscitate the baby. The pathologist who carried out the autopsy on was concerned about marks on his legs-though the hospital staff had not noticed any bruising-and a split in the frenulum, the tissue that links the upper gum to jaw. These were put down to aggressive resuscitation attempts and the cause of death was attributed to an infection in the respiratory tract. Just over a year later, Harry died in a chair next to his parents' bed while was downstairs, making his eight-week-old son a bottle. Harry's autopsy was carried out by the same pathologist, who was now suspicious. He found several apparent injuries, including bleeding near the spinal cord and, crucially, bleeding in the retina of the eye, a marker for death by shaking. Meanwhile, new research from New Zealand said traces of blood in the lungs could indicate smothering. 's lung samples were looked at again, and traces were found. The case went ahead, based upon the supposition that Harry had been shaken to death and smothered. Before she came to trial, gave birth to a third child, a one-year-old boy now in care. As the trial drew near, a last-minute drama was taking place. One of the experts who had backed up the claim of retinal bleeding began to have doubts and said he had been looking at the wrong slides. In a crucial meeting two days before the trial, he conceded that there were no retinal haemorrhages, seriously undermining the original pathologist's belief that the baby had been shaken to death. The other injuries, such as the spinal cord bleeding, were also highly questionable, the defence said, and as likely to be due to childbirth as child abuse: Harry's had been a rapid delivery. A damaged rib was said by the defence to be a post-mortem injury. " I wonder if the case would have been brought if the spectre of shaking had not surfaced early on, " says Phil Luthert, professor of pathology at London University, who examined the retinal slides. " The evidence does not support shaking. I worry about a system where juries are expected to make a decision on complex, conflicting medical evidence. " Suddenly, 's death, originally the weaker case, became the strong one. But the assertion that he was smothered is also questionable. It is practically impossible to disprove suffocation, which sometimes leaves no sign at autopsy. But neither are traces of blood in the lungs proof; they are routinely found in the lungs of children who have suffered a cot death, where there is no suspicion of foul play. As for the one in 73m chance, we are talking probabilities here, not actualities. The figure was said to equate to one such double tragedy every 100 years. The Foundation for the Study of Infant Death estimates that there is at least one multiple cot death every year. Indeed, one of the risk factors for cot deaths in families is having suffered a previous cot death. Asked in court if she had murdered Harry, replied tearfully: " Absolutely not. No. Absolutely not. He was so precious. I loved him to bits and I didn't harm him in any way. I didn't harm my little baby. I loved both of them, more than anything. " A nanny who worked for the s said after the trial that she still believed they were very caring and genuine people. The family's health visitor saw as " a normal, caring, delighted mother " . Both boys were vaccinated, the day before and Harry on the day of his death, so both were seen by health professionals who noticed nothing amiss. On Friday, was brought back to Chester crown court to be formally given two life sentences. Outside the court, her husband reiterated that the " nightmare " would not be over until he was able to clear her name Copyright 1999 Times Newspapers Ltd. This service is provided on Times Newspapers' standard terms and conditions. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material from The Sunday Times, visit the Syndication website. ======================================== Extracted from Nexus Magazine, Volume 7, Number 6 (October-November 2000) or November-December 2000 in the USA only. PO Box 30, Mapleton Qld 4560 Australia. editor@... Telephone: +61 (0)7 5442 9280; Fax: +61 (0)7 5442 9381 From our web page at: www.nexusmagazine.com © by Maureen Hickman © 2000 PO Box 274 Ettalong Beach, NSW 2257 Australia Telephone: +61 (0)2 4342 5294 Fax: +61 (0)2 4342 5379 E-mail: acii@... Throughout history, mankind has been plagued by infectious diseases. With the advent of modern biochemical antibiotics, many of these To loving, caring parents, the act of child abuse is abhorrent. However, it must be recognised that child abuse has occurred in the past and inevitably will occur in the future. Medical professionals have the unenviable task of establishing, by applying sound medical practice and scientific evidence, if child abuse has in fact occurred. Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) was described in medical literature in the early 1970s (1) but was recognised as a form of severe child abuse as far back as 1860. (2) It is a collective term for internal head injuries which a baby or young child may sustain from: (a) being violently shaken (child abuse); ( a combination of medical problems exacerbated by a serious vaccine adverse event; © a lone serious vaccine adverse event. According to New Scientist, (3) researchers may be on the way to identifying a biochemical signature that can help distinguish between brain injuries caused by accidents and those resulting from violent abuse. Whilst this research may identify SBS, it may not identify underlying medical problems which have been exacerbated by a serious vaccine adverse event or a lone serious vaccine adverse event. Unless sound scientific evidence is initiated swiftly to diagnose the difference, parents could find themselves in the position of a father in Sydney, Australia, who in 1995 was charged with the murder of his child. THE TRAGIC DEATH OF RIKKI LEE WALTERS Warren Walters was charged with the murder of his four-month-old baby daughter, Rikki Lee Walters, by allegedly shaking the baby to death on 22 April 1995. Rikki Lee was born on 23 January 1995 at 41 weeks' gestation. The apgar scores (the scale, from 1 to 10, upon which a baby's physical health is judged) were 8 at one minute and improved to 9 at five minutes. She was vaccinated on 19 April 1995, 72 hours prior to her death. Vaccines given were triple antigen (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis), Hibtiter (Haemophilus influenzae), hepatitis B and polio syrup. The transcript of an electronically recorded interview between the police and Warren Walters is significant: Q: Did she have any medical problems which you were aware of any time in between those two visits to the doctors? A: Oh, we were worried about her chest, 'cause she was, um, breathing a bit heavy and like, we took, the doctor said she's just got a cold. Q: When did the doctor say that? A: When we took her to, um, get her needles and that, she was... Q: So, you were worried about her chest when you took her to the doctors. A: Yeah, we were; her chest was, since she was born, like she had a...she caught a cold, and, you know, through the month...through, like, the second month, she's caught a cold and it hasn't gone away; it was just...her breathing was just heavy. The transcript of the police interview with the mother is also significant: Q: Did Rikki Lee receive any vaccination? A: Yeah; the other day it was her two-month-old needles, 'cause she had a cold when they were due; ones for polio, hepatitis B, measles and mumps, all that type of thing. Q: Did Rikki Lee have diarrhoea? A: No. Q: Did she have vomiting? A: She's always been a vomity baby after she is fed, but no more than usual. Q: Did she have cold symptoms? A: She's had a snuffly chest and nose, she had a really bad reaction to the needles. She only had them on Wednesday; she had a runny nose since this. [Author's emphasis in italics.] The fact that Rikki Lee had a bad reaction to vaccination was also noted by the police in the " Report of Death to the Coroner " , dated 23 April 1995: " The deceased received two-monthly injections on Wednesday 19.4.95 on her three-monthly period because she had been sick. The deceased then suffered a bad reaction to the injections; however, the mother did not return her to the doctor. [signed by constable.] " It is noted that the medical practitioner said the following in a statement to police: " I cannot recall this consultation; however, it [is] my usual practice to observe the child and ask general questions as to the child's health. If the child had been obviously unwell with fever, the vaccination would not have been ordered. Further, the child did not appear to have any physical injuries or [to be] suffering from neglect; and if the child had been, I am aware of the guidelines in relation to [my] contacting the Department of Community Services. The child received the vaccinations from nursing staff, as this is usually the normal practice at the centre. " [Author's emphasis in italics.] We know that the child was ill because both parents alluded to this fact when giving police statements. Did the medical practitioner give adequate information to the parents on the risks and benefits of vaccination so an informed decision could be made? The father alleged that the medical practitioner, in a consultation lasting three to four minutes, did not take any notes of the consultation, did not examine the child for contraindications to the administration of a vaccine, did not question the parents on the health of the child, and did not explain the risks and benefits of vaccination. If the medical practitioner did not recall the consultation, how could he remember whether there were any physical injuries or whether the child was suffering from neglect? Remember, the doctor took no notes according to the parents. The doctor made the statement: " If the child had been obviously unwell with fever, the vaccination would not have been ordered. " We know, however, that the doctor admitted only to observing the child, so how could he make a diagnosis of whether the child had any contraindications for the administration of the six vaccines? The Australian Immunisation Procedures Handbook (4) is distributed by the National Health and Medical Research Council to give medical practitioners guidance about vaccination and to encourage them to maintain the highest standards in the provision of vaccination services. The 5th edition of this handbook, distributed in October 1994, is very clear on the issue of consent and advises practitioners that informed consent must be obtained from the person being vaccinated or, in the case of a child, the child's parent or guardian. The handbook advises that consent should be obtained prior to each vaccination, after the recipient's fitness and suitability have been established, and that the person being vaccinated or the parent/guardian should be informed of all possible side effects. It does appear that the medical practitioner in this instance was clearly negligent because he did not follow government guidelines in the provision of vaccination services. He did not establish Rikki Lee's fitness for vaccination correctly, as she was subsequently found to have been suffering from viral pneumonia. Seventy-two hours later, disastrous results emerged from his carelessness. Following this vaccination, Rikki Lee slept for 10 & endash;11 hours on Friday night, 21 April 1995, the night before her death. Was this " excessive somnolence " ? This is defined by O. Behan, Professor of Neurology at Southern General Hospital, Glasgow, as " a state of drowsiness " and is an adverse reaction to vaccination. (6) He wrote: " Albeit, this may be difficult to quantitate but, normally, mothers will be aware that the child will be difficult to arouse, will not take its food, and most mothers will note that the child is sleeping excessively. " According to the transcript from an additional police interview, Warren Walters was asked about feeding details on the day Rikki Lee died: A: ...she only, she didn't have it; she wouldn't have been two minutes; she was on the bottle and she just... Q: About two minutes on the bottle? A: Yeah. Q: And what, she wasn't interested in the food? A: No, no. The father admitted that Rikki Lee, following the administration of the vaccines, had shown signs of excessive drowsiness, projectile vomiting and diarrhoea, had not been taking the full amount of her formula and was on continual doses of Panadol every six hours. DOCTORS CALLED BY CROWN LEGAL TEAM In the case of Regina v Warren Walters, (5) heard by Acting Judge Black in the NSW Supreme Court in April 1998, the Crown called three expert witnesses: a forensic pathologist, a paediatrician and a neuropathology professor. The forensic pathologist reported: " There were no fractures of the skull; subdural haemorrhage was present diffusely across the superior surface of the right cerebral hemisphere. There was no evidence of bruising of the neck. There were no fractures of the rib cage. No digested food was seen in the intestine and there was minimal faecal material within the colon. An X-ray skeletal survey was performed, and no evidence of old or recent trauma or other bony disease was seen. " Acting Judge Black commented on the forensic pathologist's testimony in his Judgment: " Examination of the fixed eyes noted haemorrhages around both sides of the optic nerve and diffuse retinal haemorrhages... There was laryngopharyngitis and moderate microvesicular steatosis present in the liver... Cytomegalovirus was isolated from a nasal swab. She said that cytomegalovirus was a viral pneumonia which she would not expect to cause death but would expect to cause something like a bad cold, maybe bronchitis... She was not able to say how long Ricki Lee had been suffering from viral pneumonia. " The microscopic examination of the subdural haemorrhage told her that the haemorrhage occurred within around 12 hours prior to Ricki Lee's death. " The forensic pathologist determined that the direct cause of death was subdural haemorrhage occurring up to approximately 12 hours prior to death. No antecedent causes or other significant conditions that may have contributed to the death were listed. In cross-examination, the following questions and answers were put and given: Q: And first of all, it is the case, is it not, that there is some controversy within the medical profession about this whole issue of shaken baby syndrome? A: Yes. Q: There are those who would debunk the whole idea completely? A: There are certain people that say that shaking alone is insufficient to cause injuries, that there must be impact as well; and there are others that say that the shaking is sufficient. The paediatrician, Chairman of the Child at Risk Committee at Westmead Hospital, Sydney, reported: " The clinical and pathological findings are almost certainly the result of a violent shaking injury to the child in the short time prior to her death. " Slightly later in his report, he said this: " The only other possible explanation for a spontaneous haemorrhage into the brain would be some form of haemorrhagic disease such as vitamin K deficiency in the neonatal period. I understand that she did receive her vitamin K injection and this would virtually rule out this possibility. " In his Judgment, Acting Judge Black commented on the paediatrician's findings: " In the course of his evidence, the paediatrician had said that he felt strongly about his position and I asked him to clarify what he meant by that. He said it was not because he was trying to make out that he was zealous about the matter; it was just that because of the range of injuries within the brain, he felt it was consistent with violent shaking, way out ahead of any other possibility; in terms of percentages, something like 99 per cent, something like that. " He was not aware that the child had been vaccinated about three days before her death. " He says that the presence of cytomegalovirus would not be a contraindication for immunising the child. He said the current advice is that immunisation should be done unless there is a particularly serious illness. " In relation to the microvesicular steatosis found by the forensic pathologist, he [paediatrician] did not refer to it in his report. He said in relation to it: 'It is not something I think I could comment on, but I think I was concentrating largely on the injuries that were documented but it is obviously important in the context.' 'Q: When you say you cannot comment on it, are you saying you cannot comment on microvesicular steatosis?' 'A: Yes, I would have to be told what that is. I don't know what that is.' " I am surprised [said Judge Black], in view of those answers, that the paediatrician felt able to be as positive in his conclusions as he was. " A neuropathology professor also gave evidence for the Crown. Commenting on his testimony, Acting Judge Black wrote in his Judgment: " Injuries are consistent with the child having been shaken. He was asked, 'Would it be possible for a child to have received these injuries and to appear normal to a number of adults over a period of hours?' A: 'Yes.' When asked to put a time frame on this, he said, 'The injuries could have happened twenty-four to forty-eight hours prior to the arrival of the ambulance on the Saturday night'. He was unaware that the child had been vaccinated three days prior to the death. He noted the presence of cytomegalovirus but that did not cause him any concern, nor did he see any relationship between that and the vaccination. " He did not consider whether scurvy was a problem and said, 'Scurvy is a diagnosis that...again I am no [more] expert on the clinical aspects of vitamin deficiencies than I am on the vitamin aspects of brain problems, but scurvy does not normally cause any brain pathology'. " It was clear from the medical evidence tendered that the subdural haemorrhage was the cause of death and was probably less than 24 hours old. The retinal haemorrhage would have occurred near the time of death and could have been caused by resuscitation. In other words, there were two instances of haemorrhage allegedly caused by the baby being shaken. DOCTORS CALLED BY DEFENCE LEGAL TEAM Two medical practitioners were called on behalf of the defence in the case of Regina v Warren Walters. Dr Mark Donohoe, MB, BS, gave the following testimony (7): " The contributing and unusual factors in this case do make it difficult to attribute the intracranial bleeding to a single cause. The range of contributing and potentially causative factors include: hepatic mitochondrial abnormality (as evidenced by the microvesicular steatosis of the liver); antibiotic use in the neonatal period; cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection causing pneumonia; poor feeding and fluid intake causing a depletion in glutathione; multiple antigen vaccination administered while she was suffering a significant viral infection; adverse reaction to the vaccination; the use of paracetamol to manage her high temperature; nutritional deficiencies, including vitamins K and C. " This is an extract from Acting Judge Black's Judgment concerning Dr Donohoe's testimony: " In summary, his [Dr Donohoe's] report focuses on the moderate microvesicular steatosis present in the liver, found by the forensic pathologist. He says this condition arises from an inherited or acquired disorder of hepatic mitochondrial function. This was either inherited by Rikki Lee from her mother or caused by a toxic drug reaction. This type of hepatic damage would be expected to cause coagulation and bleeding disorders. In his view, the administration of an antibiotic when Rikki Lee was eleven days old, the presence of the cytomegalovirus infection, the administration of the vaccines, the administration of Panadol and possible vitamin deficiencies all combined to the possible sudden onset of spontaneous bruising and bleeding in a previously apparently healthy child. " He disagreed with the forensic pathologist's evidence that the steatosis of the liver was consistent with viral infection from the cytomegalovirus. He said the literature and research in the last five years had been fairly definitive that microvesicular steatosis is a mitochondrial disorder. " I [Judge Black] have considered the forensic pathologist's evidence about this carefully, and on this issue I am not satisfied that Dr Donohoe is wrong. " Dr Archie Kalokerinos, MB, BS, well-known (retired) general practitioner and author of the book Every Second Child (8), also gave evidence for the defence. This is an extract from his testimony: " A possible cause of Rikki Lee's death was scurvy haemorrhage precipitated by pertussis vaccine. " The precipitating factor giving rise to scurvy is the endotoxin contained in pertussis vaccine, and the amount of endotoxin varies tremendously from one batch to another. In addition, endotoxin is more likely to be stimulated in production because bottle-fed babies do not have normal bowel flora. Also, the administration of antibiotics can stimulate the production of excessive amounts of endotoxin. Vitamin C neutralises the effects of endotoxin; however, infants exposed to endotoxin can develop a sensitivity which can precipitate extremely acute and even fatal symptoms occurring without warning. " The presence of a viral infection means more utilisation of vitamin C and probably causes the production of endotoxin in the gut. All the factors necessary for the production of scurvy haemorrhages are present in this case. " Regarding Dr Kalokerinos and his evidence, the Acting Judge noted: " He said from his own experience and from the research he had done, haemorrhages can occur in scurvy. The haemorrhages noted by the forensic pathologist could all have been caused by scurvy. The vitamin deficiencies and problems arising therefrom are far more common amongst Aboriginal and part-Aboriginal children than amongst Caucasian people. (It is noted here that the accused's evidence was that he was Aboriginal.) He says, in the present case, the vitamin C deficiency was a very likely possibility, 'much more likely than any other possibility'. He disagreed with the professor's evidence that scurvy did not normally cause any brain pathology. " It will be remembered that the professor had disclaimed any expertise in vitamin deficiency. Further, the professor had not said that scurvy could not cause any brain pathology; the words he used were 'does not normally cause'. Accordingly, I am not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that scurvy cannot cause brain pathology. " Acting Judge Black, in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Criminal Division, in handing down Judgment on 24 April 1998, said: " In relation to those two doctors [i.e., doctors for the defence], I had the opportunity of seeing them both give their evidence and be carefully and comprehensively cross-examined in the witness box. I have also paid attention to the written submissions provided to me by the respective counsel. I did not form the view that either of those doctors was putting forward a fanciful, untenable proposition. Perhaps, putting the burden the correct way, I am not satisfied that their evidence should be rejected as unreliable, nor am I satisfied that their propositions are unreasonable. " ...Suffice it then to say, in this case, having regard to all the evidence before me including, in particular, that given by witnesses whom I have seen, my verdict is that the accused is not guilty. " [Author's emphasis in italics.] An innocent man would have been jailed in this matter if the Judge had not found that the medical practitioners for the defence were presenting reasonable propositions for alternative medical reasons, including a vaccine adverse event, rather than SBS for the death of the baby. Other accused parents have not been so fortunate. COMPARISON WITH SBS/VACCINE CASES IN UK & USA In the United States, a father has been jailed for life after a jury found him guilty of causing SBS. Baby A. (9) was born in September 1997 and vaccinated eight weeks later with diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (DTP), hepatitis B, polio syrup and Hib (Haemophilus influenzae)--exactly the same vaccines that were administered to baby Rikki Lee. It is interesting to note that Baby A. had advanced bilateral pneumonia, whilst Rikki Lee was diagnosed as having viral pneumonia. Both mothers noted that their babies had chest congestion from birth to death and had a falling-off of feeding patterns and increased lethargy following the administration of vaccines. Clearly, the medical condition of both babies following birth should have precluded them from undergoing any vaccination, and especially not six vaccines at the one time. It is obvious that the babies in the two cases mentioned had underlying medical problems that were exacerbated by the administration of multiple vaccines and that a vaccine adverse event contributed to each death. The post-mortem findings on Rikki Lee found subdural haemorrhage of the right cerebral hemisphere and retinal haemorrhages were noted. In the case of Baby A., the findings found subdural haemorrhages of the right and left cerebral hemispheres as well as retinal bleeding. It is also interesting to note that both mothers had urinary tract infections during pregnancy and were treated with antibiotics. The father of Baby A. is fighting for his life and is presently seeking sufficient worldwide medical expertise to file an appeal. Many medical professionals around the world have responded to his request for support, including Dr Archie Kalokerinos who gave evidence in the Walters trial. Another tragic case in the United States is that of a mother who has been jailed for life for allegedly shaking her quadruplets. The naturally conceived quadruplets were born two months prematurely, weighing around three pounds each. When the babies were three weeks old, they were given hepatitis B vaccine--following which, all four babies became ill and required hospitalisation. Two babies ultimately required insertion of shunts in their brains to release blood and fluid as a result of subdural haemorrhages. Immediately the babies were hospitalised, the medical professionals made a diagnosis of SBS. These four babies are now scheduled for adoption and the maternal grandmother has been dismissed by state authorities as a possible candidate. In the United Kingdom, a 35-year-old lawyer was recently convicted of the double murder of her baby sons. died in 1996 and Harry in 1998. Sally was accused of shaking Harry to death. Because of that accusation, it was alleged that it was too much of a coincidence to believe that did not die in 1996 in exactly the same way, even though death at the time was attributed to " natural causes " . Harry was diagnosed with retinal haemorrhage; however, one medical expert prior to the trial had doubts about this diagnosis, as he claimed he had been looking at the wrong slides. This disclosure weakened other medical experts' evidence of SBS, but it was not sufficient to sway the jury from a verdict of guilty. was vaccinated 23 days before his death, and Harry on the day he died; so it is feasible that both of these babies could have died from a severe vaccine adverse event (10). There was a divergence of medical opinion at the trial of Sally as well as at the trial of the father of Baby A. The question must be asked whether juries are capable of understanding complex, conflicting medical evidence empowering them to judge a person's guilt or innocence in such cases. It is interesting to note that in the Australian case of Walters, a Judge alone found the defendant not guilty. ACCURATE CASE ASSESSMENT It should be noted that SBS may not always result in the death of a baby. In New South Wales recently, parents of a child suffering a serious vaccine adverse event were suspected of SBS. The baby has been removed from the care of the parents and placed with a Department of Community Services (DOCS) foster parent. The law in New South Wales (11) gives representatives of DOCS the right to attend on the residential address of any parent suspected of abusing children. A notice (12) is served on them to present their child forthwith to a nominated medical practitioner at a hospital or some other place so specified so a medical examination of the child can take place. Under the law, the Director-General of the Department of Community Services may keep the child for " such period of time as is reasonably necessary for the child to be examined " . A court of law will ultimately decide the fate of the baby, i.e., whether the baby would be returned to the care of the parents or whether it would be fostered out to family or other carers. Following a hearing, it is possible that the court could refer the matter to the police. The situation may then arise where a person is charged with a criminal offence (SBS), even though the injuries to the baby may well have been reported to the appropriate authorities by that person as a serious vaccine adverse event. It is clear that the diagnosis of SBS requires meticulous medical investigation. This investigation will be made much more difficult in the future with the recent endorsement by governments around the world of hepatitis B vaccination of all newborns. As more vaccines are released onto the market, the number of serious vaccine adverse events--including death--will increase in our children and at a younger age. The problem is the failure of medical professionals to recognise that vaccine adverse events do occur and that they are guilty of labelling them " coincidental " or " by chance " (13). In Australia, six deaths (14) have been reported from vaccines in the 27-month period from 6 June 1997 to 2 September 1999. Because of the under-reporting and under-recognition of such events, it is likely that death and other serious injuries occur in much higher numbers than the public has been led to believe. In other words, it is more politically correct to label the death or injury of a baby as SBS than to investigate the safety and effectiveness of vaccines which are considered by governments and the majority of the medical profession as the only panacea for the treatment of infectious diseases. Clinical trials prior to licensure of vaccines are notoriously small, and this inhibits researchers' ability to establish accurately the cause and effect relationship between vaccines and serious adverse events. Vaccine trials are usually funded by vaccine manufacturers themselves and are unlikely to quantify accurately the true " risks vs benefits " ratio, lest it reflect on sales and marketing strategies. What is seriously lacking is independent scientific research with large numbers of trial participants, where one half is given the vaccine and the other half is given a placebo. Dr Mark Donohoe, the Sydney medical practitioner who gave evidence for the defence in the Walters trial, was very explicit in his SBS research when he said: (15) " There exist major data gaps in the medical literature regarding SBS. These are summarised as: -Lack of clear definition of cases. There is an urgent need for standard criteria, to identify certain cases for the purpose of homogeneity in trials and identification of the unique features of SBS as opposed to other abuse, other medical conditions and normals. - Lack of useful and specific laboratory or other markers proven to identify SBS. -Poor definition and quantification of the social and family risk factors to provide guidance on likelihood of abuse for a given set of circumstances. -There is a strong need for a checklist or other diagnostic or management tool to assess cases and to quantify index of suspicion of shaking. A paper in the British Medical Journal (16) concluded: " Subdural haemorrhage is common in infancy and carries a poor prognosis; three quarters of such infants die or have profound disability. Most cases are due to child abuse, but in a few the cause is unknown. " [Author's emphasis added.] The authors of the paper believe that the clinical investigation of such children should include: -a full, multidisciplinary, social assessment; -an ophthalmic examination; -a skeletal survey supplemented with a bone scan or a skeletal survey, repeated at around 10 days; -a coagulation screen; -a computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. However, according to Dr Mark Donohoe: " There is an urgent need for properly controlled, prospective trials into SBS, using a variety of controls. Until such studies are complete, published and replicated, the current opinion on the link between SDH/RH and SBS cannot be sustained. " RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE LEGAL AND MEDICAL PROFESSIONS The correct diagnosis of Shaken Baby Syndrome is a problem for those being accused of this syndrome around the world. The cases mentioned are only a small number that have occurred over the past few years. It is hard to imagine the distress, confusion and despair suffered by the accused and their families, especially those who have been jailed for life for a crime they claim they did not commit. Juries and lawyers rely heavily on what medical experts tell them. If medical experts are guilty of grossly misleading a court of law by providing skewed evidence from inadequate medical research on SBS, then innocent individuals are suffering unnecessarily. Let us hope that the SBS medical experts comprehend that they are not infallible and realise the untold human tragedy that can occur if they are wrong. Glossary The key terms in the identification of SBS are alleged to be (17): -Cerebral oedema: fluid collecting in the brain, causing tissue to swell. -Haematoma: a localised accumulation of blood in tissues as a result of haemorrhaging. -Haemorrhage: a condition of bleeding, usually severe. -Retinal haemorrhage (RH): bleeding of the retina, a key structure in vision located at the back of the eye. -Subdural Haematoma (SDH): a localised accumulation of blood, sometimes mixed with spinal fluid, in the space of the brain beneath the membrane covering called the dura matter. END NOTES: 1. Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine (Olendorf, Jeryan, Boyden, editors), Gale Research, Detroit, MI, vol. 4, 1999, p. 2604. 2. " Abuse and Neglect of Children " , Textbook of Pediatrics (Behrman, Kliegman, Jenson, eds), W.B. Saunders Co., Philadelphia, PA, 2000, 16th edition, chapter 35, p. 113. 3. Baker, Mitzi, " That was no accident: Biochemical markers could one day help identify battered children " , New Scientist, 28 November 1998, p. 21. 4. The Australian Immunisation Procedures Handbook, National Health and Medical Research Council, 5th edition, October 1994 and revised 5th edition, 1995. 5. Regina v Warren Walters, Supreme Court of New South Wales, Criminal Division, No. 70031 of 1998. 6. Behan, O., MD, FACP, FRCP (Professor of Neurology, Glasgow University, Scotland), " Report on the Neurological Complications of Pertussis Vaccination in Children " , August 1995; and letter from Professor Behan to Sydney solicitors, dated 13 October 1993, regarding a vaccine damage claim. 7. Dr Mark Donohoe's research on Shaken Baby Syndrome, prepared for the case of Regina v Warren Walters, heard in Sydney, Australia, in 1998. 8. Kalokerinos, Archie, MD, Every Second Child, Pivot/Health Books/Keats Publishing, CT, USA, 1981 (first published by Australia Ltd, 1974), ISBN 0-87983-250-9. 9. Information provided to the writer by the father of Baby A. in written correspondence and history, taken by Harold E. Buttram, MD, and F. Yazbak, MD, of the Woodlands Healing Research Center, Quakertown, PA, USA, dated 25 May 2000. 10. Driscoll, Margarette, " Shadow of Doubt " , Sunday Times News Review, UK, 28 November 1999. The article reports that was vaccinated on the day before his death; but Dr Viera Scheibner has learned that the boy was vaccinated 23 days before he died--one of the critical days, according to her studies linking SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) with vaccinations. 11. New South Wales Children (Care and Protection) Act 1987, No. 54. 12. ibid., section 23, pp. 30-31. 13. The Australian Immunisation Procedures Handbook, 7th edition, March 2000, pp. 22, 259; also, Drs Gordon Ada and Isaacs, Vaccination: The Facts, The Fears, The Future, & Unwin, Sydney, 2000, pp. 91, 94, ISBN 1-86508-223-6. 14. Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care, Communicable Diseases Intelligence Bulletins: 21(20):313, 2 October 1997; 21(23):364, 25 December 1997; 22(7):146, 9 July 1998; 22(10):234, 1 October 1998; 23(1):34, 21 January 1999; 23(9):255, 2 September 1999. 15. Dr Mark Donohoe's research on Shaken Baby Syndrome, prepared for the case of Regina v Warren Walters, ibid. 16. Jayawant, S., Rawlinson, A., Gibbon, F., Price, J., Schulte, J., Sharples, P., Sibert, J.R., Kemp, A.M., " Subdural haemorrhages in infants: population-based study " , British Medical Journal 317:1558-1561, 5 December 1998. 17. Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, op. cit. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Maureen Hickman, JP, has been a para-legal in Sydney law firms for over 25 years and currently works part-time at s Law Firm. She is the author of Vaccination: The Right Choice? (reviewed in NEXUS 7/04, June & endash;July 2000). EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional background information, refer to " Shaken Baby Syndrome: The Vaccination Link " by Viera Scheibner, PhD, published in NEXUS 5/05, August & endash;September 1998. ============ From: Schafer [mailto:schafer@...] Sent: Friday, June 16, 2000 5:00 PM Karp Subject: Abusive Fla. DCF Sued for $501 million ABUSIVE FLORIDA DCF SUED FOR $501 MILLION On Wednesday, June 7,2000, a $501 million dollar civil rights class action suit was filed and accepted in the United States District Court, Middle District of Florida, on behalf of families who allegedly have been victimized by the practices of the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) and the Juvenile courts. Attorney Dowd, of Orlando, filed the 24-page suit on behalf of over 13 families and 50 minor children, including several from Okeechobee County. Named as defendants in the action are the Florida Department of Children and Families, Judge Kathleen Kearney, the Juvenile Court System, DCF attorneys Bernstein, Swartz and Gillen, Attorney General of the State of Florida Butterworth, DCF case workers , Dickinson, Suarez, and Akins. In addition are listed Judge Kerry Evander and Judge Burton Conner. Also included in the suit are the guardian ad litem director, the Indian River Juvenile Facility and the inspector General for the State of Florida. The suit alleges that the state engaged in a systematic process by which the families, parents, children and citizens of the State have been terrorized, traumatized and torn asunder as well as deprived of their fundamental rights without due process of law. The suit continues by stating that the motivation behind this system oppression is federal funding. The state receives over one-fourth of it's annual budget from the federal government. In the fiscal year ending in 1999, the state received over $10 billion from the federal government, of which the greatest share was for " human services. " This amount is four-and-one-half times greater than that provided for education, and six times greater than funding for transportation. The suit contends that Florida's child welfare laws, as currently written and applied by the defendants, have been enacted specifically for the purpose of qualifying for that federal funding. According to the court document, in accordance with the federal statutes, funding is increased in direct proportion to the number of children who can be brought within the juvenile courts, foster care and the compulsory adoption system. LAWSUIT CLAIMS PARENTS ARE PRESUMED GUILTY, DENIED DUE PROCESS OF THE LAW. The law explicitly calls this " freeing children " from their parents for adoption. Among the examples listed in the filing regarding the denial of due process includes allegations that the defendants flagrantly violated Florida Statute section 39, which contains the framework upon which DCF operates. It continues by stating that under current federal and state law parents are not permitted to know who has reported them to the state for alleged violations of child welfare laws. Once the parents are accused, they are presumed guilty, and the burden is placed upon them to prove their innocence, said the lawsuit. In addition, the suit states that the juvenile courts are closed to the public and since they are a " star Chamber " due process can be abused with impunity. As you can see I have been very busy here, and hopefully we will nail some thirty Judges very shortly. Among them, Walter Colbath, and Ron Hoy, from Palm Beach County. =============================== salon.com-July 12, 2000 MOTHERHOOD ON TRIAL I thought dealing with my sick child was bad. But then I was reported to Child Protective Services for neglect. By July 12, 2000-My son wasn't gaining weight. At 4 months old, he weighed 13 pounds, 4 ounces, more than double his birth weight. But then he just stopped growing. Not an ounce. had gained wonderfully on breast milk alone for four months, so when his pediatrician told me to start feeding him formula, I was confused. After receiving a second opinion, my husband and I switched to a pediatrician who supported breast-feeding. A simple blood test revealed that 's nutritional status was sound. I continued to nurse with frequent reassurance from a lactation consultant. We began supplementing 's diet with solid foods and quickly moved to table foods. was eating bigger meals than his 3-year-old brother was, but his weight stayed the same. The doctors and I spent months speculating on the cause of his illness: growth disorders, obscure diseases, chemical contamination. I checked off each possible cause on my ever-growing list, but nothing fit. Finally, in May, the doctors detected a heart murmur. The same day the murmur was found, surprised us all with a gain of a few ounces -- golden ounces of hope. As troubling as the heart murmur was, at least it represented a baby step toward an explanation. slowly gained a few ounces every week, but he still wasn't even on the growth chart. But I had a new problem. I was being investigated by Child Protective Services for neglect. It was June. My husband and I had just ended an 800-mile drive home from a visit to a metabolic specialist, and we were exhausted. The test results had come back negative. Late that night, as we attempted to pull ourselves together for the next day, the telephone rang. My husband's voice began to change as he spoke to the caller. He handed me the phone and said, " Your Aunt Dee called Child Protective Services. " My mother was on the other end of the line. She told me that her sister had spoken to numerous family members about my son. The relatives I had visited in Oregon had told Dee that I looked underweight, anxious and defensive. They were right. We had just driven 14 hours to take our son to a specialist, and I was exhausted. My mother tried to comfort me by telling me everything would be all right. I told her she couldn't possibly know. After I hung up the phone, my husband and I stood next to our sleeping son's bassinet, shocked by what we'd just learned. Our situation looked suspicious. I realized that my insistence on breast-feeding could be misunderstood. Dee had just received her nursing license. This overzealous aunt, someone who had never even met my son or seen my home, had made a call that would change our lives forever. From her tower of judgment 1,300 miles away, she drew conclusions. To her, a rare disorder wasn't as plausible as neglect. Without even speaking to me about her concerns, she had called Child Protective Services, and told someone there that she believed I wasn't feeding my son correctly. When she had learned that I had transferred 's care to a pediatrician who supported breast-feeding, she was sure I was purposely depriving my son of the " proper " nutrition. I expected a visit from a social worker the next morning. After two days, and no new information, I called CPS myself. I demanded to speak with the person who was handling my case. When I got her on the line, I explained that I knew about my aunt's referral and wanted to know what was coming next. She laughed and said she had never had an accused parent call her and offer to come in for an evaluation before. " I have been wrongfully accused, " I said, " I want to clear this up. " We set up an appointment for that day. In the caseworker's office that day, began to fall asleep in his car seat. I tried to answer all of her questions about 's health, but I couldn't give her a good reason as to why he wasn't gaining weight. She began to ask me about my own health. " You look like you are underweight. Why is that? " she asked. I explained that I'd always been a thin person, and after suffering from a bad stomach virus, I had lost some weight. She took notes and asked for my doctor's name. I gave her a list of phone numbers to call. The numbers were of doctors and social workers I had met during my pregnancy, the people who had helped me successfully prevent another preterm birth. I listed friends and family, La Leche League members, nurses who were at the delivery of my son. " Call them, " I said. " Call them and ask them about me and my family. " As I was leaving, I began to fight back tears of anger. Why did I have to explain myself to this stranger? How could she possibly have the power to decide if I was a good parent? Then I began to get frightened. had slept the whole time. I should have awakened him and let her see him crawling and playing. Would she think he was lethargic, weak and passive? She noticed my anguish and put her hand on my shoulder. " I am not going to take your children away, " she said. I wanted to believe her. But she had spoken about my greatest fear as if she were offering a passing comfort -- one she makes every day. Then she asked me to sign legal release forms allowing her to obtain records and documents from any person or agency that had had any contact with our children -- doctors, nurses, preschool teachers. The background check began the minute I left her office. Despite the support of my doctors, and of friends and family who saw my son on a regular basis, CPS continued its investigation behind closed doors. During the first few months of the investigation, I received calls from people on the list that I had given my caseworker. " I just talked to CPS, " they'd say. Each new call provoked new questions: Had CPS gathered enough information? Would it close my case now? My motherhood was being scrutinized under the assumption that I was guilty of not caring for my child -- and it was breaking my heart. During the six long months of the investigation, I stared at my front door, frightening myself with images of ominous officials breaking through the door and ripping my children from my arms. I loitered by my mailbox, waiting for something, anything, from the CPS office. began to have problems again. But this time, his health was not the issue. He had developed a case of " white-coat syndrome " -- he was terrified by the doctors and weekly weigh-ins at the clinic down the street. CPS had instructed me to take my son to the clinic when the investigation began. But it could give me no idea when I could stop subjecting him to this weekly ritual. About three months into the weigh-ins, I called my caseworker and explained that my son was now crying when we pulled up to the clinic in the car. When I placed on the scale, he would grab my hair and hold on for dear life while his older brother stood by, crying and yelling at the nurse, " Why are you hurting my brother? " We would all leave the clinic in tears, even though 's improved weight would be dutifully noted on the small piece of paper I held in my hand. " Just a few more times, " my caseworker said. had to see the pediatrician once a month. He would seem to be in good spirits while playing with the toys in the waiting room, but as soon as the nurse called his name, the screaming began. His doctor is a wonderful man -- patient and caring. He and I would sit for nearly an hour, distracting while he tried to sneak the stethoscope on his back to listen to his healing heart. Most times, he didn't weigh him. I would bring in my little record of weight gain from the clinic instead. When had gained about 5 pounds, the doctor " graduated " him to yearly visits. " I don't want to see this boy again until he is 2, " he said, smiling. I thanked him tearfully. But the weekly weigh-ins continued. Every month I called my caseworker to ask if we could stop. Each call was more difficult. I was afraid she would interpret my request as a sign that I was hiding something. Each time, she'd say: " Just a few more times. " I began looking for a therapist. But every time I set up an appointment, I canceled it at the last minute. I was afraid CPS would see my therapy as a flaw, as evidence that I was not emotionally fit to be a parent. I was stuck in a cycle. The more CPS leaned on us, the more fearful and irrational I became. And the more I showed my emotions to those around me, the more suspicious I looked to CPS. Finally, in November, just three months after 's first birthday, my caseworker called. She had been contacted by the nurse who was in charge of 's weigh-ins at the clinic. The nurse told her that, in her professional opinion, subjecting my family to this traumatic weekly ritual was setting us up for a severe obsession over 's weight. She said that she no longer wanted to be involved in our case because it was too painful to watch. She told her that it was not healthy for me to worry compulsively about whether or not my son had gained a few ounces each week. My caseworker talked to her supervisor and informed me that once reached 20 pounds, we would be released from the clinic visits. He weighed 19 pounds, 11 ounces the day the nurse called. Because was gaining rapidly, I went to the clinic for what I believed would be my last time. The nurse told me of her conversation with my caseworker, and smiled as she assured me it would all be over soon. Then we began our small talk as I undressed for the scale. He had been crying, and now gave in submissively. We talked about how he had suffered from the horrible cold that was going around. I wiped his crusty nose and we placed him on the scale. She had the scale marker ready at his previous weight. The scale didn't tip. I looked at the nurse in terror. She took my hand and, with her other hand, slowly moved the scale marker backward. had lost 5 ounces. I started sobbing. In my mind, this was all the evidence CPS needed to take him from me. I called my caseworker's office when I got home; I was going to be the first to tell her. I would also be the first to dare her to take my children away from me. But she wasn't there. Her receptionist informed me that she was on a weeklong vacation. I hung up the phone and called the nurse at the clinic. " Free up Friday, " I said, " we are going to weigh him again before she gets back. " She tried to comfort me: " Every child loses a little weight during an illness, " she said. We were not going to let it affect the case -- not when we were so close. On Friday, we weighed again. The scale read 20 pounds exactly. The nurse and I embraced. When I got home, I went into the bathroom, picked up our scale and calmly carried it to the garbage bin in the driveway. It was over. I received a letter in the mail from CPS about two weeks later. It stated that " no conclusive evidence of neglect was found at this time, but we suggest you continue to follow our recommendations for six more months; your cooperation with our office will be taken into account should we receive another referral. " I tried desperately to allow the letter to be a comfort, but instead, it was a direct reminder that no matter how well I care for my children, no matter how wonderful a parent I am, I have been investigated by CPS. And no matter what I do, I cannot prevent it from happening again. salon.com-July 12, 2000 ABOUT THE WRITER is a freelance writer living in Montana. Her work has appeared in Pregnancy Today and Parenting Magazine, among other publications. ============================== MEDICAL MANDATES IN AIDS salon.com-December 7, 1999 BREAST INTENTIONS When others make comments about your breast-feeding ... A Canadian court must decide whether Sophie Brassard must give her children a drug cocktail or lose them to a foster home. By Alyson Mead 12/07/99 Sophie's choice A Canadian court will decide whether Sophie Brassard must give her children a drug cocktail or lose them to a foster home. By Alyson Mead Sophie Brassard, a 37-year-old single mother in Canada, is scheduled to fight in a Montreal court today for the custody of her two children, 4 and 8. She wants them back. The state wants them placed in permanent foster care. The reason: Brassard, who is HIV positive, has refused her doctor's advice to treat her children, both of them HIV positive, with the drug AZT. She believes it will kill them. Though the Canadian government has not formally charged Brassard with any crime, it removed the children from her care in July, when she was detained at the Montreal airport while trying to leave the country with her kids. In the course of her custody hearing, the court is expected to decide, for the first time in Canada, whether the state has the power to mandate medical care. The decision, even though it will come from a Canadian court, is expected to have significant impact in the U.S., where parents who withhold medical treatment from their children, often for religious reasons, have found themselves in court with no legal precedent to guide their arguments. Their opponents struggle in the same void, as decisions tend to vacillate on a state-by-state, case-by-case basis. Dr. Seth Asser, an associate clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of California at San Diego's School of Medicine, finds the overall emphasis of court rulings in the United States to be " consistent " with his opinion. As a board member of Children's Healthcare Is a Legal Duty (CHILD), his mission, and that of the group, is to " protect children from abusive religious and cultural practices. " " Sometimes the parents have religious reasons, or an adherence to folk medicine to prevent medical care for diseases with viable treatments, " says Asser. " But when the reasons are capricious, like wanting to use herbs that haven't been scientifically tested, the courts generally say that the parents are free to make martyrs of themselves, but not their children. " But more and more often, these battles specifically involve HIV and treatment with antiretroviral drugs -- in utero, in breastfeeding and later in a child's life. Religion, folklore and herbs don't often figure into these arguments and the outcomes have been as unpredictable as the effects of the disease and its still-controversial treatments. In a custody hearing held in April in Eugene, Oregon, an HIV-positive mother was told by the court that she could not breastfeed her son, who is HIV negative. She was allowed to keep the baby in her home, but he is technically in the state's custody. In a mildly farcical arrangement, a social worker visits once a week to make sure the child is not breastfed. Meanwhile, in a case last year that is likely to be cited in Brassard's hearing, Emerson, a mother in Bangor, Maine, won the right to withhold AZT from her second child after her firstborn, who had been on the drug, died just before her 4th birthday. Though no formal ruling was made about whether the drug killed the girl, Emerson believes that it did and she prevailed in the hearing. (Her son, who still has not taken AZT, is currently healthy.) The relative merits of AZT, a drug developed 30 years ago as a form of chemotherapy and later found to be potentially effective against the spread of AIDS, will be on trial in Brassard's hearing. But so will her rights as a parent of a sick child. The issue of parental prerogative when a child is gravely ill has fueled years of impassioned and confusing debate in Canada and the U.S. In Brassard's hearing, as in every trial that has pitted parents against doctors and child advocates, each side will claim the same motivation -- saving the lives of ailing children. " Mentally, I was preparing myself to go to my children's funerals, " says Brassard. " There were times when I wanted to kill myself, but then I realized I had to keep fighting, for the sake of their health. " Ridiculous, says Dr. Mark Wainberg, president of the International AIDS Society in Canada and the inventor of antiretroviral drug 3TC. He maintains that Brassard and other " AIDS dissidents " are comparable to Holocaust deniers. They are, he says, " ill-informed, confused individuals who either do not or cannot understand the issues involved. " Brassard, who found out she was HIV positive in 1989, says that she was both healthy and well-informed when she became pregnant in 1992. She was aware that the chance her infant would be HIV positive was roughly 25 percent in a vaginal birth and 10 percent if a Cesarean was performed. She decided to have the baby. She also wanted to give birth with the assistance of a midwife. But when her sister found out that Sophie was not planning to have a doctor present, she called Youth Protective Services. Brassard was in the middle of labor when five men -- a social worker, a Youth Protective Services administrator, a doctor and two police -- entered her apartment and forced her to go to the hospital. Immediately after the birth, a pediatrician came into the room and took the baby away from Brassard for its first formula feeding. When Brassard said she wanted to breastfeed, her physician protested; but Brassard was permitted to nurse the baby for a year and a half. Brassard avoided the first battle -- over breastfeeding -- primarily because her child was already HIV positive. It is generally believed that HIV can be transmitted to an infant through breastfeeding, and mothers who are HIV positive are advised not to nurse. But not all studies have supported this notion. Brassard and her supporters point to the results of a recent South African study, published in the Lancet in August, which concluded that HIV was not necessarily passed through breast milk. Researchers from the Department of Pediatrics and Child Health at the University of Natal hypothesized that the immune factors inherent in breast milk can work to " neutralize " HIV. When Brassard's first child began losing weight at 18 months, her social worker insisted that she take him to a doctor who would prescribe treatment with AZT. But Brassard, who favors homeopathic treatment and believes in self-healing, said no. Ultimately, she compromised with the social worker by taking her son to a homeopathic doctor. That doctor saw her son once a month for close to a year, but when the child developed a fungus in his mouth, the doctor gave her an ultimatum: Take the child to a specialist or get reported to Youth Protective Services. Brassard panicked. Firm in her belief that people who are HIV positive can live long, healthy lives without drugs, she was terrified that a doctor's intervention would harm her child. If she stayed in Canada, the doctors would give her son AZT, a drug she believed would kill him. So Brassard bought two tickets to Italy and, without telling anyone where she was going, left the following morning. She went underground. Despite its widespread use and apparent efficacy against the symptoms of AIDS, AZT has remained a controversial treatment that is routinely rejected by those who choose alternative treatments for AIDS. They cite a 1993 Concorde study, the results of which were subsequently printed in the Lancet, in which patients who took AZT died sooner than those who took a placebo. They also point out that AZT is acknowledged, even by doctors who prescribe it, as having side effects that include anemia, muscle wasting, hair loss, neuropathy, dementia, nausea, diarrhea and other digestive problems. Perhaps the strongest statement against AZT comes from Dr. Rasnick, a developer of protease inhibitors at the University of California at Berkeley and the president of the Group for the Scientific Reappraisal of the HIV/AIDS Hypothesis. Asked about the Brassard case he said, " AZT is a DNA-chain terminator. That means it terminates a person's DNA, which stops cell division, which stops growth and, eventually, all life. If her children are forced to take the drug, " he says, " they won't last two years. " But proponents of AZT say the drug has become more effective in " cocktails " mixed with protease inhibitors. Winslow, who represented the Maine Department of Human Services in the case of Emerson, told the court that AZT had reduced AIDS deaths nationwide by 47 percent last year. And in Toronto, Dr. Philip Berger unequivocally recommends antiretroviral drug treatment for patients who are HIV positive, especially the young. " If the drugs are given to a baby within hours of birth, the odds of it developing HIV can be significantly reduced, " he says. " The odds are even better if the mother also takes the drugs during pregnancy. " Doctors have to be the absolute custodians of children's care, he says. " Once the child is born, " he says, " I think the state has a duty to protect the child from any disease for which a parent is refusing treatment where the benefits are clear. " Brassard says she was aware of all the arguments when she left the country. Using the Internet for much of her research, she found organizations like H.E.A.L. and Alive and Well, two support groups dedicated to sharing information about living healthy, HIV positive lifestyles. She also read articles by Dr. Kary Mullis, a Nobel Prize winner, for his discovery of the polymerase chain reaction, and Dr. Duesberg, who was the first man to map the genetic structure of retroviruses. Both men actively challenge the common thinking that drugs are the best way to treat HIV and AIDS. " I thought I was the only sane person in an insane world, " she says. " But then I found people with Ph.D.s who believed in the same things I did. " Brassard and her son lived outside Rome for two years. She worked odd jobs and says that her 2-year-old boy was happy and healthy. She took him to a doctor only once during that time, for a routine check-up; Brassard herself visited a homeopath as needed. She fell in love and became pregnant again, this time buoyed by the fact that she and her son were both maintaining good health. Eventually, however, her relationship became violent, and she moved back to Canada in 1996. Brassard's second child was born at home under the supervision of a midwife. He tested positive for HIV. Brassard breastfed him and things went smoothly for the next year. After a brief stay in Mexico, to escape the scrutiny of Youth Protective Services, she returned to Canada. Shortly after she arrived, she was turned in to Youth Protective Services by a neighbor. Brassard and her children took mandatory blood tests and her doctor again urged her to put the children on the antiretroviral drugs. Brassard refused to give her children the drugs and took them back to Italy, hoping to resurrect the relationship with her second child's father. It didn't work out and she returned to Canada in 1998. This time, Brassard's father called Youth Protective Services, after her eldest son, who was 7, developed an ear infection. The child was hospitalized and put on antibiotics for the first time in his life. The pressure on Brassard from doctors, nurses and her social worker to put both children on drug cocktails, which included AZT, increased. So Brassard made a decision to leave the country for good. Slowly and discreetly, she sold all of her possessions and sublet her apartment, making sure that her father would not find out. The buyers of her belongings came to collect their purchases the night before Brassard was supposed to depart for Italy. The next day, her apartment was completely empty. Friends had agreed to help Brassard find schools for her kids in Italy and a job that could support all of them. The trio made it to the airport and past the metal detectors without incident. " I remember thinking, whew, we made it, " Brassard says. They were approaching the boarding area when a police officer asked for her ticket. She was detained there until an emergency court could be assembled. Her two children were remanded into the custody of Brassard's parents. Brassard went online and found the International Coalition for Medical Justice, a nonprofit organization created to support victims' rights in cases where they believe coercive medical treatments have been employed. They helped her to find and pay for a lawyer. Meanwhile, Brassard's older child developed pneumonia. He was hospitalized and given intravenous antibiotics, but his condition worsened. The doctors prescribed AZT, 3TC and a protease inhibitor. Brassard's parents raised their concern that the drugs would be too strong for a young child. Brassard's mother, who is a nurse, thought her opinion would carry weight with the medical staff. But in October, after a flurry of court activity, the children were removed from their grandparents' care because they, too, had refused to allow the antiretroviral treatment. Both children, now in foster care, are being treated with a drug cocktail, which includes AZT. Brassard has been allowed one supervised visit each week, in the social worker's office. She is not permitted to speak with the children by phone anymore, since the social worker overheard her telling one of them to flush the medication down the toilet. (He had complained to his mother that he kept throwing up when he took the medicine, only to be given another dose.) Brassard does not know where the children live. She says that during visits, they tell her they want to come home. Since she was caught at the airport, Brassard has lost her apartment and her job. At the moment she lives on public support in Montreal while she takes college classes in international commerce at College LaSalle. She says, " The horror of this is that my kids are now on one of the most toxic drugs in existence. I have to get them back before any permanent damage is done. " salon.com-December 7, 1999 ABOUT THE WRITER Alyson Mead is a freelance writer who lives in Los Angeles. related story: FORMULA FOR DISASTER Thanks to aggressive marketing by the companies that produce artificial baby milk, many new parents think infant formula is the next best thing to Mom -- but nothing could be further from the truth. By Granju 07/18/99 GET OUT OF MY BEDROOM! The editor of Mothering magazine denounces a new warning against the family bed as the drivel of government terrorists. By Peggy O'Mara 09/30/99 ================================= COMPULSORY VACCINATIONS: THE ULTIMATE EXPRESSION OF THE FASCIST STATE? Karin Schumacher on the right to choose: The following article is written in light of the pro-immunization media blitz that has ascended upon the nation. Ostensibly the issue is vaccinations, however, the real issue is Freedom Of Choice. Along with that freedom comes the responsibility to question, research, and decide if vaccinations are prudent for our own child. For some that may be the choice, for others that may not be. It must nonetheless, be the right of each individual parent to make that choice, not a government entity that has no children. What I contest here is the " herd " mentality foisted upon us by the medical community, health department, pharmaceutical companies and the government. Vaccinations must be determined on an individual basis, depending on the history and health of each child and only after a parent is fully informed about the risks of the disease vs. the risks of vaccines. A recent Dallas study concluded that apnea may be a hazard of immunization for pre-term infants. A prospective study of nearly 100 2-month old premature infants showed that 19% had either new or increased episodes of apnea in the 24-48 hours following vaccination with the DPT and HiB conjugate vaccines as found by Dr. Pablo . When I brought my daughter into have her first series of vaccinations at 2, 4 and 6 months, I blindly believed that vaccinations were supposed to protect her. When she had a severe reaction (inconsolable crying for more than 3 hours, an 8 week long knot at the injection site and high fever) to her second set, I was patted on the head by the pediatrician and told pedantically that these reactions were normal and expected. I believed that without question and like a dutiful parent took her in for the third shot. I even remember taking her in for her MMR and thinking rather sanctimoniously to myself how could anyone not vaccinate their children? It wasn't until I read How To Raise A Healthy Child In Spite Of Your Doctor, by Dr. Mendelsohn that I discovered the existence of risks and dangers of vaccinations. I have since read, researched and investigated several other books and articles written by a courageous few who have spoken out against vaccinations. I am a concerned parent who has investigated with an open mind the various facets of vaccinations and have discovered many important facts. A National Vaccine Injury Fund (PL 99-660) was set up in 1986 to compensate those injured by vaccines (To date over 1.1 billion dollars has been paid out in compensation for vaccine injuries). There must be better medical screening for children who may react to a vaccine. (The package insert for the DPT vaccine says: HYPERSENSITIVITY TO ANY COMPONENT OF THE VACCINE INCLUDING THIMEROSAL, A MERCURY DERIVATIVE, IS A CONTRAINDICATION.) A fact sheet given out by CDC asks if the recipient is allergic to > neomycin, streptomycin or polymyxin B (antibiotics) as that might be a > contraindication to the polio vaccine. A parent can't know this if the infant hasn't > had these antibiotics. A child with the MMR vaccine can still get measles according to the Texas Department of Health. (This occurred in 1987 where 96% of the cases were considered non-preventable, i.e. they were fully vaccinated, had a religious or medical exemption or they were born before 1957). This also occurred in 1989 where 72% of the cases were considered non-preventable, i.e. they were fully vaccinated, had a religious or medical exemption or they were born before 1957.). Children vaccinated against Pertussis still contract the disease. (The Chicago Department of Health noted that of 186 confirmed Pertussis cases in Chicago, fall 1993 " 74% were as up to date as possible on their immunizations for their age. " ) Reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, July 94. An infant is subjected to the Hepatitis B vaccine when it supposed to protect against intravenous drug addicts who share unsterilized needles or sexually active people. According to the Public Health Department, the length of the immunity will not be known for years, so a not at risk infant is expected to accept this vaccine with no guarantee that they will be protected at adolescence when it may be necessary. Deadly known carcinogenic toxins (Formaldehyde and Thimerosal) are being injected into 2/4/6 month old infants whose immune system is not fully developed. In fact the FDA has recently concluded and mandated that all vaccines be made Thimerosal-free. Tylenol is given to infants and children when the shot is administered to mask a fever that could show there might be a problem with the vaccine. Informed consent means the parent is given time to read, understand and research the information about the risks and dangers of vaccines; it does not mean getting that information at the same time the shot is administered. Studies show vaccine links to ADD, AIDS, SIDS, CFS, Diabetes, Guillaine Barre, Autism, Arthritis, Lupus, Multiple Sclerosis, Auto immune Diseases and Cancer. Even the chickenpox vaccine has the medical community split. Many pediatricians are questioning the validity of vaccinating for a benign disease which would put the risk of acquiring the disease at a later date when it is much more severe for an adult. Vaccinations do not need to be mandated if they are so professedly beneficial to the public. Perspectively speaking, Texas does not have more serious medical outbreaks of diseases when there is a less than 60% vaccination rate of children under 5 years old. In the past 10 years in Texas there were 11,351 cases of measles and 26 deaths. Also during the past 10 years in Texas there were 1,768 cases of Pertussis and 10 deaths. The Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) collects about 12-14,000 reports of adverse events following vaccinations. In addition, the FDA has conceded that only 10-15% of all adverse reactions are ever reported because the physicians refuse to believe they are vaccine related. VAERS says that the parent can and should report the event, if the doctor refuses. However the vast majority of the public don't know this. The FDA refuses to pull any vaccines off the market in over 15 years even though nearly 700 deaths have been reported to the FDA. The Department of Health uses scare tactics to promote their view. (A bogey man commercial, gun rack symbology and " Shots Across Texas " " NO SHOTS, NO SCHOOL " campaigns). In addition, the Department of Health states one main reason they want early vaccination is purely logistical: it is easier to get infants and kids vaccinated. Even in states such as California that have a Personal Belief Exemption (Philosophical), the vast majority of the parents don't even know there is an option. They are told correctly they are required to vaccinate, but they are not given the entire statute that allows for an exemption. Parents are afraid to experience a relatively minor disease like mumps, measles and rubella which when experienced will confer life-long immunity. An infant receives the exact dose of a vaccine that a 5 year old receives. Jonas Salk, the inventor of the IPV, injected polio vaccine, testified before a Senate sub-committee that nearly all polio occurrences since 1961 were caused by the vaccine and not the wild virus. More physicians who know of the links between vaccines and long term detrimental effects need to speak out. Parents need to know all 50 states have a medical exemption, every state except Mississippi and West Virginia have a religious exemption, and 15 or 16 states have a philosophical exemption. There needs to be a larger public outcry to this mass vaccination program that is infringing on our Freedom Of Choice and that may be doing more harm than good. Parents must be empowered to question their doctors on the dangers and risks of vaccinations. Too many parents are being blindly led into vaccinating their children. More scientific, medical, objective media investigations must be conducted to ascertain the facts that arise out of the vaccination issue. Because of my research I started: Vaccine Information and Awareness 12799 La Tortola San Diego, CA 92129 619-339-5498 (voicemail) 619-484-1187 (fax) via@... (email) http://www.access1.net/via (website) The group has members all over the United States and the world. Many parents have chosen not to vaccinate their children and are afraid of the legal ramifications of Statewide Immunization Mandates and of publicly announcing their choice. Many parents here and across the US have children who experienced severe vaccine reactions and have been compensated by the government, many more have not. Parents voice outrage at not knowing any of the risks or having had the risks downplayed by the medical community. The New Yorker, Money Magazine, The Boston Globe, Mothering Magazine, Vanity Fair, Science, The Lancet, Powter, Caryl and Marilyn show, NOW, 20/20, American Journal, and Crusaders have done articles and shows on the dangers and risks of vaccinations. We also need concerned people to contact their Congressman and Senators, both state and federal to voice their convictions and to demand accountability from the pharmaceutical companies. Thankfully 1999 has been a great year for the government to listen. There have been congressional hearings addressing Anthrax, Hepatitis B, Vaccine Safety v. Personal Choice and the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. This will only change from parents taking charge of their child's health care. Once again, we are not anti-vaccination, we are pro information and pro choice. We need to get this information out to the public and let them know there is another side to this issue. ================================= Some sites with info... http://hometown.aol.com/ohnoapr/myhomepage/index.html http://www.access1.net/gtmail/ http://www.jps.net/tumnus/karenanderson/ http://www.famvi.com/index.html http://www.mjbovo.com/AbuseLinks.htm#nine http://www.wrongfullyaccused.org/ http://www.the-facts.com/ http://www.shadow-net.com/ http://www.firedocs.com/familyjustice/index.shtml http://www.fathermag.com/news/1790-fake-rape.shtml ============================ ZachNPep@... wrote: Todays courier news. www.injersey.com/c-n. In addition to front page article all of page 6 is also about vaccinations. Even lists each shot and the injury covered by vaccine compensation. Jury: Father didn't shake his son Published in The Courier-News 9/2/1998 By SHARON SILKE Staff Writer A jury on Tuesday cleared a Warren County man who was accused of inflicting brain damage on his son by shaking the then 5-month-old baby. Carey was charged in March 1996 with second-degree aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child a week after his son suffered seizures and was rushed to the hospital. Doctors at Wood University Medical Center detected hemorrhages behind the 5-month-old boy`s eyes and determined the cause was shaken-baby syndrome. The baby had received an immunization earlier that morning, which defense attorneys argued was the cause of the seizures and the bleeding behind the boy`s eyes. " I think the weight of the world was lifted from the Carey`s shoulders, " defense attorney Joe Krakora said outside the courthouse in Flemington on Tuesday after the 12-day trial. " They`re extremely relieved and tremendously grateful. " Carey, a former Union County police officer who used to live in Readington, now resides in Washington Township in Warren County. The son, who is nearly 3, is developmentally disabled. It took the Superior Court jury nearly two full days to reach a decision. Jurors returned to the Judge Marilyn Rhine Herr`s courtroom three times to watch videotaped testimony from witnesses from both the prosecution and the defense. Assistant Prosecutor Marcia Crowe could not be reached for comment Tuesday. The baby was born in October 1995, and was first brought to the hospital on Dec. 11, 1995. He was treated for vomiting and irritability, and his pediatrician determined that the boy had a nonspecific viral condition and an allergy to milk. He was brought back to the hospital on March 22, 1996, by paramedics after he suffered a seizure. The boy had received an inoculation a few hours earlier, which witnesses for both sides agreed could trigger a seizure in babies who had suffered head trauma. Vomiting, lethargy, increasing head circumference, seizures, apnea and coma are all symptoms of shaken-baby syndrome. According to medical records, the boy was demonstrating some of those symptoms during his December 1995 visit to the hospital. But Krakora argued that these symptoms also could have been a sign that the boy had some other neurological problem that wasn`t picked up by doctors. Source: The Courier-News Published: September 02, 1998 ================================== NANNY STRIKES A BABY DEATH DEAL By s and AAP The Australian Newspaper 19 jan 99 NANNY Louise Sullivan last night pleaded guilty at London's Central Court to the manslaughter of baby Caroline Jongen. After a morning of last-minute plea bargaining, ahead of the start of Sullivan's murder trial, the Crown prosecutor agreed to reduce the charge to manslaughter in return for a guilty plea by the 27-year-old Australian. Sullivan was charged with murder last September after the death, while in her care, of Caroline in a case which had chilling similarities to that of Louise Woodward, the British nanny whose case became a sensation in the US. Caroline died on April 21 last year, four days after being rushed to Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital in a critical condition. Sullivan was accompanied to court yesterday by her parents. Her trial was due to start at 10.30am London time but was delayed twice before starting almost four hours later - amid strong rumours of the plea-bargaining taking place behind closed doors. The prosecution accepted Sullivan's plea of guilty to manslaughter with gross negligence, saying it could not disprove her lawyer's assertions that a convulsion may have occurred that required her to shake the baby to arouse it. The child carer now faces a minimum four years' imprisonment with parole after two years but the judge has the authority to suspend any sentence. Sullivan has spent the past nine months in hiding, avoiding all media contact and speaking to Australian consular officials rarely and then only through a secret contact. She was initially charged with grievous bodily harm after the baby died from head injuries but the charge was upgraded to murder in July. During committal proceedings, Sullivan pleaded not guilty to murder. At a pre-trial hearing in December, the charge was varied to include the alternative offence of manslaughter. The prosecution had planned to rely on medical evidence and the testimony of the Jongens and some of Sullivan's previous employers in Australia. Lawyers for Sullivan had said they would attempt to disprove the murder charge by calling a team of expert witnesses to show the baby might have died from a pre-existing condition, rather than by shaking, as a coroner ruled. Sullivan, originally of Sydney, has been free on bail since April but has been obliged to remain in Britain. The trial - which had been expected to last up to five weeks - was initially delayed by half an hour to await the arrival of the baby's parents, Marcel and Muriel Jongen. The couple had not been due to give evidence until the later stages of the trial. They are considered to be wealthy high-fliers in the City of London where Dutch-born Marcel Jongen heads finance company Adelphi Capital and French-born Muriel works as a financial analyst. Like Sullivan, the Jongens, who were at their baby's bedside when the life support system was turned off, have refused to speak publicly since the death of Caroline [baby had died shortly after being vaccinated] ============================== SBS CASE FROM AUSTRALIA Date: 10 Feb 1999 From: Bronwyn Hancock (bronwyn@...) Please support Adam and Suzanne-we need to give as many as possible honest, caring, freedom-respecting people the opportunity to be in Parliament. It's all been rather sudden, so at short notice they need to get 200 signatures by THIS Friday in order to stand, and they only have about 100 at the moment (got 35 yesterday), but will be working hard on it over the next couple of days. You may not agree with every policy they've listed, but it doesn't matter- you don't have to give them money or even your vote, just the opportunity! I have attached a zipped version of the form to sign here, in case anyone doesn't have a fax, but does have a printer (and Winzip or similar). By the way, needless to say, we have educated Adam and Suzanne on vaccination-I know them because Adam read Viera's article on " Shaken Baby Syndrome " in Nexus magazine, and contacted her. They took AJ to ine Rose yesterday-the Listen System practitioner on the video-and she is countering the mild vaccine damage that AJ sufferred from his first two lots. So they are informed, and with us 150% (150%? Well they say such non-mathematical things in sport, so why can't I)! -Bronwyn (no subject) Dear , I understand the reason there has not been an outcry from the parents in Florida is because they are afraid they will be next. What they don't understand is that this is being decided in the Florida courts Wednesday 5/3 at 4:30. IT WILL SET LEGAL PRECEDENT FOR THE USE OF SECRETIN IN FLORIDA. If I lose, secretin will legally be child abuse. The doctors who advertise on the net that they give secretin can be gone after and then their records can be subpoenaed. The state has filed a petition for permanent custody. And the group home is discharging because " they can't work with me " Therefore, if I lose on 5/3, my son goes to a foster home, and secretin may be unusable for autism in Florida. Silence is a vote for them. My attorney wants protesters--anyone who can come outside the Broward County courthouse Wednesday afternoon. If no one is there, then they can also keep quiet when they have to go out of state to get secretin. Thanks for any help you can give to pass this along. Cislo Arraignment of Fla. Doctor Mom who Gave Son Secretin, From NLeGendre@... Dear concerned autism parents, I want to update you all on a surprising twist to the Cislo case presently in the FL courts concerning the mom/ doctor who infused her Asperger's son with secretin. Many of you are aware that has been denied visitation rights with her son, effectively loosing custody of because she chose to administer secretin upon her own authority. Because a physician can choose to administer any FDA approved, " off label " drug at their discretion and because secretin is, in fact, a legal, FDA approved drug for GI diagnostic purposes, her actions are entirely legal. An arraignment will take place in the FL courts on Wed., May 3rd (details below). In the meantime, staff members at 's school have filed an additional complaint. They are now claiming that they can't keep in his present placement, specifically because they can't work with his mother, Cislo. Effective in 30 days, a new placement must be made for . If wins her case on 5-3, goes home. If loses, then must be placed in foster care. 's son, , has a co-diagnosis of Bi-polar Disorder, ADHD, and anxiety disorder. The mix with Asperger's is highly complex. This is a child for whom unpredictable change is very definitely a stressor of huge magnitude. writes, " The staff of Kids in Distress was uncomfortable with my son because he was the only child there on a voluntary basis. They are not used to parents who still retain a interest in their children or who still have custody of their children. I insisted on being included in decisions concerning my son's treatment. They felt resentment at having to answer to me, especially when I disagreed with them. They behaved as though they believed my son could not possibly be so ill unless I had abused him or neglected him. " I understand the reason there has not been an outcry from the parents in Florida is because they are afraid they will be next. This is being decided in the Florida courts Wednesday 5/3 at 4:30. It Will Set Legal Precedent For The Use Of Secretin In Florida. If I lose, secretin will legally be child abuse. The doctors who advertise on the net that they give secretin can be gone after and then their records can be subpoenaed. The state has filed a petition for permanent custody. And the group home is discharging because 'they can't work with me' Therefore, if I lose on 5/3, my son goes to a foster home, and secretin may be unusable for autism in Florida. Silence is a vote for them. We need protesters--anyone who can come outside the Broward County courthouse Wednesday afternoon. " Outside Florida: For complete details search: http://www.feat.org/search/news.htm for April 10th Another name/address to include in your letter writing efforts: Judge Kathleen A. Kearney Secretary Florida Department of Children and Families 1317 Winewood Boulevard Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0700 RE: In the Interest of son, d/o/b 2/15/91, In the Circuit Court of the 17th Judicial Circuit in and for Broward County, Florida, Case No. 2000 CJ-DP Legislature's Website: http//www.leg.state.fl.us Please send letters, faxes, postcards, telephone calls, or whatever you feel is appropriate to Florida Governor, Jeb Bush and the presiding judge in this case: Judge: Hon. A Frusciante, Broward County Courthouse, 201 S.E. Sixth Street, Room 910 B, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33301. *** Cislo will be arraigned on May 3, 2000 at 4:30 P.M. in room 910 B of the Broward County Courthouse. Money to cover legal fees can be sent to Dr. Cislo's attorney: Morrie I. Levine, Esq., 2450 Hollywood Blvd., Suite 100, Hollywood, Florida, 33020 tel: 954-925-9000, fax: 954-925-9008. -End Note: Cislo had subsequently been acquited and obtained custody of her son. ================================================ NEW HAMPSHIRE: MOTHER FORCED TO HAVE CHILD VACCINATED Saturday, February 05, 2000 Vaccine Police Force Mother to Have Child Injected According to a recent report from the National Vaccine Information Center, a single mother living in New Hampshire reported that a policewoman, a detective and state social service worker showed up unannounced at her home armed with a court order and forced her to submit her son to a DPT injection. The forced injection came after she had taken her son to the emergency room a few days earlier for a minor burn from a wood stove, and had mentioned that her son had never received any vaccines. The hospital notified state health authorities. A nurse at the hospital had insisted that her son get a tetanus injection and an injection of immune globulin (even though it was not medically indicated because there was no puncture). When the group came to the woman's house, a social worker held down the child while a nurse injected him with DPT toxoid. For several days after the medical assault on her child, the child was hyperactive, " acted like a different child " , could not sleep at night, and within a week he had a fever and was ill. This child had previously been ill twice in his life. The woman, Terra Newton, commented that " I feel like I have been violated and that I am living in a Police State. If it is not my constitutional right to protect my son from this kind of violence, then you might as well throw the constitution out the window. " She is looking for a lawyer to represent her. " I want to take this as far as I can legally go. This is America, not Communist China. " =========================================== Advice to parents regarding allegations of SBS, or other abuse: 1 --- It has happened to many parents. 2 --- they are traceable to a vaccine or prescribed drug. 3 --- you should not appear uncertain about how the death occured. If you have no solid evidence that you caused it, then you must firmly maintain that you did not cause the death. Period. Keep any personal doubts to yourselves, or you may find yourselves being tried for manslaughter and/or lose custody of your other children. 4 --- don't consent to an interview with the hospital, physician, police, cws, or prosecutors without an attorney or a vaccine advocate that knows the pitfalls for unsuspecting parents in these situations. 5 --- you must keep all evidence and be prepared to sue the doctor. Even if you don't sue, you should have an independent (no affiliations with health agency or da) doctor or medical examiner autopsy your baby. Make the results available to a doctor familiar with drug or vaccine induced injuries. 6 --- there may be a point in these proceedings where you may have to go public with your case. I can't tell you if or when. But your shame (which is unwarrented) and wish to keep this incident private only gives the advantage to the other side. Even if you are found innocent, if you don't go on the offensive and charge that the vaccine was the cause of the death, then you will be under suspicion even more if a similar thing happens to any of your other children in the future. State and local child welfare agencies now have you on their list. Whenever you apply for an adoption, or a job involving children, you will likely be denied it. Also, there is no statute of limitations on homocide. At their discretion, the DA may file charges at any time, whether it is murder second degree, or manslaughter 1 or 2. Whatever they think they could prove. 7 --- do not vaccinate any of your other children. I can advise you how to exempt them for school vaccines. Coalition for informed choice. krasner, director Po box 230426, hollis, ny 11423 Fax/phone: 718-479-2939, email: gk-cfic@... " protect your rights! Become an advocate and inform others " =========================================== THE VACCINE MAFIA OR THE VACCINE CIA? How the vaccine propaganda is manipulated by J. Ellison Among epidemiologists, it is often half-jokingly referred to as the " medical CIA. " Founded in 1951 by public health professor Langmuir, the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) was first designed to act as an elite biological-warfare countermeasures unit of the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Langmuir was hired because he also served as one of the select advisors to the Defense Department's chemical and biological warfare program. The first Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) class of 21 recent medical or biological graduates underwent several weeks of intense training at the Center for Disease Control's Atlanta headquarters, before being dispatched on their two-year assignments on loan to various state or local health departments around the country. They acted as the eyes and ears of the CDC, carefully monitoring for any possible outbreak of war-induced disease. While on their tours of duty, each EIS officer could be sent elsewhere in the country on a 24 hour-a-day basis. In case of war, the EIS would operate under any emergency powers granted the CDC - potentially including quarantines, mass immunizations, or other drastic measures. In an article written for the American journal of Public Health (March, 1952), Langmuir made clear that membership in the EIS did not end with the two year assignment, but was permanent. He wrote that " ... as a result of their experience, many of these officers may well remain in full-time epidemiology or other public health pursuits at federal, state, or local levels. Some, no doubt, will return to civilian, academic, or clinical practice, but in the event of war they could be returned to active duty with the Public Health Service and assigned to strategic areas to fulfill the functions for which they were trained. " Every year since 1951 has seen a new crop of EIS recruits, some classes over one hundred members in size. The nearly 2,000 alumni have gone on to high positions in society, though rarely advertising their affiliation. Indeed, the CDC has now made the EIS more secretive than ever, having suppressed the public availability of the membership directory since last year. EIS MEMBERS PLACED IN KEY POSITIONS Members can be found in the Surgeons General's office and elsewhere in the Federal government, as well as in the World Health Organization, state and local health departments, universities, pharmaceutical companies, tax-exempt foundations, hospitals, and even as staff writers, editors, or news anchormen for major newspapers, scientific journals, and television news departments. In these positions, EIS alumni act not only as the CDC's surveillance arm and emergency reserve, but also as seemingly " independent " advocates for CDC policies. EIS AND POPULATION " CONTROL " In time, the fear of artificial disease epidemics faded. But Langmuir and other top CDC officials had always held bigger plans for the EIS. Langmuir, for example, an apostle of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger, involved the EIS in the population control movement by the 1960s. The CDC has gained most, however, from EIS activities in natural disease epidemics, to which its " disease detectives " have turned their attention. THE FLU JAB SCAM The flu, being truly an infectious disease, often proved itself most valuable to the CDC. Although the winter following the end of World War I was the last time a flu epidemic caused widespread death, the CDC has pushed annual flu vaccinations up to the present day. At times, the agency has even rung the alarm over an impending flu crisis, hoping to use memories of the 1918 epidemic to gain emergency powers and impose mass vaccinations. By using such tactics in 1957 over the Asian flu, the CDC managed to wrangle extra money out of Congress to expand the EIS and crash-produce a vaccine. But the flu season was already winding down by the time the vaccine was ready, and the flu itself turned out to have been as mild as in any other year. By 1976, CDC director Sencer wanted to try again, though on a grander scale. After one soldier in Pennsylvania died of a flu-related pneumonia in January, Sencer predicted that a pig-borne human virus nicknamed the " swine flu, " would soon devastate the United States. Panicked with visions of impending doom, Congress moved to authorize the CDC's immunization plan for every man, woman, and child in the country. Unexpectedly, the legislation suddenly stalled when the insurance companies underwriting the vaccine discovered that it had seriously toxic side effects. THE " LEGIONAIRES DISEASE " SCAM Sencer had to do something fast. He immediately set up a " War Room " in Auditorium A at the CDC headquarters, and put the EIS network on full alert to search for any disease outbreak that might resemble the flu. Within weeks, the War Room received word of a pneumonia cluster among men just returning home from the Philadelphia convention of the American Legion. Several Philadelphia-based EIS officers and alumni had detected the outbreak, and acted as a fifth column that not only helped arrange an invitation for the CDC to come in, but also took their orders from the arriving team of CDC and EIS Officers. Even the New York Times staff writer sent to cover the story, Lawrence Altman, was himself an EIS alumnus. The CDC team allowed media rumors to circulate that this Legionnaires' disease was the beginning of the swine flu. Within days, Congress decided to pass the vaccine bill. Only later did the CDC admit that the legionnaires had not been infected by the flu virus, too late to stop the immunization program. Some 50 million Americans received the vaccine, leading to more than a thousand cases of nerve damage and paralysis, dozens of deaths, and lawsuits awarding almost $100 million in damages. In the ultimate irony, no swine flu epidemic ever materialized; the only destruction left behind by the phantom swine flu resulted from the CDC's vaccine. The agency later blamed Legionnaires' disease on a common soil bacterium, one that clearly fails Koch's postulates for causing the disease and is therefore actually harmless. The legionnaires' deaths are not so hard to understand, since the pneumonias struck elderly men, many of whom had undergone kidney transplant operations, and who had become particularly drunk during the Bicentennial celebration - the classic risks for pneumonia. Thus Legionnaires' disease " is not an infectious condition, but merely a new name for old pneumonias. ============================================== From: Alive Magazine: Canadian Journal of Health and Nutrition Issue #215 September 2000 " Take the Pills, or We'll Take Your Kids! " by Crowe Jane Doe in Montreal refuses to give toxic, lifelong medication to her two healthy sons, and loses custody of them. Another woman in Montreal hears this and decides to have an abortion. A woman in Maine has a daughter die on this medication, and finds that the debilitating symptoms she and her son were also experiencing rapidly disappear after stopping. The State takes her to court, but she wins her case. A couple in Oregon are less fortunate. They are " legally " forced to medicate their infant and the mother forbidden to nurse him! A woman in British Columbia is harassed by social workers who threaten to force her to medicate her two children, and then hastily leaves the province. A couple in London refuse to test their baby and flee from England after losing their case, fearing that forced medication will follow forced testing. All these people have one thing in common--both they and their children are HIV-positive. They all reject the need for medication for their condition, and for their HIV-positive children. In fact, they question whether the HIV test indicates an illness at all. The AIDS Epidemic To most Canadians, AIDS is something that happens to other people, largely gay men and drug addicts. They have no reason to doubt that HIV is the cause of AIDS, that new drugs are miraculous advances or that the tests for HIV are accurate--unless they test positive, of course. Just like a diagnosis of terminal cancer, most people are completely unprepared for this shattering moment, and rely on their doctors for advice, which is almost always to get on AIDS drugs immediately to try to stop the virus from its deadly advance. They usually do not question that they will die a painful and early death, but hope that the drugs can buy time. Canada's top AIDS scientist, Dr. Mark Wainberg believes that HIV always leads to AIDS. In his opinion, those people who question the accuracy of the HIV tests, or question whether immunosuppressive drugs are wise for a disease characterized by immunsuppression are considered a threat to public health and should be thrown in jail! (1) Many people would consider a parent refusing AIDS medication to be irresponsible but, considering the fatal nature of the diagnosis, perhaps within their rights to let their child die a natural death, versus gaining a longer, but lower quality life with medication. Few people would consider that Jane Doe is actually behaving more sanely than the doctors. Yet, her do-nothing approach to HIV has worked. 14 years after being found HIV-positive she is still extremely healthy, and has never taken medication. AIDS and AZT The oldest, and still most widely prescribed AIDS medications are nucleoside analogs. If DNA is likened to a chain of beads, a nucleoside analog is a broken bead that can attach at one end, but not the other. Nucleoside analogs are supposed to stop retroviruses from being incorporated into DNA, but the inevitable incorporation of a molecule directly into a growing chain of DNA will cause replication of DNA to halt. One of these nucleoside analogs, AZT, is prescribed to pregnant women to prevent transmission of HIV to their rapidly growing fetuses. It is also prescribed to HIV-positive children. Side effects of nucleoside analogs are similar to chemotherapy--anemia so serious that transfusions are required, bone marrow destruction, peripheral nerve damage, failure of the pancreas, and many others. (2) It is also known that nucleoside analogs can cross the placenta and likely cause cancer, birth defects and mutations. (3) The Price Of Health There are several reasons why AIDS doctors and researchers may be so adamant that not taking anti-HIV drugs is irresponsible: money, money and money. Dr. Mark Wainberg, for example, has acknowledged being a shareholder in the Montreal company Biochem Pharma that manufacturers 3TC, one of the drugs that Jane Doe's children are believed to be taking. While the income from one patient is probably not significant to him, the impression that every rational person supports taking them is worth millions. HIV/AIDS is worth billions of dollars to doctors, researchers, hospitals and manufacturers--far out of proportion to the number of people affected in Canada (1,751 at the peak in 1993, declining to 279 in 1998. (4) If it becomes legitimate to question whether HIV tests are accurate, whether HIV always leads to AIDS, whether AIDS is always fatal without medication and whether anti-HIV drugs are useful, the entire infrastructure will collapse. While that would be the end of the career of men like Dr. Mark Wainberg, for Jane Doe this would be the end of her nightmare. Sidebar: One Woman's True Story Jane Doe has been through hell ever since she had her first child about 8 years ago. When one son came down with a chest infection (variously diagnosed as bronchitis or mild pneumonia) in 1999, the entire weight of the medical, social service and legal establishment was thrown on her. It was only through the major financial support of the US-based International Coalition for Medical Justice (www.icmj.org) that she was able to fight back. Even so, after the involvement of several lawyers and tens of thousands of dollars, Jane Doe lost custody of her two sons. Her parents were placed in the horrible position of providing the three-drug AIDS cocktail to them several times a day. If the children vomit after taking the drugs (a common reaction), they must be given again. If the children refuse to take the drugs, they must be forced. If the children have diarrhea, that is just the price they have to pay. Nobody knows how long the children can live while taking these drugs, which have acknowledged fatal side effects, but that does not stop doctors from almost universally and absolutely recommending them. Sidebar: No Report Card The Canadian Government doesn't have statistics on how many Canadians are taking HIV medications, let alone how many adverse reactions there are. Every page of one Health Canada report of adverse reactions notes " Only a small proportion of suspected adverse reactions are reported to the program " . Other estimates suggest that one to 10 per cent of adverse reactions are reported. In HIV/AIDS, where the drugs can destroy the bone marrow, and therefore the immune system, it is very difficult to distinguish the disease from the side effects of the therapy. Glaxo Wellcome, the largest manufacturer of AIDS drugs claims that a list of adverse reactions to their AIDS drugs in Canada is 'proprietary to the company'. Alive magazine is distributed free at most whole-food stores and alternative health practictioners in Canada and has an estimated circulation of 270,000 References ------------ 1. Picard A. HIV deniers should be jailed: researcher. Globe & Mail. 2000 May 1; A3. 2. A file of referenced quotations on the side effects and ineffectiveness of AZT is available upon request from the author crowed@.... 3. Olivero OA et al. AZT is a Genotoxic Transplacental Carcinogen in Animal Models. J Acquir Immun Defic Syndr Hum Retro. 1997 Apr 1; 14(4): A29.,Olivero OA et al. Incorporation of zidovudine into leukocyte DNA from HIV-1-positive adults and pregnant women, and cord blood from infants exposed in utero. AIDS. 1999 May 28; 13: 919-25,Olivero OA et al. Transplacental effects of 3'-azido-2',3'-dideoxythymidine (AZT): tumorigenicity in mice and genotoxicity in mice and monkeys. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1997 Nov 5; 89(21): 1602-8.,Olivero OA et al. Vaginal epithelial DNA damage and expression of preneoplastic markers in mice during chronic dosing with tumorigenic levels of 3'-azido-2',3'-dideoxythymidine (AZT). Cancer Res. 1994; 54: 6235-42., Olivero OA et al. 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine (AZT) transplacental perfusion kinetics and DNA incorporation in normal human placentas perfused with AZT. Mutat Res Fundam Mol Mech Mutagen. 1999 Jul 16; 428(1-2): 41-7 . 4. Laboratory Centre for Disease Control (Health Canada). HIV and AIDS in Canada: Surveillance Report to December 31, 1998. Health Canada. 1999.Available at www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hpb/lcdc/publicat.html ======================================== merica's medical witch-hunting spreads to Scotland: From the Evening Times of Scotland, Oct. 20, 2000 PARENTS RISK LOSING CHILDREN' OVER MMR COMPLAINTS by ALAN MacDERMID PARENTS who claim their children have developed autism as a result of being given the controversial MMR vaccine risk having them taken away by social workers, MSPs will be told next week. A leading autism expert said yesterday that an estimated 200 such families in the UK, including Scotland, had lost their children after being accused of Munchausen's syndrome by proxy. Dr Shattock, director of the Autism Research Unit at Sunderland University, said the court orders had been carried out under cover of draconian gagging orders framed ostensibly to safeguard the identity of the children. He will lay his allegations before MSPs on Wednesday, at the launch of the ish Parliament Cross-Party Group on Autistic Spectrum Disorders. " There have been cases where people say their children are autistic and blame the vaccine. Then social services come and say the child is not autistic, you have made him that way because of Munchausen's, and they take the children away, " he said. The term Munchausen's syndrome by proxy was coined to describe parents who subject their children to unnecessary medical care on the pretext of a bogus illness, in extreme cases injuring the children or making them ill in order to fit their fantasies. It is often seen as an attention-seeking device. Dr Shattock said it was now being used as a cover-up over the suspected link between the combined Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine, introduced in 1988, and a distinctive combination of autism and intestinal disorder described nearly three years ago by Dr Wakefield at the Royal Free Hospital in London, and which he attributed to excess strain on the immune system caused by giving all three vaccines in one jab. It has precipitated demands by parents to have each vaccine administered singly with an interlude between each, a move resisted by the Government. " It is down to pride. The medical establishment can't admit to being wrong, " said Dr Shattock. " Something is going on, whether it is vaccines, pesticides, plasticisers in food, or whatever. The research the Government has provided in defence of MMR is flawed. " The ish Society for Autism, which will provide the professional secretariat for the all-party group, accepts that the evidence against MMR so far is anecdotal, but they want more research and, in the meantime, the option of single vaccines to be available for parents. Spokesman Bruce Tait said: " It is available elsewhere in Europe. Presumably there is a cost implication for the Government. " ©The Evening Times 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow G2 3PR Email: TimesEditorial@... Editorial Management Phone: 0141 302 7000 Fax: 0141 302 7272 Online Editor Email: online@... ==================================================== SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME CONFERENCE IN AUSTRALIA Dear List, 15.2.2001 This is a MUST conference for all those individuals involved in seeing that justice is done in alleged Shaken Baby Syndrome cases. s Law Firm, Sydney, Australia, have again been instructed by an accused individual who is presently in jail for allegedly shaking a baby and causing death. As I will be part of the investigative team involved in this case I will certainly be in attendance at this conference. If any law firm acting on behalf of accused individuals or the accused individuals themselves would like information, tapes, etc. from this conference will they please contact me direct. Sincerely, Maureen Hickman, Para/Legal-s Law Firm, Auburn, NSW, Australia e-mail: mhickman@... SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME CONFERENCE AUSTRALIA 2001 National Australian Conference on Shaken Baby Syndrome to be held in Sydney, Australia on September 3-4, 2001 at Regent Hotel. The conference is being sponsored by The National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome, The Children's Hospital at Westmead and Sydney Children's Hospital. Speakers include:- Professor Kim Oates M.D. and Les White, M.D. welcome Mr. Larry Federal Minister for Family Services opening remarks Professor Marie Bashir, MBBS, FRANZCP Govenor of NSW keynote address Craig son, M.D. Occular Injuries What are they and What Fellow of the Royal Australian Do they tell us? College of Ophthalmologists Ron Barr, MDCM Does the Age-related Pattern of Shaken Professor of Pediatrics & Psychiatry Baby Syndrome Correspond to the Age- McGill University, Montreal, related pattern of early crying? Canada Cpl. Craig Shaken baby syndrome A Police Formerly Royal Canadian Mounted Investigator's Perspective Police, Alberta, Canada Marilyn Sandberg, Executive Elijah's Story: Documentary on a Shaken Director, National Center on Baby Syndrome. The Story of Elijah Shaken Baby syndrome follows a young family from the birth of Their son and family celebrations to the 911 call and testimony at sentencing. Fisher " Parent of Shaken Baby Syndrome Victim , M.D., Alternative Medical opinions for Shaken Fellow of the Royal Australian Baby Syndrome Cases College of Physicians Senior Staff Specialist in child Protection McIntyre, M.D., " Department of Infectious Disease Children's Hospital at Westmead Gattenby " District Officer, Department of Community Services, Chatswood Joint Investigation Team Randy , M.D. Mechanisms of Injuries of Shaken Baby Morehouse School of Medicine Syndrome Atlanta, Georgia, USA Reece, M.D. Medical Literature Review 1997-2000 Massachusetts Society for the Articles on Abusive Head Traums Prevention of Cruelty to Children Boston Adam Salazar, Program Specialist Dads 101 a Training Program for New National Center on Shaken Baby and Expecting Fathers Syndrome, Ogden, Utah -Clare Waugh, M.D. Rehabilitation Methods for Shaken Baby Staff Specialist Department of Syndrome Victims Rehabilitation Medicine Fellow of the Royal Australian College of Physicians, The Children's Hospital, Westmead Lowe, MD & Adrienne Epps, MD " Rehabilitation Sydney Children's Hospital Avis Joint Investigation Teams The Department of Community Services Interagency/Multidisciplinary Approach Sydney Representative " NSW Police Service, Sydney Kirschner, M.D., A Forensic Response to Shaken Baby Department of Pathology & Syndrome Pediatrics, University of Chicago Rob Parrish, J.D., Deputy Director Key to the Successful Prosecution of National Centre on Shaken Baby Shaken Baby Syndrome Cases Syndrome, Ogden, Utah Roy Ellis, Lawyer " ================================================= How many cases of abuse are really vaccine injuries? FROM Redbook Magazine, Sept. 2000. Page 158. www.redbook.com. Was It Murder, Or A Bad Vaccine? By Jan Goodwin Teaser: It's a question that is tearing families apart, as prosecutors blame parents for the shortcomings of common vaccines. THE SMALL NURSERY that Lois Scoon and her husband, Malcolm, of Queens, NY, lovingly wallpapered in little yellow and white roses is quiet now. The crib is still there, but it is empty. The stuffed toys-the giraffe, monkey, and lion that soothed baby h to sleep every night-were tucked alongside her in the coffin the tiny 5-month-old was buried in. The death of a young child is devastating to any parent. But Lois Scoon's grief has been compounded by the fact that her husband is not at home to share it with her. A few months after h died from a brain hemorrhage in March 1996, Malcolm Scoon was accused of causing her injuries by shaking her violently. Convicted of second-degree manslaughter, Scoon, once a practicing anesthesiologist, is now serving two to six years in a medium-security prison in upstate New York. To those who knew Malcolm Scoon as a gentle man who never lost his temper, the idea that he had caused his daughter's death was impossible to accept. h was the Scoons' only child, the baby Malcolm and Lois, both now 41, had struggled hard to conceive, undergoing in vitro fertilization three times. Born almost three months premature in September 1995, weighing just over two pounds, the fragile baby spent the first two-and-a-half months of her life in a neonatal intensive-care unit, much of that time on a ventilator to help her breathe. As she fought to survive, she would require six blood transfusions. " We were at the hospital every day, " remembers Lois, then a teacher. " I pumped breast milk to give her. She was so small, with tubes everywhere. The hardest part for us was that we couldn't hold her. But we were thrilled she was alive. No one can say we weren't attentive parents. All the hospital records confirm this. " In fact, several respected medical experts insist that prosecutors fingered the wrong culprit in h's death. " I cannot understand why Malcolm Scoon was found guilty, " says , M.D., former chief of pediatric neuroradiology at Boston Children's Hospital. " I've been looking at injury to the brain for 22 years, and in that time, I've reviewed a lot of child abuse cases. This was not one of them. " Instead, and others are convinced that Scoon is among a growing number of parents who are unfairly blamed for the side effects of vaccines given to mil- lions of American babies each year. It is a shocking trend, one that alarms both government officials and medical professionals. " We are very disturbed to learn that there are a lot more injuries [from vaccines] than is realized, " says Beth Clay, a staffer with the congressional Government Reform Committee, which has been conducting hearings on vaccine side effects for the past year. " A number of people have been accused of causing Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) and jailed. " " There is a sudden groundswell of these cases, " agrees Menkes, M.D., a pediatric neurologist at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles who is regarded by many as the " father " of his specialty. Even when there are other, more likely medical explanations for a baby's injuries, Menkes says, prosecutors rush to judgment-and he is cynical about the reasons: " Ambitious prosecutors get their names in the paper. It's a career boost for them. " FATHERS FALSELY ACCUSED Helen Carey, a 33-year-old mother of three, still weeps at the memory of her husband, Bill's, arrest. Their 6- month-old son, , had just had his second DTP (diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis) shot, along with two other vaccines for polio and hepatitis B. 's first dose of DTP had been followed by a night of fever and vomiting. This time, 's fever set off convulsions. His parents rushed him to Hunterdon Medical Center in Flemington, NJ, where doctors noted that the seizures were most likely a reaction to the DTP shot. But the next day, was examined at nearby Wood Hospital, where an MRI showed three subdural hematomas, or spots of bleeding in the brain. A hospital social worker convinced that the injuries were a sign of SBS, called child-welfare authorities and the police. was taken from his parents, and his father-a police officer-was arrested. " It was the worst day of our lives, " says Helen Carey. " We not only had a son who was very sick, we were told we had caused it. I had never seen my husband cry until then. He'd been on the force for nine years. Imagine how we felt when police surrounded our house, pounded on the door, and took him away in cuffs. " During Carey's trial in September 1998, his lawyer discovered that 's DTP shot had come from a so-called hot lot-a batch of too-strong vaccine that had caused seizures in at least 17 other children. Carey was acquitted; , now 4, is permanently brain damaged. Larry Gray, 34, of Macomb, OK, was also accused of causing the massive brain injury that has left his son , now 11, blind and unable to walk, talk, or swallow. " First, we were told our son would be a vegetable for the rest of his life, " recalls Gray. " Then they accused me of trying to kill my child. I wasn't permitted to see my son. I'd given him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation that night, for heaven's sake. " Gray, too, was eventually acquitted after doctors agreed that the injuries could have been a severe reaction to DTaP " But I was guilty until proven innocent, " he says, " not the reverse. Malcolm Scoon was not so lucky, despite the expert witnesses who came to his defense. Neuroradiologist Barns-who took the stand against British au pair Louise Woodward in the SBS death of Eappen in 1997-testified that the kind of blood clot h had was caused by a meningitis-like infection triggered by the pertussis portion of the DTP vaccine, which in turn caused brain hemorrhaging, swelling, and inflammation of the brain and its lining. With a child as frail as h, he adds, emergency room doctors' attempts to give her CPR could also have put pressure on the blood vessels leading to her brain, contributing to her bleeding. " h Scoon was a very frail baby who died from meningitis, which at that age has a very high mortality rate, " agrees Enid Gilbert s, M.D., a pediatric pathologist and professor at the University of South Florida who also testified for Scoon. " It was right there on her pathology slides. A blind man on a galloping horse could have seen it. But once it was decided this was SBS, they didn't look any further. The guilty finding was an absolute miscarriage of justice. " Prosecutors made much of Scoon 's admission that he slightly jostled his daughter, hoping to revive her that day he found her limp body in the crib. Lois Scoon is also convinced that her husband's case was hurt by the media attention it received. A frenzy of front-page tabloid headlines was triggered by Long Island Jewish Medical Center's recommendation that h be taken off life support. The deeply religious couple refused, and the hospital took them to court. Eventually the late Cardinal O'Connor, archbishop of New York, arranged for the baby to be transferred to St. 's Medical Center, a Catholic hospital, where h remained on life support until her heart stopped beating. But the couple's battle with the hospital fueled suspicions that they were trying to delay the criminal investigation. Lois maintains that she and her husband simply were hoping that a " miracle might happen. " We wanted to give h every opportunity to live, " she says. WHEN VACCINES HARM Mass vaccination is arguably modem medicine's most successful tool for preventing disease, disability, and death. Vaccines have saved tens of millions of lives, eradicating smallpox and polio from most industrialized countries. Dreaded killers like whooping cough (caused by the pertussis bacteria) and diphtheria are now almost unheard of in developed countries. Most of the 4 million infants born in the U.S. each year are vaccinated beginning at birth and continue to receive booster shots for the next five year-a total of 33 doses of ten different vaccines. (continued) No vaccine is 100 percent safe, and public health officials acknowledge that immunizations serve the common good at a high cost for a few. In 1986 the federal government officially recognized that trade-off by creating the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Funded by a surcharge on every vaccine dose, the program has so far paid out more than $1 billion in settlements to the parents of brain-damaged and other seriously hurt children. Almost 75 per- cent of those claims concern the DTP vaccine (see box, " The Trouble With DTP, " page 161). Few people wanted to look closely at the problem of vaccine injuries 18 years ago when Barbara Loe Fisher, 52, co- founded the National Vaccine Information Center in Vienna, VA, with other parents whose children had suffered devastating problems after being immunized. " It's hard for me to express in words how tragic the denial of the reality of vaccine injuries and deaths has been, " says Fisher, whose own son Christian, now 22, suffers from multiple learning disabilities as a result of a reaction to DTP. Fisher, who now serves on vaccine advisory panels for both the Food and Drug Administration and the National Academy of Sciences, says that the success of the smallpox vaccine nurtured a belief that mass vaccination could save the world from all infectious diseases. " The drug industry, the government, and the medical community raced for- ward developing all manner of vaccines, " she says. " In their speed to act and their hope of making the world a better place, they apparently did not consider that there may be a significant risk to the immune and neurological systems of some children. " While 150 new vaccines are now in development, Fisher, along with congressman Dan Burton, a Republican from Indiana and chair of the Government Reform Committee, and others in Congress, is working to raise awareness of vaccine-related safety issues. Among the concerns critics would like to see addressed: What is the real rate of adverse reactions? The federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System receives between 11,000 and 12,000 reports each year, mainly from physicians and vaccine manufacturers. But reporting is voluntary, and surveys show that responses vary widely from state to state, with as many as one in ten to as few as one in 100 doctors actually bothering to fill out the necessary paper- work when a child suffers a reaction. In addition, some fatal injuries may be misclassified, as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, for instance. Why aren't side effects of vaccines studied? The government spends $1 billion a year to develop and promote vaccines, but only a fraction of that goes to fund independent studies of side effects, says Fisher. " Vaccine testing is done on a too-small number of kids, and they are monitored for too short a time, " says Mark Geier, M.D., a land geneticist formerly with the National Institutes of Health and an expert on DTP. " Previously undetected reactions can show up later, when larger numbers of children are inoculated. I've seen a manufacturer insert in a vaccine that read 'Studies show no significant major reactions, but some may show up in the field.' And they do. " -Why aren't hot lots immediately pulled off the market? " Hot lot " is the term used to describe a batch of a vaccine that generates ten or more reports of illness or two or more reports of seizure or death. " There is tremendous variability between a good lot and a bad one, " says Geier. " The endotoxin in DTP vaccine lots, for example, can vary 50-fold. " According to the National Vaccine Information Center, some vaccine lots have resulted in as many as 227 reports of serious reactions, and others in as many as 13 deaths. But the Food and Drug Administration leaves it to drug manufacturers to voluntarily recall a bad batch. And because lots vary dramatically in size, says Larry Gray's attorney Curtis Webb, of Twin Falls, ID, " it's hard to determine if eight to ten serious reactions are many or not, " meaning that hot lots continue to be sold. -How safe is it to give infants several vaccines at once? Congressional investigators are concerned about the growing practice of giving a child as many as six separate shots or one " super shot " containing as many as nine vaccines in one visit. Pediatricians do this for convenience's sake or to keep the number of needle sticks per kid at a minimum. " But everybody just guesses, " says the Government Reform Committee's Clay. " By introducing so many different vaccines at the same time, it's possible that we could be blowing a child's immune system, just like overloading the electrical system by putting too many plugs into one outlet. " " Federal policy makers are not paying serious enough attention to the dangerous side effects that are occurring, " says Congressman Burton. " We can no longer keep our heads buried in the sand on this issue. The risks are too great for both parents and children. " FAMILIES ON TRIAL ph Krakora, the Careys' lawyer, says it is understandable that authorities want to protect children. " But when hemorrhaging and subdural hematomas are found, all too quickly doctors and child- welfare authorities decide it's abuse. Just because the facts are consistent with SBS, doesn't mean it is SBS. Once they see bleeding in the brain, however, they don't want to hear anything else. " Krakora believes that authorities need to be educated that there are other causes of this kind of damage. But he also complains that even some doctors deny-in court- that vaccines can cause injuries. The resistance to the truth about adverse reactions takes both an emotional and a financial toll on families. After his acquittal, Carey returned to his job as a police officer in Union County, NJ, and received $100,000 in back pay for the time he was suspended. But the family's finances remain in ruins. " We spent considerably more than that on legal fees and were forced to sell the house we'd just built, " says Helen Carey. The Careys are seeking an award from the Vaccine Compensation Fund to cover the cost of 's care. " doesn't talk, he has vision problems, his walking is very unsteady, and he has difficulty swallowing, " says Helen. " Doctors say he has some neurological signs of cerebral palsy and exhibits a form of autism. He doesn't play with other children or like to be touched. He screams a lot of the time and has difficulty sitting still. " But after almost four years, their case is still pending. Parents suing for dam- ages must wait in line-the backlog of cases is huge. They can also face as much of a legal mauling as they would if they faced criminal charges. After his acquittal, for example, Larry Gray filed for damages from the Vaccine Compensation Program. It took him eight years to get a hearing. During that time, the emotional and financial pressures were so enormous that his marriage to 's mother fell apart. When Gray finally got a chance to testify, the government's lawyer once again accused him of having abused his son. " I've never had a kid as badly hurt as Gray, nor a father more devoted than Larry, " says attorney Webb, who represented Gray at the compensation hearings. " But despite this, the case was very adversarial against him. Larry was treated like a convicted felon. Government lawyers brought up the fact that when Larry was a young man he'd had a speeding ticket. This was supposed to support the fact that he was the violent type. " Gray was eventually awarded $2.5 million in trust to cover 's costly medical care as long as he lives. Doctors told Gray they didn't expect his son to make it past his 10th birthday; is now 11. As for Lois Scoon, she has faith that one day, her husband too will be exonerated. The $400,000 in legal fees wiped the couple out financially, so they are relying on a court-appointed attorney in their appeal. Meanwhile, each Friday night Lois boards a prison charter bus for the eight-and-a-half hour trip to the Bare Hill Correctional Facility in upstate New York, near the Canadian border, where her husband is held. " If anyone saw him, they would not believe what he has been through, " says Lois, who attributes her husband's good spirits to his strong faith. " He has been an encouragement to me. " The worst thing for her, she says, is the loss of a child she adored. " h had just started smiling and cooing when she died, " she says. " Her little smile and that cooing sound are what I miss so much when I come home. " -----END MAIN BODY OF ARTICLE ---------------- Caption1: Lois (above left) and Malcolm (above and fop right) Scoon had been attentive to their fragile baby's needs. Then Malcolm was charged with causing his daughter's fatal brain injuries. (Opposite page) Every Friday night, Lois boards a prison bus for the all-night trip to see her husband. Caption2: When Larry Gray (above with 11-year-old ) sued the government for damages to cover his son's expensive medical costs, he was treated like a felon. " ---------------- ________________________________ TEXT BOX #1: DTP has always been among the more dangerous vaccines. The trouble is in he pertussis component, which in the original form of the vaccine was made from whole or " live " cells of pertussis bacteria containing endotoxin poisons. 'Endotoxin is the most notorious fever-causing agent in the world and can interfere with clotting and cause bleeding in the brain, cause seizures and permanent brain damage, and trigger auto-immune problems, " explains Mark Geier, M.D. In fact, pertussis is so poisonous that scienists use it to study brain swelling and hemorrhage in lab animals. Doctors in Japan and in several European countries have been vaccinating children for two decades with a safer, slightly costlier alternative known as DTaP. U.S. pediatricians are only now making the switch to this " acellular " version (hence the " a " in the name) of the vaccine, although it was actually developed at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). " We didn't act on it, " says Geier, " but a Japanese doctor studying at NIH did. Japan had the safer vaccine long before we did. " Geier is among those who believe that suits against the vaccine had the effect of keeping DTP in circulation. " When arents started suing, " he charges, 'suddenly we found doctors being paid 500,000 by the industry to say that it still hadn't been proven that DTP caused severe side effects. " The Centers for Disease Control CDC) estimates that only 6 or 7 per cent of the pertussis vaccine doses now on the market contain the whole-cell pertussis bacteria. But while Japan banned the inferior vaccine as soon as DTaP became available, U.S. government authorities declined to pull it off the shelves. The CDC pamphlet that explains the risks of DTP and DTaP to parents notes that DTaP causes fewer adverse reactions, but stops short of recommending that parents avoid the old vaccine altogether. Pediatricians who aren't up to speed on the recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics can legally dispense the outmoded, cheaper vaccine. " It's still a licensed product, " explains Vitek, M.D., a medical epidemiologist with the CDC. " As long as it is a licensed product-which means basically that it's been found by the Food and Drug Administration to be effective and reasonably safe-there's nothing to say that it should be pulled from the market. " What will it take to get it off? Says Vitek, " When the demand from practitioners drops so low that manufacturers decide it's not worth their while to make it. " Other medical experts argue that the laws of supply and demand shouldn't be allowed to take precedence over safety concerns. " I'm very pro-vaccination, " says Geier. " But our vaccines should be as good as we know how to make them. In 1940, DTP was the best we knew how to make. In 2000, it's a dangerous embarrassment. " ------------------------ ___________________________________________ TEXT BOX #2: STEPS YOU MUST TAKE TO SAFEGUARD YOUR CHILD: Thanks to vaccines, virtually none of us knows a child who has contracted polio, whooping cough, or one of the other illnesses that disabled or killed thousands of children in our grandparents' era. Even critics of the federal vaccination program agree that for most children, vaccines cause only mild side effects, if any. To reduce the risk that your child could have a more serious reaction: 1. Request that your doctor use the newer DTaP vaccine. 2. Have your child vaccinated only if she is in good health. If she has been running a fever, ask your doctor about postponing the vaccination until she is well again 3. Familiarize yourself with vaccine side effects. Your physician is required by law to give you a handout from the Centers for Disease Control explaining benefits and risks before your child is vaccinated; be sure you read the material and keep it on file. 4. Ask for and read the manufacturer's package insert and look for any side effects or contraindications. 5. Monitor your child for symptoms. Most adverse reactions occur within three days, but a few vaccines can take several weeks to trigger symptoms. Serious reactions include high fever, prolonged high-pitched screaming, breathing difficulty, shock, seizures, or lethargy. If you suspect a bad reaction, call your doctor, or take your child to the emergency room. 6. Tell your physician if your child had a previous had reaction to any vaccine; a first reaction, even if it is mild, increases your child's chance of having another. 7. Alert your physician if anyone in your family has had vaccine reactions, convulsions or neurological disorders, severe allergies, or auto-immune diseases. 8. Keep your own permanent record of all vaccinations, including the vaccine manufacturer's name and lot number. 9. Keep yourself informed about new vaccines, new recommendations, and the latest reports on vaccine safety by contacting the following: o Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Immunization Information Hotline (800-232-2522; www.cdc.gov/nip/) for the latest immunization recommendations and materials on risks and benefits. -National Vaccine Information Center (800-909-SHOT; www.9O9shot.com) for assistance if your child has a reaction, guidelines on how to report an adverse event, and information on vaccine research. --------------------------------- ========================================= POSTED APPROX. SUMMER 2000 Report prepared by: Donna Meads-Barlow (the mother) 15 Dulwich Rd Chatswood NSW 2067 Phone 02 94103333 Fax 02 94103444 Mobile 0418465245 Husband: Meads-Barlow Children: la 6yr. (Diabetic Type1), Diagnosed Oct 99 : 3yr. Codey: 5mts (Born 28/2/00) Story regards Codey Meads-Barlow Friends, We are parents of our 5 month old baby Codey who is in RNSH diagnosed with " Shaken Baby Syndrome " and desperately need help with Expert Witnesses for our case on 21 & 22nd August. PLEASE read my daily diary attached and if you can help us at all, PLEASE phone me on 02 94103333. We know our baby has not been shaken and desperately need HELP to bring our family unit back together. Kindest as always Donna Meads-Barlow -DIARY OF DONNA MEADS-BARLOW- WEEKLY ROUTINE - Robyn Farrar (the nanny) Mornings Robyn arrives, collects , la and Codey and drops la at LPS and then drops at UTS Kidz Campus (Mon, Tue, Wed). On Thu and Fri she drops at Masada College at St Ives. Mondays, Tuesdays & Wednesdays -return with Codey between 0930 & 0945 Thursday & Fridays-return with Codey around 1000-1015 Daytime Bulk of Days at House looking after Codey, doing basic house duties. Makes the kids beds, Does the Shopping as required, pays some bills over the phone, does the washing & ironing downstairs and often has Codey downstairs with her when doing these duties. Afternoons Mondays-Robyn leaves the house around 2.15pm, picks up la from LPS at 3pm and takes la to Ballet at Roseville PS. Ballet is from 3.30pm to 4.30pm. Then she goes to UTS, picks up and returns to Chatswood to prepare Baths & Dinner for the kids. Tuesdays-Robyn leaves the house around 5-5.30pm top/up la & together at UTS-Lindfield, returns to Chatswood to prepare Baths & Dinner for the kids. Wednesdays-Robyn leaves the house around 5-5.30pm top/up la & together at UTS-Lindfield, returns to Chatswood to prepare Dinner. Thursdays-Robyn leaves the house around 2.30-2.45pm & goes to St Ives to pickup by 3.30pm. Returns to Chatswood around 4pm and then later picks up la around 5.30pm departing the house., returns to Chatswood to prepare Baths & Dinner for the kids. Fridays-Robyn leaves the house around 2-2.15pm & goes to St Ives to pickup by 2.45pm, back to LPS to pickup la at 3pm and over to the handicapped school at Lindfield by 3.30pm for 30minute Pat Swim School for both la & . They return to Chatswood around 4.30-4.45pm to prepare Baths & Dinner for the Kids. Monday 28th February 2000 Mother-Donna Meads-Barlow went into the SAN at Wahroongha at 0730 for Induction and Epidural & Codey Meads-Barlow was born at 1211. Codey was put straight onto Karicare formulae and seemed to be doing well. Sunday 05th March milk came down so mother & Codey stayed in hospital till Monday 06th March when released. Within the 1st few weeks Codey seemed to be crying and drinking lots but the formulae seemed to be not filling him. Constant contact by phone with Dr Neil Ginsberg (pediatrician), and after an appointment I think around Mid March Ginsberg changed his formulae to SMA & Codey settled. Right up till early May, Codey was doing well and towards the end of April was sleeping through the night from about 9pm till 5 or 6am. was in Vietnam that last week of April 2000, so I was excited to tell him I had Codey sleeping through the night. 08th May 2000 Codey was vaccinated with Infanrix. Shortly after vaccination he became unsettled, crying day and night with arched back like he was in pain. We gave panadol Infant drops whenever we thought necessary. We thought perhaps he was windy and this was giving him the pain. 24th May 2000 Codey seemed to be getting worse and presented with like a cold and was really blocked up and having problems breathing. We took him to the GP who said give Dimetapp and panadol when necessary and he should be fine. Over the next few weeks Codey's health deteriorated and he seemed to be quite fluey with constant crying, arched back, red cheeks, problems breathing and a terrible constant cough. His chest coupled with his cough sounded like a bag of bones. Tuesday 13th June 0830-1930 Robyn worked 0915-1100 Donna at Lindfield Public School Reading Classes then returned back to homeoffice (chatswood) to work Codey seemed to be having problems with his breathing and still seemed fluey so Donna instructed Robyn to take Codey to see the family Doctor Dianna Staniforth. Dr. Dianna diagnosed as Bronchilitis & to be sure arranged Codey to have a Chest Xray for which Robyn took Codey to have. Dianna recommended warmth and just make sure he keeps his fluids up. No medication prescribed. From time to time I heated Nappies up in the microwave for 30seconds to put on his tummy to settle him as this was something I was taught at the SAN and seemed to work to settle Codey down when he seemed in pain. I taught Robbie to do this too. Wednesday 14th June 0830-1830 Robyn worked Donna left house around 1230 for a 1pm Business meeting/Lunch with client Eddy Stanley from Medtel. Lunch was at Lane Cove. Donna did shopping for la's Birthday party at Lane Cove & returned Chatswood around 4.30pm Thursday 15th June 0830-1900 Robyn worked 1000 Donna & left Chatswood for a 1030 business Meeting at Norgine P/L at Pymble with Dellit & Tara . Meeting concluded around 1330h, which Donna returned to Chatswood to work Friday 16th June 0830-1800 Robyn worked Donna requested Robyn take Codey back to the GP-Dr. She saw Dr Anne Tonkin who diagnosed productive Cough and prescribed Amoxil pediatric drops. Saturday 17th June Donna took la to Dance Rehearsal at Wahroongha around 12noon & returned around 2pm Sunday 18th June-Robyn arrived around 11am and took care of Codey whilst Donna finished preparing for la Birthday party. 2 Cars left C/wood about 11.00am to go to L/Cove Dingle Dell kindergarten to setup for la's Birthday party to start at 1pm to 4pm. Robyn took Codey in her Car to L/cove & looked after Codey most of this day till around 4pm when we all left. Monday 19th June 0830-1830 Robyn worked 1000- & Donna Business meeting in the formal lounge at Lane Cove. Robyn not coping with Codey who seemed quite distressed so took him and spent till around 1045 with him settling him. Meeting concluded around 1300 Tuesday 20th June 0830 -1900 Robyn worked 1030-Donna left house for Dentist 1045 Appt at Roseville. Returned Chatswood around 12noon Wednesday 21st June 0830-1900 Robyn worked 1300 (around) Codey no better so Donna asked Robyn to again take Codey to see the Dr. The antibiotics don't seem to be working as Codey seems still quite chesty and runny nose with problems breathing. Dr Anne Tonkin saw Codey again and phoned me to saw that the " cry she heard in the surgery isn't like a normal cry " and she felt it best we take Codey to see a pediatrician Urgently. She asked my permission to track down Ginsberg then called me back. Dr Anne Tonkin advised that Ginsberg was at Baulkham Hills private hospital and she had arranged for Codey to go straight to have a chest examination and then take him straight up to Ginsbergs rooms at B/Hills Hospital. Ginsberg examined Codey saying his chest wasn't as bad as it sounded, but he thought his ears were quite bad and perhaps giving him the main trouble. Continue with the antibiotics and take Codey back to the GP for a checkover next Tuesday. Thursday 22nd June 0830-1800 Robyn worked Friday 23rd June 0830-0100 (24th June)-0930 Donna & left Chatswood for a meeting at Paradises Ink at Surrey Hills with Craig Davies and Bloomfield. Meeting concluded around 1430, at which time & Donna returned back to Chatswood at around 1530H. Saturday 24th June 1200-Donna took la to Dance rehearsals. Returned home later that day. stayed home with and Codey. 5pm Donna took la & back to Wahroongha to the Ballet Concert. & the Barlow Grandparents followed for the evening concert. Returned home around 9pm. Codey quite unsettled the whole day. Sunday 25th June Donna's birthday-Family (Barlow Grandparents & Brother Mark, sister-in-law Fiona) & Friends Craig, Debra, & Simon and families came over for lunch. All Day Codey was distressed and unsettled. Even when he went down to sleep, he didn't go down for long. He seemed feverish and unwell generally. He still had a dreadful cough and every time anyone spoke loudly or coughed themselves, Codey jumped and cried. Monday 26th June Codey quite unsettled all day. Normal Monday family routine. Around 6pm, Robyn came into my office with Codey in her arms saying " Donna, theres something wrong with Codey " I took him into my arms and he seemed stiff and heavy, then went limp. I was panicked and yelled " Quick ring triple 0, and get an ambulance and ask them what to do " . la and were at the Breakfast bar having their dinner. As instructed by the emergency person that Robyn had on the phone, I lied Codey on the couch, undressed him and applied cold washers on him. Codey was on fire, you could have cooked an egg on his forehead. His eyes were glassed and he seemed all-stiff and hardly breathing at all-I thought my baby was dying! la kept going back to the bathroom to get cold cloths to apply on Codey., and I shook him yelling at him " Codey, Codey Codey " -desperate to revive him. During this time Robyn rang back to the ambulance I think twice asking where they were. Prior to the ambulance arriving my friend O'Meara called in to wish me happy belated birthday. He was stroking Codeys head and trying to talk to him-we were desperate for him to become conscious, as he looked so strange. Finally the ambulance arrived, followed by paramedics. Immediately they diagnosed a febrile convulsion and applied oxygen and raced , Codey and I to the hospital. Codey was pale and continued to be quite shocked and daised and was observed by the onduty Dr at the SAN hospital. The Dr discussed a Lumber puncture and said they would leave that to Ginsberg to decide if this needed to be done. They took blood samples from Codey and inserted a catheter. Ginsberg was contacted and later arrived around 10pm. I think Ginsberg said there was a high white blood cell count and this ruled out the requirement of a Lumbar puncture. He said it presented like a febrile convulsion, although this was unusual for a baby under the age of 6 months. Codey was admitted to the SAN and put on an antibiotic drip for several days. Either my husband or I slept at the hospital each night. Robyn helped one day at the hospital so I could do a few hours work. In anycase, one of us were at the hospital 24 hours a day. During the time Codey was in hospital he continued to be unsettled and seemed like he was in pain. Ginsberg asked for an ENT specialist to come in to examine Codey to see if the ears may have been the cause for the seizure. I can't remember the ENT specialist's name (a south African Dr), but he said " absolutely not the ears being the cause " . Each day Ginsberg called in to examine Codey, still with no specific conclusion of what happened to Codey. Ginsberg said that although it was unusual for a 4mth baby to have a febrile convulsion, it wasn't impossible and still this is the most likely diagnosis. Although it was suggested that we could take Codey home on the Thursday, I requested we leave him in hospital, so he is off the drip for " at least 24 hours " and doing well. I still didn't feel confident to take Codey home till he was better. On Friday 30th June we brought Codey home. Still on oral Antibiotics and still not 100% well and settled. Codey continued to be unsettled from time to time but seemed to get stronger by the day. At the time Codey went home, Ginsberg suggested that Codey had perhaps had an upper respiratory tract infection and during the next month when Codey was well, that we might run an EEG just to be sure there was no signs of epilepsy. The hospital advised to give Codey either Panadol or Painstop whenever we thought necessary. Tuesday 27th June 0830-2230 Robyn worked (had several hours off during the day) Wednesday 28th June 0830-2000 Robyn worked (had 6 hours off during the day) Thursday 29th June 0830-1930 Robyn worked (spend from around 1300 till 1600 at the hospital with Codey whilst went to N.Ryde & I to Chatswood to work). I picked up that day at St Ives and took him to the hospital and did a change over with Robyn. Friday 30th June 0830-1900 Robyn worked Around 1745H, one of my staff (Tara McNaney) picked me up at Chatswood to go to a Business Appointment & Dinner in the City. Both & I were supposed to go to this Appointment, however we agreed it best for to stay home with Codey as he had just come out from hospital. Saturday 01st July & Sunday 02nd July Most of our weekend was spent around the house keeping Codey in so we could keep him warm and allow him to heal. Sunday afternoon we went with our friends Debra & Craig to the Great Northern hotel for lunch. Over the weekend Codey seemed still somewhat unsettled at times. Monday 02nd July Our normal weekly routine continued with Robyn attending to the children. School was on holidays so la went to Kidz Campus with . 1030 Donna & left the house to go to Pymble for a Business presentation with MAN B & W Diesel. The meeting ended around 1330 at which stage dropped me back at Chatswood and continued into the North Ryde office to work the remainder of the day. Tuesday 03rd July Our normal weekly routine continued with Robyn attending to the children. School was on holidays so la went to Kidz Campus with . Around 1230 Qantas representative Quinlan picked up Donna at Chatswood and went for a Business meeting and lunch at the Great Northern Hotel at Chatswood. dropped Donna back at Chatswood at around 1430, and Robyn was out with Codey attending errands. Robyn returned later and then did the weekly afternoon pickup routine. Wednesday 04th July Our normal weekly routine continued with Robyn attending to the children. School was on holidays so la went to Kidz Campus with . Donna worked the day from Chatswood. Thursday 06th July Our normal weekly routine continued with Robyn attending to the children. la had a school type education day at Westmead Hospital for Diabetes Children aged 5-7 which I had booked her into so Robyn took la to Westmead Hospital to be there by 9.30pm and picket her up around 3.30pm. During this week la had been quite sick and her levels were all over the place. But today was such an important day for her to meet other children with Diabetes that we agreed that she was well enough to go and the fact that she would be at a hospital with Diabetes educators was safe enough. Donna worked the day from Chatswood. Friday 07th July Our normal weekly routine continued with Robyn attending to the children. School was on holidays so la went to Kidz Campus with . Donna worked the day from Chatswood. Sometime during this week Robyn & I discussed Codey having his 4month shots, but agreed to wait till he had completely finished his antibiotics and seemed well. Saturday 08th July Most of our day was spent around the house keeping Codey in so we could keep him warm and allow him to heal. Sunday 09th July Around Midday my parents (Grandparents Barlow) picked up la and took her on holidays up to they place at Port s. I think we had a late lunch/early dinner up at our friends Debra & Craig Davies in View Street Chatswood and took and Codey. Codey seemed to be getting stronger and had finished his antibiotics by now. There were times that he still seemed unsettled which we gave either panadol or painstop. Monday 10th July Our normal weekly routine continued with Robyn attending to & Codey. 1000-Donna left Chatswood to go to Pymble to attend a business meeting again at MAN B & W Diesel. Codey was rather unsettled when I left, but Robyn knew I was running late for the meeting and said, " You go, he will be right " . I returned to Chatswood from that meeting around 1245. I continued to work from Chatswood for the rest of the day & I think maybe it was this day that around 6pm Codey was screaming uncontrollably and I was on the phone to my Accountant that I went up the hall and took Codey from Robby's arms and said I will deal with him. I settled him whilst on the phone to my Accountant Ray Loney. I think Robyn left that night around 6.30pm Tuesday 11th July Our normal weekly routine continued with Robyn attending to & Codey. 1015H-Donna left Chatswood for a meeting at Pymble-Solvay Pharmaceuticals with Shirleigh Thorensen. At my time of departure, I remember Codey was again unsettled; yet Robyn said you go. I met Tara McNaney from our N/Ryde office at the meeting and the meeting concluded around 1245H. I returned to Chatswood to work for the rest of the day. Codey was sleeping when I returned and when he woke seemed in good spirits. Around 1430 Robyn & I agreed that perhaps we should arrange for Codey to now have his 4month shots and she would go to Dr Dianna Staniforth for that and then go straight to Kidz Campus to pickup for the Day. Wednesday 12th July -Our normal weekly routine continued with Robyn attending to & Codey. 0930H-Donna & left Chatswood for a meeting at North Sydney - Australian Business with Walter Roso & Obrien. At our time of departure, I remember Codey was again unsettled, yet Robyn said you go. Meeting Concluded around 1130H when we returned to Chatswood and found a note on the counter saying something like " Gone to Westmead Hospital to pickup la's Jacket, and get Codey some sleep " I made a comment to something like " Poor Robbie, Codey doesn't give her a very good time " . went into N/Ryde office and Donna continued to work the afternoon at Chatswood. Around 1530H some business colleagues arrived Brettel & Brett Jowett from Sanford International Travel at Chatswood. On arriving, Robyn was in the Foyer with Codey in her arms and made a comment to Codey like " you give your mummy a big scare " and went onto explain the previous episode to Brett. Robyn had made us coffee and then left with Codey to pickup from Kidz Campus early as my sister-in-law Fiona was coming to pickup around 4pm so he could go on his first holiday away from home. Robyn had packed a bag ready to go. I was in my meeting with & Brett when Fiona arrived. I introduced Fiona & her family and to & Brett on their way out the door at around 1630H. I have later asked Fiona how Codey was when she arrived and she commented that she thought that Codey looked distant and daised, but when she looked again at him, he didn't have a runny nose or anything, so she just thought he was particularly quiet. When I came out of my meeting around 1700H, I farewelled my colleagues and came into the family room where Robyn was sitting on the couch with Codey. She commented she thought he didn't seem right and did I think he had a fever? I felt his forehead and said I thought it was warm but not on fire, but to be sure I said lets go the soft drug and give him panadol. Codey seemed unsettled, yet Robyn rocked him to sleep and put him down. She was in the kitchen when Codey cried again and she again patted him to sleep. Not long after Codey let out a scream and Robyn went to the bedroom to find Codey again fitting. She picked him up and raced into my office yelling, " Donna he's doing it again " . I took him from Robyn's arms and said call Triple 0 and get an ambulance urgently. I lied him on the couch and again began to immediately undress him and asked Robyn to get cold washers. I swapped with her and went straight to get Codey's Blue book dialed Ginsbergs number and left a message for him to call me back Urgently. I went back to Codey and Robyn rang and said again " Codey is really sick and is having another seizure and to come quick, we have an ambulance on the way " . Ginsberg rang back and I described what was happening to Codey. He asked if I had a thermometer, and I said I can't read the bloody thing. He asked what I had done and I explained I undressed him and was applying cold washers, he said no need for anymore washers, turn him on his side and get the paramedics to take his temperature soon as they arrive-which I did. The ambulance and I think arrived around the same time. The paramedics took Codeys temperature and I think they told me it was 33.5 so he was quite cool. I requested we go to the SAN as that was where Codey's pediatrician was and they said its peak hour we should go to RNSH. I agreed and on the way to the hospital the pediatrician did an ECG on Codey. Codey was blowing little bubbles and eyes open but noone seemed there. He was really pale but didn't seem as hot as he was in the first seizure. The intensive care unit paramedic in the ambulance said clearly to me " he didn't think this was a febrile convulsion, and we must not leave the hospital till they had run all the tests on him to find out what was causing this " . Robyn followed us to the hospital and was there when we arrived. She apparently said to my husband " what took you so long " , as she got there before us. On arrival they took us into the resuscitation room and began tests and checking Codey over. We described all the above and they asked us questions about family history etc and I remember Robyn jumping in and saying " and the 6 year old is a diabetic " . The registrar who was on duty was a woman named . I told her that Codey was immunized yesterday and she didn't seem to pay any attention-she was more concerned with his state and taking blood tests etc. I think she immediately put him on an antibiotic intravenous drip but said she didn't necessarily think he had a virus. Neither my husband nor myself had any money on us so I asked Robyn to lend me $20, which she did. I think around 10pm my husband and Robyn left the hospital and Robyn dropped home. They had advised by this stage that Codey was being admitted. They kept him in casualty till around midnight waiting to get a urine sample and eventually got one in a bag. After this they said they were taking us down to Children's ward. A security person arrived and took Codey, myself and a nurse down to the Children's ward in a Car with the drip as it was freezing outside. We arrived and Codey seemed settled and I knew the nurse on duty from my previous weeks that we spend at RNSH when la was diagnosed with Diabetes. The nurse suggested that I looked like I should try to get some sleep and walked me down to the annex to sleep the night. Thursday 13th July Around 6am the nursing staff called me and asked me to come as Codey was unsettled. I threw on my pants and a cardigan and raced up to the ward and settled him straight away with a bottle. I had advised Robyn not to come in on the Thursday, as we knew that Codey would be in hospital at least that day for all the necessary tests. la was still with my parents at Port s and was with my Brother and Sister-in-law at Dural. Robyn arrived at the hospital around 0815 and my husband arrived not long after. We asked Robyn to stay with Codey whilst we did a few things and I said we wouldn't be long. I remember Robyn commenting something like " OK I'm timing you " , which we thought was strange. Codey was booked in for a Brain Ultrasound, & Opthamoligist examination, followed by an EEG, ECG. It was the Opthamologist that spent the most time with Codey putting 3 lots of drops in his eyes to completely dilate them. After examination the Opthamologist asked us had Codey ever been shaken? We said No, what do you mean " Shaken " ? He said " Shaken " ! We were hurried to the next appointment, which was for an EEG & ECG-this appointment was across the hall at the hospital. The Opthamologist was in the hall and went back again to him and quizzed him-saying that he bumped Codeys head when putting him into the 4-wheel drive and Codey cried and it was quite a bump. The Opthamologist replied " no not a bump, a shake " . then went onto say that the kids often jump on him in his rocker, and again the Opthamologist replied " No not a rock, I mean a shake " . We asked each other would Robyn ever shake Codey, and agreed that Robbie gets stressed at times with Codey but we never in a million years would think Robbie would ever harm Codey. Robyn has been with our family for over 2.5 years and she loves our kids like her own family. We knew the results were coming back that evening and we were eager to get them and see everything is all right with our little Codey. The person who did the ultrasound on the Brain had advised us at the time that she saw nothing unusual and the Brain looked perfectly normal and undamaged-that much we knew which was fabulous. Around 6pm that night Dr Hugh and his registrar Jane called us into the office and told us they believed Codey had been " Shaken " . and I were totally horrified and questioned their findings suggesting how sure could they be and were they 100% correct. They asked us questions about Robyn (our nanny) and we agreed that at times Codey didn't give her a very good time but we never ever imagined in our wildest dreams that she would ever willingly harm him. We were asking a lot of questions, and at the time, Hugh got on the phone and before we knew it he was on the phone reporting this to the " emergency child abuse line " . He put the phone onto my husband who also spoke to the woman, at which stage my husband broke down crying and handed the phone to me to try and answer the questions. We were both so devastated and couldn't believe what they were telling us. I cant remember the name of the woman we spoke to but she advised us we had to give our 100% vow that Robyn would not be near our children under any circumstances. My father was dropping our daughter la back that evening from holidays and was waiting home for us. We came home feeling shell-shocked and unbelieving of what was happening, still not understanding what they were telling us. Later that evening around 2230H, the woman from the emergency child abuse line called us and we went over and over their diagnosis saying we couldn't believe that this could be true. She again reaffirmed that we had to keep Robyn away from our family under any circumstance. She advised that someone from Docs would be in touch with us tomorrow morning and would want to speak with us. She advised that they would probably meet us at the hospital. and I discussed Robyn being an employee and we couldn't just sack her and at this stage she knew nothing of their findings. Neither my husband nor I got any sleep that night. Friday 14th July-We had la with us that day and went back to the hospital and some time that morning met up again with Dr Hugh , again questioning him saying " are you sure you are right " , we need to be 100% sure as this is going to pull our family apart. Our 2 children la and love Robyn so much and she is so wonderful with them that we just don't want them to make any mistakes. We asked if they were sure they had covered all possibilities and they kept shaking their head saying, " Codey is a shakenbaby " . They also said, they were sorry that this was the diagnosis and were sympathetic but they were 100% sure! They advised that Codey had been booked in for Xray on every bone in his body that day and a MRI for which they would put him under a general anaseptic next Tuesday. In the opinion of Dr his diagnosis was conclusive. Around 1100H, Emma the Social worker at the hospital came to talk with me and I was in total devastation. She advised that Docs would come to talk to us around 1200H. I sat with Emma outside and cried in disbelief saying they would want to be sure as I still cant believe that Robyn would ever do anything like this to our baby. Around 1200H my husband arrived at the hospital as he had to go to our N/Ryde office this morning to pay our staff. Shortly after Emma advised us that the Docs people were here and wanted to have a chat with us. We were taken up to the 1st floor of the hospital to a room up the end. When Emma opened the door we were quite shocked to see 6 people seated around a boardroom table. and I sat down and they immediately gave us a paper that said that Codey had been placed in the hands of the Director General or the state and that they were claiming him for 72 hours. They introduced themselves Henry and Nillson from Docs, & Cheryl Hall from Police and Child Protection person from RNS (who we don't remember her name) plus Social worker Emma. They explained that they made up JIT and this was called Joint Investigation Team of Police and Docs from Chatswood Office and that they wanted to split my husband and I up and get a statement. They never said anything about lawyers or anything that raised concern to us so we didn 't think anything other than to be totally co-operative and give them everything we could. We just simply wanted our baby home. Emma left and said she would look after our daughter who was downstairs. They split and I up and took to another room with Henry from Docs and the Police officer. I remained in the room (which was freezing), and was interviewed by Cheryl Hall (Police), and Nillson. The process was ridiculously slow as I had to wait for Cheryl to type everything I was saying, I suggested they should After several hours, was tapping her watch and ran out of the room on 2 occasions to take phone calls. At around 4.30pm they were really tapping their watches saying that they were only touching the surface and needed to resume this on Monday. went to get , and and they all came back into the room saying that we resume the meeting again on Monday 17th July at their office at Chatswood. At sometime around 2pm in the afternoon my girlfriend Debra Davies came to the hospital to see us and was told that Codey had to go for a full X-ray of every bone in his body and the nursing staff asked Debra if she wanted to go with Codey for which she said yes and went with my daughter la and was with Codey whilst they x-rayed him. She advised it was very traumatic for Codey and perhaps it was best that and I were not there. Our friend Craig Davies arrived at the hospital around 6pm to pickup la as we were waiting for an Opthamologist Dr Lawless to come in and examine Codey. The nurses put dilating drops in Codeys eyes and and I waited till around 1915H when Dr Lawless finally arrived. When he examined Codey we asked how old he through the hemorrhages were to which he responded-I would suggest several hours. I replied, " how could that be, when Codey was brought in on Wednesday night " , he responded " well perhaps 2 to 3 days " . and I were a little dumbfounded by his immediate reanalysis learning that Codey had been in hospital since Wednesday. Dr Lawless advised that he could see no damage to the nerves and that was good news and eventually left. Saturday 15th July On the recommendation of Dr Hugh we attended the scheduled Diabetes Education for Parents workshop at Western Suburbs University at South Penrith which ran from 0830 till 1700 and went directly to RNSH to see Codey then returning to our friends Debra and Craig's late that night to pickup la. Today was 's birthday for which we didn't celebrate as a family as we would have normally. Sunday 16th July-We spent all of our day at the Hospital with Codey and took la. Monday 17th July We dropped our daughter off at Kidz Campus for the day. They were going Ice-Skating and we phoned them back to give instructions for la's diet, as she needed to have some carbs in her before she got on the ice. We had also forgotten to enclose la's BSL monitor so advised them to please keep a close watch on her and gave them both our mobile numbers. 0930H -We then went to the Docs office at Chatswood and was interviewed by Vivien (Police officer head of the Dept) and Henry (Docs) and I was interviewed in another room by Cheryl (Police). Around 1630H they asked for me to come into the room with and explained that they were sympathetic to our situation. We asked has Robyn been interviewed yet and they said they were interviewing us and No she had not been interviewed " . Vivien-the police officer in charge said that " we had been unusually most co-operative and that in her experience she knew clearly that we were innocent-but that of course had to be off the record " . advised that there was a call from my mother that she had to return to discuss if they would come to be interviewed. I phoned my mother who seemed rather off-put by the whole senario and ended up having an argument with her. I think that this together with la's diabetes was just too much stress for my parents within a space of 9 months. brought a proposed Court order to the table and went through it with us suggesting this is what they intended to file on Wednesday at court - which we didn't seem to understand what was going on. She suggested don't worry I will arrange to interview your parents and things will take care of themselves and we will get Codey home to you ASAP. Vivien and conversed agreeing that their best approach was to turn up on Robyn's doorstep to interview Robyn by surprise. To take her by surprise was the best option to make sure they got a true report. We left around 1650H and I went directly to the hospital and went to pickup our children at UTS and take them home, as we have still to manage our daughters diabetes diet and keep her stable. We also have to make sure that la does not become stressed or pick up on any stress as this will affect her BSL levels and can be detrimental to her health. I returned home from the hospital around 2130H. Phoned my mother who said dad had been in touch with Henry at Docs and she said she was too busy to see dad prior to Thursday. Dad asked if it could be Tuesday and said he could be there by 3pm and said " sorry not enough time for the interview at 3pm and Wednesday she would be in court so it had to be Thursday " We were under the understanding that Codey could be released from hospital to come home and they would interview my parents immediately for which it became obvious they were buying time. Again and I had no sleep all night worrying about our baby. Tuesday 18th July 0730-I phoned my father and said I was concerned that they didn't seem supportive and my father reacted in an angry way saying " why were they so much under the limelight " . I advised and requested my father keep his nose out if he couldn't address the situation in a stable manner. I think that this together with la's diabetes was just too much stress for my parents within a space of 9 months. 0800-I then phoned my girlfriend Debra who agreed they (herself and Craig) would do all possible to help to bring Codey home. 0830H -I dropped la at School and spoke with her teacher Bev Middlebrook advising what was going on in our lives and to please watch la and her levels as we are concerned she pick up on our stress. I returned back to Chatswood to make phone calls 0930H-I phoned Docs asking Vivien when they intended to interview Robyn. They said soon as possible and they were hoping to go that afternoon. I then asked to speak with and advised that my mum and dad were not an option and to please interview Debra and Craig Davies our closest friends and pursue the UTS option. I gave her their phone details. 1100-Debra Davies phoned Docs and spoke to Henry to arrange an interview. She advised they would need to put aside 4 hours. Debra availed herself for later that morning for which advised that they were unavailable. Debra then availed themselves for that afternoon, again they were unavailable. Debra advised she would make herself free for Wednesday for which they said they were too busy and would be in court. In the end they advised that they could not see Debra till after they had been to court and at the earliest it would happen at 1000H on Thursday 20th July. Still we were under the understanding that they were interviewing Debra and Craig for a short-term thing for only a few days for which Debra and Craig agreed to move into our place. 1105-I spoke with a colleague and Lawyer Karin Bergseng offering the problem we were faced with. Karin offered to track down the best person she thought that would specialise in Family law and have them call me to advise on the best procedure. Several times that day either my husband or myself phoned JIT to enquire if they had been to interview Robyn and what was happening. At various times I was reminded that " we were not the only case they had and they were working as fast as they could " . They would get around to interviewing Robyn at a time convenient to them. 1300-We both accompanied Codey to the main MRI area where I held him whilst they put the gas on him to send him under and we were told to go away for 45 minutes whilst they did the MRI under a General anaseptic. I cried, not believing this was happening to our poor little baby feeling sad for him to have to go through all this. 1500-approximate time I spoke with Grace Basaglia from Tress Cocks and Maddox who advised she could help and suggested we needed to urgently get a barrister involved right from the start. She advised the best person for the job is Trish Hanna and would be in touch later that day to perhaps conference. I advised that I we were waiting on the results from the MRI and would be able to conference thereafter. 1600H-Robyn phoned my husband to ask how Codey was and what was happening and if we wanted her to work tomorrow. She also offered that her sister ( Farrar-Police officer), was in Manly hospital and broke down crying suggesting that had potentially a broken back. sympathised with her and reminded her that the Dr.'s suggested that she not be round the children for the entire week as a direct result of her Gastro problem. Both and I were sick to think that we were being told we had a shaken baby and knowing full well it wasn't or myself there was only one other that it could be and that was Robyn. moved to conclude the conversation ASAP reaffirming that Robyn was not required to work till at least next Monday. I spoke again at the end of the Day with Docs Nillson and asked if the Police had interviewed Robyn, she said that she thought they had been to her home at 4pm but noone was home. We couldn't believe that the Police hadn't tracked Robyn down yet and spoke later again to Vivian (police) and offered the information of Robyn calling and that her sister was in Manly hospital and Vivien (police in charge) advised that they would try to track Robyn down perhaps at Manly Hospital-later that night. 1700-We spoke again with Grace advising we were still waiting on the results from the MRI. We agreed again to conference later that night and I faxed everything I had through to Grace for review and discussion with Trish Hanna. 1745-Dr Hugh met with and I individually advising that the results from the MRI were good and no damage, however he suggested that there was evidence of previous hemorrhaging and fluid around the brain, which would suggest there were more than one incidents. In any case he advised that Codey would be the Archaeologist that we had intended him to be and he would be just fine. left the hospital to pickup la and from Craig and Debra's place and take them home to feed them. I returned home from the hospital much later that night as I was waiting on Dr to come an examine Codey. Around 1900 Dr arrived at RNSH to examine Codey. spent quite a bit of time with Codey and explained that without all the other medical reports that he couldn't say for sure that Codey was a shakenbaby. He explained that there are many parts of the jigsaw and all these pieces needed to be considered and brought to light. confirmed he would write his report prior to departing the hospital that night. I gave Codey a bottle and settled him prior to my leaving. Wednesday 19th July 0800-Telephone conference with Trish Hanna and Grace Basaglio. Agreed to meet us at the courts at 1000H. Dropped la at School and Josh at UTS and proceeded to Campsie to the courthouse. 1000H-Arrived at the Campsie Children's Courthouse and met with Grace & Trish for which they showed us into a Conference room. I was distraught and unknowing of what was happening. We were called into court and and I sat at the first row of seats with Grace. Trish sat at the bench with a lawyer for Codey and Nillson sat with a lawyer for Docs. They requested the child be released in supervision into the home and the magistrate flipped and said that carers needed to be found and the court was adjourned till next Wednesday. The magistrate also ordered Neurological reports as well as the MRI and other reports to be presented in court next Wednesday. I broke down into tears and couldn't believe that Codey was perhaps staying in hospital for another few days. Henry from Docs said " its alright Donna, we will go to the court soon as we get an admission from Robyn and I will arrange for Codey to be released the very next day " . In anycase they advised they were interviewing Craig & Debra (our friends) tomorrow and everything would work out. Trish Hanna (our barrister) conversed with them asking what their intentions were with Codey and the conversation seemingly went no-where. Afterwards, we drove down to Campsie shopping centre with Trish & Grace and tried to through some options around. We had to find a carer that would be approved by Docs ASAP to get Codey out of hospital. We explored nanny options, parents, friends, and a live-in nanny. I went away with a long list of people to follow-up and phone and they did the same. 1530-Vivien/ called from Police and said Robyn denied all allegations-add, they didn't find any unusual behavior during their interview with her. Also said our Key and health card had been left with them and that Robyn doesn't want her job and that she wants her pay. She also added, any discussions from us must take place with her father. Police advised Docs would now plan to interview Robyn. 1535- took me to see Dr Dianna Staniforth as I felt like I was falling apart. I explained to Dianna what was going on in our lives and the pressure we were under and Dianna sympathised and was horrified at the situation. I question Dianna about Codeys medical record and was told that 13/6 Codey saw Dianna who diagnosed Bronchilitis and had his chest x-rayed. 16/6 Dr Anne Tonkin attended to Codey and diagnosed a productive Cough and Bronchilitis and prescribed Amoxil. 21/6 Anne Tonkin attended Codey again and we confirmed it was that day that Anne phoned me and said " this cry that I hear, theres just something not right and I want to track down your pediatrician to examine him immediately " and 11/7 Codey was given his 4month shots Trepasil. Dianna didn't have the notes for Trepasil but gave us some notes for Inframix, which we gave to our lawyers next time we met. 1600- and I went directly to the hospital to spend as much time as possible with Codey before picking up la and . 1800-Received a phone call from a Greer that was tracked down by a girlfriend of mine. Greer was interested in the nanny position so I explained the entire story to her and asked her if she was interested. Her mother is the deputy mayor for Baulkham Hills shire and she said she was very interested but thought she should discuss this with her mother. She confirmed her qualifications was a Certificate in Childcare/Infant and she had 5 months to run out her Certificate in Community services which would qualify her to be a director of a Childcare Centre. Greer expressed a lot of interest in helping us out and she agreed she would come for an interview at around 1830H the following night to discuss a plan of how we could work things. Thursday 20th July 0830-I took la to school LPS and took to St Ives Masada. Our friend Tomiko Omeara offered to pick Josh up that day and take him home to her place for to pick up on his way home at the end of the day. 0930-I phoned Henry asking if they had interviewed Robyn yet and was told that we were not the only case they have and they would get to her at a time convenient to them. I enquired about UTS and what was happening and received no answers. She advised would be in touch. 1000- Nillson and Henry interviewed our friends Debra & Craig Davies. Meeting concluded around 1300H (Report attached) 1100-I phoned Debra Tai at UTS 95145157 to ask if Docs had been in touch with her and where were they at with Docs as noone at Docs seemed to be helpful enough to answer any of our questions or offer any direction of where they were at with possible day-care for Codey. Debra advised " it was up to the Department to make the decision and authorise the exemption to go over the law and provide funding for an additional staff member. She also offered that in principle the department agreed to over the number but the stumbling block lied in the department offering funding for Codey. Debra also said that she would agree to even 5 hours a day of funding to assist. She advised me that if she hears anything further she would be in touch with me " After this we went to the hospital to be with Codey as long as possible knowing we would have to meet with our lawyers that afternoon sometime. Later that day we caught up again with Dr Hugh and asked more questions about his diagnosis for which he seemed tunnel visioned and in an off-handed way sympathetic. He recommended that we should be pushing docs to interview my Brother and sister-in-law to take Codey at worst case senario. He also questioned again if Robyn had given a statement and I confirmed that this happened yesterday and she denied all allegations. I asked Hugh why the Departments had not received all the medical reports they had asked for and he advised his report was enough and they needed nothing further. I explained that the Judge clearly requested more reports and he said that the department had not asked for any further reports. I also advised that we had lawyers and they need a copy of the reports for which he said that shouldn't be a problem. 1400-met with Trish Hanna and Grace Basaglio and Trish kept saying there must be something else, there must be another medical reason for all this happening. Grace advised that Dr Hugh was not being cooperative at all and that the hospital refused to release any reports till we couriered $36 which she confirmed had been done. Grace had her colleagues tracking down all these medical records but RNSH were being somewhat uncooperative. Trish and Grace gave me a big checklist of tracking down care options and we confirmed we would speak again tomorrow. Meeting concluded around 1730H at which time we went straight to pickup at Tomiko's and onto pickup la at Debra and Craig's and go straight home to feed and bath the kids. 1630H- Nillson from Docs finally returned my call and I asked her what was happening with UTS for which she said she didn't know. She said they were waiting on medical reports and I asked what medical records are you waiting on. She said she didn't know-I said, how could you not know what records you are waiting on when you tell me you are waiting on them. I asked what was happening with Debra & Craig and she advised the interview went well and there were other checks that needed to be run on them and said this was only a preliminary interview and a follow-up interview would be required at sometime. I expressed how exasperated that things seemed to be going at a snails pace and again she reminded me that we are not their only case! I asked had Docs interviewed Robyn yet, and she said No. advised they were hoping to do the interview tomorrow morning with Robyn but didn't know what time and would call me after the interview. 1900-Interviewed Greer who still seemed keen. She had lots of questions for which we answered them all. Debra Davies spoke also with Greer and gave her experience with Docs and the type of questions that she might be asked as a possible potential supervisory live-in nanny/carer. I asked Greer to think carefully about this and phone me in the morning. Friday 21st July 0830-We dropped off the kids at schools LPS and Masada St Ives. 0900 went to JIT to pickup the Key and Medicare Card. Following is 's statement: greeted me and opened the door. introduced herself and I said that we had in fact already met, and that was the person who was studying welfare. agreed. I then told I had come to pickup our medicare card and Key that Robyn (the nanny) had left. waved to me (behind her back). was on the phone. (police officer), also spotted me and met me at the door and said she was going to call me re a " Greer " that has called her enquiring about the Meads-Barlow case and she commented she " thought it was odd " . And we agreed Greer could have been anyone. I offered that we had interviewed Greer the night that she called JIT, and that I didn't think it was particularly odd in light of what Donna had already told her (Greer). I also suggested the nanny had, in principle, accepted the position. I then asked if Docs had been to see Robyn. said that she knew it was scheduled, however didn't know if they had indeed met with her. added something like " it's a Docs think " and she didn't know, nor could she answer for them. and (Docs) then entered the reception area and asked (in a seemingly serious manner), something like " is everything OK? " . I then asked them of the status with meeting Robyn. They said " No, not as yet, and that they are working very hard to get there and said it would be imminent " . They also added that there are more officers working on this case than any other case there " . During the course of the conversation, asked why I was there, and I told her that I had come to pick up the cards/key - confirmed. I said I appreciated their efforts and I'm sure they are working hard as they can, however I added, t looks a whole lot different from a parents point of view, and that it is difficult to cope with. All 3 officers concluded with kind words and I departed. During initial conversations there with , she was called behind a closed door to take what she described as a phone call. 0930 Donna phoned JIT asking for either Henry or Nillson, to be told by (who took the call) that they were both unavailable. I explained again to that at all costs that Mark & Fiona need to be interviewed as if the UTS option wasn't to come through that Codey absolutely must go to my brother and sister-in-laws place. I added that I thought it was their responsibility to make sure that Codey didn't go to just any forster home and he needed to be with family in a worst case senario. I offered Mark and Fionas phone number and requested that she have or arrange to meet with them and do all the necessary checks. agreed and confirmed that she would pass on the number and have or phone me back ASAP. 0940-I embarked on day care options that would satisfy Docs if UTS doesn't come through. I phoned the following but received no help whatso ever, but the last person I spoke to, Donna Thornton from Gumnut cottage at Macquarie Uni advised me that " its up to the dept & they take their orders from the Dept. She advised that all centres can go over if approved by the Department. In the end it's up to the Dept " . Centres contacted are following:- Willoughby Family Care 97777836 North Ryde Family Care 98583222-Christian Community Dianna Kurringai Family Care 94240834-Sandy Dept. Community Services-Suzie 94820800 Father Steve at the Catholic Church at Chatswood 94121042 CSIRO Care 94905527 Cressy Rd Care 98071726 Henley Care 98797694 Magic Kids 98048036 Mia Mia 98508036 0-5 Early Childcare 98871974 Oz Education 2001 98085288 Greenwich care 94381162 Meadowbank care 98082692 Carlingford care 98726155 Bambinis Chatswood 99581684 Chatswood Long Day Care 94173333 Devonshire St Centre 94115436 Kookaburra 94194325 Gumnut Cottage 98507740 After this I was totally exhausted and went to the hospital to see my baby. 1100H -Donna phoned JIT and asked again for or to be told they were busy interviewing. I left a message for them to call me urgently 1200H-Donna phoned JIT and asked again for or to be told they were busy interviewing. I left another message for them to call me urgently and added that I had already left 3 messages. 1330H-Donna phoned JIT and answered the phone and said she couldn' t speak with me as she was interviewing. added that would be in touch. I requested she return my call Urgently. 1500H -Donna phoned JIT and asked if she knew if they had interviewed Robyn as yet, she said she didn't know and that she had left the message for and and would have them return my call. 1655H-Donna phoned JIT, no answer. Saturday 23rd July 0830 Left message for Neil Ginsberg who returned my call. Discussed Viera Scheibner paper with him who agreed it was a possibility. Contacted Scheibner explained the situation who asked me to fax through all the documentation I had inclusive of medical records, police statements etc and she agreed this is most definitely indicative of her findings. Sunday 24th July 0900 phoned Scheibner back who had read the case and agreed without a doubt it is indicative of her findings and whilst Docs may move to have Codey fostered out, he is subject to a 6 Mth immunisation and may even die in the future. She agreed we need to work fast. She said she had left messages for Ginsberg to phone her and the timing needed to be right to get Ginsberg in the right frame of mind for support. She advised if this was in a court in the US it would have been thrown out but in Australia the Govt. continues to insist that all children be immunised. She also advised that perhaps la's diabetes is a direct reaction to Vaccine Damage and advised me to contact ine Rose-Homeopath on 02 94362992 to arrange for all my children to be treated for Vaccine Damage. She will be in touch. 0930 tracked down Dr who is in Adelaide on conference. Left message with wife to have him phone me urgently on return. 0945 phoned MCCrohon who suggested that I get a medical history on other 2 children as Scheibner suggested that perhaps la's Diabetes is a direct link to Vaccine Damage. I gave Graces number and agreed he would call in his own resources of Neurologists and Opthamoligists but would talk to Grace 1st. 1500 Phoned my girlfriend Soraya Harding 98808304 explained situation. Soraya advised her 7 year old (Dominique) had the same type of reaction when she had the 2-month shots. Stopped breathing etc. Soraya went this afternoon to her doctor and obtained the medical records from The children's Hospital Camperdown diagnosing " Hypotonic/hypopusine episode post pertussis vaccination " and treatment " not for any pertussis next vaccination " . They diagnosed Dominique's condition as a direct link to the " Whooping Cough Vaccine " Soraya has delivered these documents to me and authorises us to use them however we wish. 1700 Phoned Herz (Aventis Pasteur-Vaccine Specialist & Client), in Indonesia-explained the situation will call back with assistance of who can help us. 1900 Phoned Dr back again at home and explained the situation and my findings of Viera Scheibner. said he is happy to keep an open mind but in his opinion there was intense damage. He asked me to fax through the paper and findings of Viera Scheibner together with the Medical diary from our GP Dianna Staniforth and Ginsbergs report and findings of Codey's 1st admittance to hospital. He advised he would consider the situation and would be in touch tomorrow morning. I faxed the paper with Codey GP Diary and Ginsberg's findings from the 1st diagnosed febrile Convulsion to 99773775. mobile number is 0414 549314. He confirmed to me that Tress Cocks and Maddox had been in touch to try and obtain his medical report on Codey. 2000 Herz phoned back and recommended the following. Report adverse reaction to Drug Company 03 92134444- Klien & Beecham (Inframix). Also phone New Children's Hospital NCR (National Centre for Research) - 98455555 and report adverse reaction-speak to a Doctor. arrives in Sydney from Bali tomorrow morning and will make contact with a colleague that she hopes will be able to assist. She will be in contact with us. Herz can be contacted on 0414 237326 Monday 24th July 0900-sent a fax to Poly Clinic at Port s on 02 49840710 Phone 0249 841344 Attn: arranging all and any medical records relation to my daughter la to be released this morning to my parents Maureen & Barlow (Phone 0249 846840). 0915-Phone Dr Dianna Staniforth and requested all medical records for la and be released by fax to me on 02 94103444. 1000-Received a call from friend Louise (Phone 0407 061209), who advised her best friend in the world is Carol Cook (Phone 93844999), who works for the Community Services Commissioner which is the Federal Body and has due restriction over Docs. Carol apparently is the person who overrides any decision Docs make. Louise is going to keep trying to contact Carol today and confidentially discuss the situation with her and have Carol phone us later today with any advice or assistance she can offer. 1000-Spoke to Dianna Staniforth (GP), who advised that the 1st vaccine that Codey had was Inframix (by Klien & Beecham), and the 2nd vaccine was Tripacel from CSL (distributed by Aventis Pasteur or Rhone Poulenc). Dianna faxed all medical records for both and la. 1115-Louise called back and advised that it is quite difficult for Docs to get a ruling against us as the burden is on Docs in terms of a legal position to prove that we are unfit parents. We are assumed to be fit parents and Docs have to prove that we are not. Where the Community Service Commission comes in is they review the process by which the Department acts. We need to find a hole in the process as we have counter evidence. I.e. have they considered every diagnosis and we have evidence of this being potentially an incorrect diagnosis. She advised that Carol can't talk to us directly, as she could stuff things up if she got the case. She would put us onto Piper who is an intake officer who will discuss with us what the Community Services Commission can do and how we can appeal through them-this would all depend on where it is legally. should be in touch with us today to advise what to do and how they can help. can be contacted on 93844999. Louise is a Journo for the Sydney Morning Herald, she advises we need to do everything legally at the moment but this should go to the media eventually and she knows the right person to put us onto who is familiar with Community Services etc. 1230-Emma social worker from RNS phoned to see how we were. I advised her that JIT have not returned any of my calls and I left over 6 messages for them on Friday-various messages with Henry and for Nillson and again reaffirmed that I had spoken to at JIT at 0915H last Friday advising that at all costs Codey MUST not go to Forster care and Docs must call my Brother and Sister in law-Mark & Fiona Barlow on 96512122 and must make time to interview them urgently. I told Emma that I don't for a moment believe that Codey has been shaken and I believe their diagnosis is incorrect. I advised her that it had cost me about $10,000 so far just to get my baby back. I said I was really annoyed that the Doctors had not considered all the probable causes of Codeys condition. I clearly advised Emma that my lawyers were handling this and I did not authorise her to disclose any of our conversation. Emma advised me she was phoning from Docs to see why they were not returning any of my calls. I offered her again my brother and sister-in-laws phone number and she advised she would speak with and have her call Mark and Fiona to ensure that something was in place prior to Wednesday. Emma advised me that the reason that the hospital was making it so hard for us to get our hands on any medical records was because Codey was in " temporary hands of the state " and he was their property so even though I am his mother-technically I am not entitled to these records. 1245-Documents arrived through on fax from CSL and it turns out Tripacel is a Rhone Poulenc/Aventis product. I faxed all the information received to Viera Scheibner. 1300-I contacted Noelene ( Herz secretary) and explained it is in fact Tripacel and she advises that she will have return my call. 1340- Piper (Community Services Commission), called and took the call. advised what she does and said I believe you are having problems with Docs the department. advised that we had left 6 messages last Friday and they are not returning our calls. mentioned that it goes to call on Wednesday and she advised if the court hands down a ruling then theres nothing she can do to help-everything would need to be done prior to Wed. advised that he has just taken a message off his mobile from and he was going to return her call now. explained that we are trying to work with the system but the system is too slow and we don't seem to be getting anywhere. They keep on telling us that we are not the only case they have and they are working as fast as they can. In our opinion, their not returning our calls or taking note of our request for Fiona & Mark to be interviewed is not working in the best interests of our son. advised to write our problems down and perhaps call her back and she could intervene to ensure that Docs the department is doing what they should be doing. 1345- Nillson phoned Donna. Said she wanted to meet with us to discuss their interview with Robyn and with Debra and Craig and where they were at with Codey's care. I asked her why she or were not replying any of our calls and she went quiet. She said they are very busy and were too busy to talk with us on Friday. She advised they were interviewing all day Friday. I said, whilst you go home at 4 or 5 O clock, our baby is still lying in hospital and I had put in numerous calls last Friday-one being at around 0930 to requesting they interview Mark & Fiona. She said she wanted to meet to discuss the outcome of the interview with Debra and Craig. I asked what was happening with UTS. She said she didn't know that was 's area. I said, well do you know if has arranged something? Again she replied No I have no idea. I said, well what do you want to discuss if you don't know what you have in place or arranged? She said, we want to talk to you and together about the whole process and that she didn't have the time or inclination to discuss this with me over the phone. I asked, when will be back and when can she advise us at least where they are at with UTS, she said was at lunch and she expected her back around 2pm. I said, what are you doing about interviewing my brother & sister in law -Mark and Fiona. She said we would discuss that when we meet and that had advised about 11am tomorrow would be a good time. I said, and at 11am tomorrow you will have enough time to interview Mark and Fiona and do all the necessary checks on them?.She said, well she didn't think that would be possible, as they were too busy. I said, it is in the interests of our son and all I was concerned about was my child and his welfare and I believed that they would also be working with us in the best interests of Codey. She went quiet and seemed exasperated with me. I said that I knew that they asked Craig and Debra if they would take Codey to live with them and I was annoyed that they had never suggested to us they were going to ask this. I also knew that Craig and Debra suggested to them that this would not be possible for Codey to live with them. I added, in these circumstances that it is in Codey's interests that they should be interviewing Mark and Fiona, as he must go to family at worst case senario. It was not 1347 and I asked her to please find out from what the outcome with UTS was and to please phone me back immediately to at least advise me where they were with that. I reconfirmed that would be back in around 13 minutes and that I would wait for the call. I also again pointed out that I had waited over 3 days for her to return my calls from Friday and I didn't think they were acting in our interests at all. She said that although she expected back she was a very busy person and she would see if could call me. She then suggested that I couldn't make the time to meet with them and I reaffirmed that I did not say this at all, I simply said I wanted to know the outcome of UTS and their intentions and we would arrange the meeting when they call back. I added, that I would make myself available but they also had a duty to let me know their intentions and I was extremely concerned that it is now almost 2pm on Monday and what are they planning on recommending to the courts on Wednesday-for which she did not reply. closed with saying again was a busy person and reminding me that I am not their only case and she would get to call me. I said, " I will wait for her call " , and we hung up! 1430- phoned back and advised that she had a verbal ok for Codey to go to UTS but nothing in writing as yet. I asked her how she saw Debra and Craig fitting into the UTS routine and she said she would discuss this with and I tomorrow. I said I needed to know their intentions and that if this wasn't suitable that I needed to push for them to interview Mark & Fiona. She said, " was I not prepared to come in tomorrow " , I said, that I never said that I would not be there and to " please not put words into my mouth that I had never said " . I reminded her my question was clearly " how did she expect Debra and Craig to fit into the routine " , and added it was my right to know their intentions. She said she would discuss this tomorrow - she also added that it was not my right to push them to interview anyone else and that they will have the final decision on where they place Codey either with Debra or Craig or with anyone they decided. I asked again, " , how do you see Debra and Craig fitting in with Codeys routine " , she said she was not prepared to discuss this over the phone and she would not discuss this prior to 11am tomorrow-she added in a nasty manner, that " it would be really helpful if could avail himself to be there too " . Totally exasperated, I said " thankyou so much for you help-I will see you at 11 " and hung up. 1455- Piper Community Services Commission called back and I explained our issues of the lack of co-operation with Docs. She recommended that they could make a referral under section 17a,Local resolution, which means that the Commission refers the matter back to Community Services Centre (to or ) to undertake to resolve our complaint that they meet with us to resolve timely processes acceptable to both ourselves and their department etc-which I suggested that we were doing anyway. said they don't have the powers to tell the department what to do. We agreed that could be of no assistance at this stage. 1500- Herz advised she had spoken to Professor Margaret Burgess Ph 98450520-Immunisation specialist at New Children's Hospital. Margaret advised 1. Issue on how strong is their evidence of Shaken Baby. 2. She recommended we go through the correct channels of requesting Dr Dianna Staniforth (GP) Phone 94189670 to approach Dr Tait who is the Child Protection Pediatrician Expert at New Children's Hospital Phone 98450000 to review the reports. She also advised that it would be helpful to have a Pediatric Neurologist who would be the best person to assess what other things can cause the seizures. 1530-Phoned Dr Dianna Staniforth explained request to approach Dr Tait. Dianna has left a message for Tait to return her call. She will be back in touch when he hopefully returns Dianna's call. 1535- returned mobile message call to Nillson's call to JIT (Docs) I opened conversation by saying " I am returning your call, and acknowledged that she had already spoken to Donna " said " yes-but thanked me for calling anyway. She went on to explain about Tuesdays 11am meeting and to suggest that they want to tell us of what is going to be presented in court " . I added " like a sneak preview " said " yes " . then said " they want to discuss the options " I said, " It sounds like you have already made up your mind about where Codey is going on Wednesday " . said " there were options and they'd like to make an agreement " I said " if we don 't agree?...you do it anyway? " said something like " yes, but we would like to meet with you first and discuss this " The discussion ended with talk about our decision and our availability. During the discussion I told - " I was at the hospital " . 1555-Phoned Immunise Australia Program on 93919000 and was put through to North Sydney Public Health. Explained the whole situation and schedule of Inframix and Tripacel immunization. Cath Cannings Immunisation coordinator for Northern Sydney Public Health said it certainly was in line with an adverse reaction to immunisations and recommended to speak with Dr Margaret Burgess who specialises in immunization at the New Children's Hospital. She might review the case or recommend someone to review the case. She also recommended to get a 2nd opinion from another Dr or contact Adverse Events Clinic at the New Children's hospital 98453418 (held only on Friday Mornings). Find a specialist who can help us speak with someone who specializes in adverse events following immunisation. 1605-Called 98453418 requesting to talk with a specialist Adverse Events Clinic- Ellen Burn Immunization Nurse at New Children's Hospital. She will talk to the Doctors who specialise in immunization and call me back. She advised that my story is definitely in line with an adverse effect. She said we would need to bring Codey in to see a Dr there to discuss further immunisation. I explained the seriousness of the situation with Codey in the hands of the Director General. 1640- Ellen phoned back said they cant help and we should go back to Dr Hugh to review in light of our findings and to point out that he has not explored the immunization schedule and adverse reactions. Alternatively, we need another pediatrician i.e. Ginsberg to go over the files and write a contrary independent report. 1730-CSL Medical Affairs Liz 1800 642865 (MEL), Reported incident and side effects and complete medical history of vaccines and side effects from both Inframix (which isn't their product), and then bringing him home from hospital on 30th June and finishing the Antibiotics around 7th July then taking him to be immunised on 11th July with their product Tripacel and there after presenting with a seizure on the 12th. Liz will gather all the references she can from their library and will be speaking to Manager Hobbs who she will speak to tonight. She will be looking for any data on retinal hemorrhaging and neurological side effects that are not in the publicly released data. Liz will call back either tonight or tomorrow morning. 1730-Grace phoned and advised she is going into conference and will phone us later tonight. She advised that she had spoken to Ginsberg who said that he should be seen to be directly involved with the investigation as he was Codeys personal pediatrician but he was happy work with whatever pediatrician we brought into the case. 1800-Viera phoned me to advise that she had just come of the phone to Ginsberg who finally returned her call. She said she let Ginsberg have his say and she talked about Immunological Insults and the published 48 hour reactions and most are " delayed reactions " which are not published however she has documented in medical reports. Finally Ginsberg agreed that he would endorse the 2nd Seizure as a direct link and eventually kind of suggested that he may be prepared to work with her and asked her to document everything and fax him the reports and he would review it and perhaps work with us. Viera asked me to find out if Codey had Hepatitis B. Viera advised she would work all night to complete her report and fax it to myself 94103444 and Ginsberg Fax 94899521 and we would talk in the morning. Viera requested I fax through the medical history on my other 2 children for her to analyse. I thanked Viera for everything she is doing and how appreciative we are of her dedication and help. I told Viera I would fax her this ongoing update as well for her reference. 1805-I called Lane Cove Medical Practice and spoke to Roussel who advised No he had Heb B. 1810-I phoned Viera back to advise that Codey did not have Hepatitis B. 1900-Spoke to Grace about where we were at, at the moment. I discussed the interview that Debra and Craig had with Docs and explained that I had a report of that interview that I would fax. Which I did at 1911H to 92217483. Grace agreed it best for us to go with legal representation to this meeting tomorrow morning and to defer to 1130H. I agreed that I would phone in the morning saying we were running late and would be there at 1130H. I advised all the above events of today drawing particular attention to Viera perhaps talking Ginsberg around to assisting and reassessing. We agreed we would talk in the morning and meet out the front of the Docs place (Gas place) at 1130H. Tuesday 25th July 1000-Phoned Kline Beecham (Aust) P/L 1800251905 spoke to Medical Dept-Theresa McGarry and reported Codey having Inframix on 08th May and around 48 hours after becoming unsettled and constant fevers. Advised given Infant panadol but deteriorated to cough and nasal on 24th May and continued to go downhill till 13th June when we took him back again to the Dr to be diagnosed with Bronchilitis. Dr advised best to still not give any antibiotics and on 16th June his condition was no better. 16th June we took him back to Lane cove General Practice this time observed by Dr Anne Tonkin who arranged a Chest X-ray and prescribed Amoxil pediatric 100ml drops. On 21st June we took him back again as he was really a very sick baby and Dr Anne Tonkin said the cry that she hears in her surgery-something is just not right and she wanted him to see a pediatrician straight away. Dr Anne Tonkin tracked down Ginsberg (pediatrician) at Baulkham Hills Hospital and I took him there to 1st have a chest x-ray and then to be attended by Ginsberg. Ginsberg said his cough was very bad but his chest didn't sound as bad on the inside as out and perhaps it was his ears giving him most of the trouble. Ginsberg suggested Codey continue the Antibiotics and go back next Tuesday to be examined by the GP. On the following Monday 26th June Co dey had a seizure. I advised Theresa at SKB that Codey is well however they have discovered retinal Hemorrhaging and she confirmed that a baby could suffer retinal Hemorrhaging from constant coughing and convulsions and that our pediatrician should have explained this to us. She advised that she is filing the report and it will go to the adverse reaction board in Canberra and a copy will go to our GP for signature and acknowledgment on my report. 1130-Fax finally came through from Viera Schiebner (54pg), which I took with me to meet Grace out the front of Docs. We were worried sick about Docs intentions with Codey. I cleared my messages on my mobile from the day prior and found a message from Debra Tait at UTS who confirmed good news that Docs had approved the funding for Codey and UTS were accepting him. My concern was how did Docs see Debra and Craig fitting into Codeys routine. I requested Debra do me a report on her discussions with Docs and discovered that Docs had approached Debra and Craig asking them to take Codey into their home as Forster parents indefinitely, taking him Mon-Fri to UTS for Day care-which was different to the suggested Debra and/or Craig coming to our home to supervise that docs had originally suggested. We met Grace out the front of the Docs office at 1135 at Chatswood and Grace suggested because I was so distraught that she does most of the talking. I was really angry with docs when they pushed us into a corner suggesting that they had been in touch with Debra and Craig that morning to ask them to take Codey home to live with them and Debra said No...and the reason she said not was that I explained to her on the weekend at worst case senario if Codey couldn 't come home that and I thought it was best for Codey to go to Mark and Fionas (my brothers) now realising that this was bigger than Docs originally suggested. Despite my million calls to Docs over the past few days, docs either didn't return my calls or wouldn't answer me as to how they saw Craig and Debra fitting into Codeys routine. It appears they had said to Craig & Debra that they were not to discuss with or I their suggested discussions of Debra & Craig taking Codey home to their place! What made me angry was being pushed into a corner saying that it was their intentions that Codey go to live with Debra and Craig and now they had said no, then Codey was going to Forster Care to someone we wouldn't know. This was my BABY and we haven't done anything to deserve this nightmare other than be loving and good parents and now some department just comes along and takes our baby off us! I requested with Docs I have privacy whilst I phoned Debra pleading with her to PLEASE TAKE CODEY...for which after several calls back to her she agreed that she and Craig would take him. We left Docs around 1315H agreed that he would go to UTS during the day and Debra & Craig's nights and weekends. 1400- and I drove to Wahroongha to Neil Ginsbergs rooms who had agreed to look at Viera Scheibners report and comment. Neil saw us and thankfully gave us about 40 minutes of time. He said that we really needed Expert witnesses in our case and made some suggestions as follows from New Children's Hospital at Westmead. 1730-CSL Medical Affairs Hobbs 1800 642865 (MEL), Reported incident and side effects and complete medical history of vaccines and side effects - he put me through to Niedermayr. She asked re history and took a full report from the time of Inframix right up to Tripacel with all medication and medical history along the way. She confirmed she was writing a full report to be signed off by Dr Dianna Staniforth and would copy me in on all further correspondence. Wednesday 26th July Normal routing is to drop la at LPS and at UTS each Mon-Wed Morn and and I have continued our normal weekly routine with la and Josh. 1000-I phoned Grace to advise we were thick in traffic at Strathfield and would be at Campsie ASAP. She advised to please get there as soon as possible. I had with me an affidavit from Craig Davies taking full care and responsibility for Codey for Trish and Grace to present to the courts that day. We were Number 10 on the list and Grace had us moved to number 4. Around 1040H I received a call from my brother on my mobile and he asked where was what was happening and I. I explained I was at Campsie Courthouse and how horrible this was as there were really horrible drongo looking people here for which I felt somewhat demoralized. I asked Mark where he was and he said come out the front I am here to support you. With that I went out the front (where the 2 docs people were) and ran into my brothers arms crying and saying " thankyou so very very much for coming " . Not long after I introduced Mark to Trish and Grace and subsequently to and from Docs asking them again to please interview my brother and his wife and reminding them I had been requesting this for a week now " . They agreed to interview Mark and Fiona prior to the end of this week. (Docs) advised , Mark and I that she and had interviewed Robyn over one and a half days at the end of last week. The magistrate seemed in a better mood today and Trish contested on Medical grounds. At one stage there was talk about Robyn (the nanny) being exonerated but Nillson jumped in and said, " no this wasn't the case " . The magistrate asked docs to present their expert Dr witnesses who they offered Dr Hugh , Dr Lawless (who they advised hasn't yet written a report on Codey, but just arrived back today from Miami, and would arrange a written report to be filed in the next week). We broke for about 45 minutes and Mark, and I stepped out the front. Then and came looking for our Lawyers and said they had arrange for Dr , Lawless and to be there on 21st & 22nd August and we would now have to go back into court to confirm this. The magistrate called us back in and confirmed a hearing for 21 & 22 august and the Docs lawyer requested she advise a time span as the Doctors were busy people and needed to arrange surgery times etc. Trish Hanna (our barrister), clarified if Robyn (the nanny) was exonerated for which they confirmed No and Trish asked this to be recorded. She also confirmed liberal access for , myself and our 2 other children for which the magistrate agreed and Trish again asked for this to be on the record. The Docs lawyer suggested something to the tune that Robyn (the nanny) had been interviewed but the interview needed to be typed and this would not happen till the end of this week. He made a strange comment to the tune of " the nanny's report will speak for itself " . The magistrate advised that Docs had until 02nd August to file all their reports and we had until 16th and on 18th they would file for readiness. We then left thereafter with the hearing being set for 21 & 22nd August. and agreed they would make the necessary arrangements with Craig and Debra and would most probably arrange release of Codey on Thursday 27th July. Trish asked and if they were calling on Robyn (the nanny) to court and they said " no you are contesting on medical grounds and that she would not be required " . Trish advised she would supena Robyn Farrar if necessary for which they suggested initially she couldn't do that and she argued she could. A lawyer approached us out the front and said she might be representing (? Codey), and gave Grace a business card and said she would be in touch. 1630- went to Craig and Debras home and they signed the JIT confirmation to care for Codey under the direction of the DG. We met up with Craig and Debra later than night and they gave us a copy and we went over all the schedule and how and I could help Debra and Craig still maintaining their lifestyle as normal as possible and include Codey. Thursday 27th July 1040-Emailed Maureen Hickman from AVN to see if she can help. 1100-http://www.pnc.com.au/~cafmr/online/vaccine/mr-jan28.html-AVN stands for " Australian Vaccination Network " I spoke with Meryl Dorey Phone 02 66872600 of the AVN stands for Australian Vaccination Network, explained the case and she agrees that this is without a doubt Vaccine Related. A couple of things-she said 1. Present Viera's report as supporting evidence but 2. " Dont " have Viera testify as it might harm our case She gave me the following contacts who have been used as " Expert Witnesses " recently for SBS cases won by parents based on " Vaccine related " injury. She advised to speak straight away with Dr Robyn Cosford-at Northern Beaches Care at Mona Vale Ph 99799444 who apparently has a huge network of specialists that she is working with. She confirmed that Robyn would probably help us to find an expert Pediatric Neurologist that we will need! She also said contact: Dr Mark Donohoe 99681087 or 0411 193215 at Mosman and Dr Archie Kalakerinos 02 67608166 who is in Tamworth. Additionally Gizelle Cooke at Gordon 94181388 a well recognised and active Naturopath/GP who has had experience in this area and apparently is very credible. Lastly, she advised to contact TODAY Mr. Allan Corbett MLC NSW Upperhouse on 92302122 & 92303064. He must be contacted today as he is not in chamber on Fri, Sat or Sun. I phoned all these people and left urgent crisis messages for them to call me back. I think it was Meryl and a number of people here after that suggested that " SBS is the flavor of the month at the moment and they are quick to jump it " 1130-Emailed above to Grace Basaglia/Trish Hanna 1135-Rang all of the above people and left messages for them to return my call. 1200-Allan Corbett returned my call. Advised once its in the hands of Docs he cant help, but wished us luck and after this is over and hopefully we will win, then he may be able to help. He recommended we make contact down the track with the Community Services Commission so they see Docs take steps to make sure this nightmare doesn't happen to someone else. He also advised for any further Vaccinations Codey should be admitted to the New Children's Hospital for constant Monitor after vaccination. 1300-Received a call from at docs saying Codey wasn't going to be released today as they checked the circumference on his head and it had grown from 44cm at admission to 44.8cm in 2 weeks and this was unusual so they decided they were going to run a CT Scan. I asked why hadn't they run a CT Scan anyway and she said if she were a medico she would be much better at her job and couldn't answer that. She also said that it should be the hospitals responsibility to have phoned me and she was sorry for that. I said I was packing Codeys things and I would phone the hospital and find out what's going on. 1315-I phoned the hospital who advised he was being done at 4pm and to be there around 3pm if I wanted to go down with him. The nurse explained to me that they were concerned about the heamotomas getting bigger and just wanted to check to be sure. I advised I would be there at 3pm. 1320-Dr Archie Kalakerinos phoned me and said he vowed to his wife that he wouldn't work on another of these cases again-but still please tell him my story. I started at the beginning when Codey was born and went through the whole history of his life. Archie said he would consider if he would assist us over the weekend and for me to call him on Monday night at 7pm and he would let me know then. I explained he was an induced baby and was originally unsettled when put straight on Karicare and then after about 2 weeks was changed over to SMA and became a happy and settled baby. Towards the end of April my husband went to Vietnam and at that stage I had Codey in a good routine and sleeping through the night. On the 08th May he was 1st vaccined with Infanrix (SKB), and shortly after became unsettled, fevers and arched back constantly for which I thought perhaps he was having problems passing wind. I explained Codey became like fluey towards the end of May with constant runny nose and by 13th June he was really quite ill with what appeared like the flu with a terrible cough and very chesty. I took him to the GP on the 13th June and she diagnosed Bronchilitis and said just continue to give panadol and Dimetapp infant drops. We then took him back to the GP on 16th June and they did a Chest x-ray and prescribed Amoxil 100mg Pediatric Drops 3 timesa day 1/2-ml doses. On 21st June he was still deteriorating rapidly and the Antibiotic didn't seem to be touching the sides so we (my nanny) took him back again. The GP rang me and said " this baby's cry that I hear in my surgery, something just isn't right and I want him to see a pediatrician urgently today " ...possible pneumonia?-She asked, could I track down Ginsberg, your pediatrician. Dr Tonkin called me back and said Ginsberg was at Baulkham Hills hospital and he would see him immediately, but 1st go to the xray and Ginsberg would arrange for Codey's chest to be x-rayed first and then go straight to Ginsberg-which I did. Ginsberg said, " although he sounded terrible and rattly like a bag of bones, that he didn't necessarily think it was his chest that was giving him he trouble, perhaps it was his ears that seemed quite inflamed. Ginsberg advised to continue the Amoxil antibiotic and take Codey back next Tuesday to the GP to have her examine him. Over the weekend Codey seemed to still be really unsettled still very arched back and constant crying and fever. On Monday 26th June, my nanny was changing Codey and he went all stiff and she couldn't get Codeys leg into his jumpsuit. Codey's eyes rolled back into his head and looked glazed and he was stiff and shaking. She (the nanny), picked him up quickly and ran into my office with him yelling " something's wrong with Codey " . I took him into my arms and he was stiff and then went all limp and seemed as though he was hardly breathing. I thought my baby was dying and I yelled " Quick Call triple 0 and ask them what to do " URGENT! Robby (the nanny) called Triple 0 asked for an ambulance urgent and they told her to undress Codey and apply wet cloths on him and keep him awake for which I lied him down on the couch following instructions and shaking his arms and torso yelling Codey Codey Codey. I was panicked. I think Robby rang the ambulance back twice asking where were they. I also phoned my husband and said " quick you have to come, I have an ambulance on the way, Codey is REALLY SICK " My daughter la, was going back to the bathroom getting cold washers for me to apply on Codey. My friend Omeara arrived to wish me a happy belated birthday and was with Codey and I whilst I continued with the cold washers and shook him to keep him awake and revive him. The ambulance arrived and followed by paramedics and arrived. I asked if we could go to the SAN as that was where Codeys pediatrician was. The ambulance men diagnosed a febrile convulsion and took us to the SAN emergency. A registrar attended to us and explained they would be doing blood tests and pending on those as to whether they would do a lumber punch and Ginsberg would be in later and decide that. During this time they did blood tests on Codey and put a drip on him, for which and I waited outside as I couldn't stand how much they were hurting my baby and he was screaming. He was still very pale and shocked. Ginsberg came I think around 2130 and said that there was a high white blood cell count and this indicated a virus and would rule out a lumber punch. We were taken up to the children's ward I think around 11pm and our friend Omeara came to pick up (his wife was at home with my other 2 children, and Robyn left around 7pm and went to her usual bowling on a Monday night). I stayed that night with Codey and he was quite unsettled all night, crying and the nurses gave him panadol. Over the course of the next few days either my husband or I stayed at the hospital 24 hours a day with Codey. One day Robyn sat in for a few hours so and I could get some work done. They took him off the drip on Thursday at which stage he was still quite unwell so I requested he stay in hospital for another day to at least be off the drip for 24 hours and on oral antibiotics before I took him home. Ginsberg arranged a ENT specialist to come into examine Codey and he took wax out of his ears and said that although one was still quite inflamed, he didn't think at all that the seizure was caused by his ears. During the time at the hospital they also did a Chest and abdomen xray which apparently showed clear. We brought Codey home on Friday 30th June with oral antibiotics (I think amoxacyllan), and he continued on these till I think around 7th or 8th July-still quite unsettled and feverish, for which the hospital told us to give Panadol and Painstop alternatively. Codey was still arched back at times and unsettled with fever from time to time. During that week Robyn (the nanny) and I discussed Codey having his 4mth shots and decided to wait a few more days till he was off the antibiotics and seeming better. On Tuesday 11th, I think around 2pm Robby took Codey to our GP for his 4mth shots for which they gave Trepacil. That night Codey was quite unsettled. On Wednesday 12th July- left Chatswood for a meeting at North Sydney-Australian Business with Walter Roso & Obrien. At our time of departure, I remember Codey was again unsettled; yet Robyn said you go. Meeting Concluded around 1130H when we returned to Chatswood and found a note on the counter saying something like " Gone to Westmead Hospital to pickup las Jacket, and get Codey some sleep " I made a comment to something like " Poor Robbie, Codey doesn't give her a very good time " . went into N/Ryde office and Donna continued to work the afternoon at Chatswood. Around 1530H some business colleagues arrived Brettel & Brett Jowett from Sanford International Travel at Chatswood. On arriving, Robyn was in the Foyer with Codey in her arms and made a comment to Codey like " you give your mummy a big scare " and went onto explain the previous episode to Brett. Robyn had made us coffee and then left with Codey to pickup from Kidz Campus early as my sister-in-law Fiona was coming to pickup around 4pm so he could go on his first holiday away from home. Robyn had packed a bag ready to go. I was in my meeting with & Brett when Fiona arrived. I introduced Fiona & her family and to & Brett on their way out the door at around 1630H. I have later asked Fiona how Codey was when she arrived and she commented that she thought that Codey looked distant and daised, but when she looked again at him, he didn't have a runny nose or anything, so she just thought he was particularly quiet. When I came out of my meeting around 1700H, I farewelled my colleagues and came into the family room where Robyn was sitting on the couch with Codey. She commented she thought he didn't seem right and did I think he had a fever? I felt his forehead and said I thought it was warm but not on fire, but to be sure I said lets go the soft drug and give him panadol. Codey seemed unsettled, yet Robyn rocked him to sleep and put him down. She was in the kitchen when Codey cried again and she again patted him to sleep. Not long after Codey let out a scream and Robyn went to the bedroom to find Codey again fitting. She picked him up and raced into my office yelling, " Donna he's doing it again " . I took him from Robby's arms and said call Triple 0 and get an ambulance urgently. I lied him on the couch and again began to immediately undress him and asked Robyn to get cold washers. I swapped with her and went straight to get Codey's Blue book dialed Ginsbergs number and left a message for him to call me back Urgently. I went back to Codey and Robyn rang and said again " Codey is really sick and is having another seizure and to come quick, we have an ambulance on the way " . Ginsberg rang back and I described what was happening to Codey. He asked if I had a thermometer, and I said I can't read the bloody thing. He asked what I had done and I explained I undressed him and was applying cold washers, he said no need for anymore washers, turn him on his side and get the paramedics to take his temperature soon as they arrive-which I did. The ambulance and I think arrived around the same time. The paramedics took Codeys temperature and I think they told me it was 33.5 so he was quite cool. I requested we go to the SAN as that was where Codey's pediatrician was and they said its peak hour we should go to RNSH. I agreed and on the way to the hospital the pediatrician did an ECG on Codey. Codey was blowing little bubbles and eyes open but noone seemed there. He was really pale but didn't seem as hot as he was in the first seizure. The intensive care unit paramedic in the ambulance said clearly to me " he didn't think this was a febrile convulsion, and we must not leave the hospital till they had run all the tests on him to find out what was causing this " . Robyn followed us to the hospital and was there when we arrived. She apparently said to my husband " what took you so long " , as she got there before us. On arrival they took us into the resuscitation room and began tests and checking Codey over. We described all the above and they asked us questions about family history etc and I remember Robyn jumping in and saying " and the 6 year old is a diabetic " . The registrar who was on duty was a woman named . I told her that Codey was immunized yesterday and she didn't seem to pay any attention-she was more concerned with his state and taking blood tests etc. I think she immediately put him on an antibiotic intravenous drip but said she didn't necessarily think he had a virus. Neither my husband nor myself had any money on us so I asked Robyn to lend me $20, which she did. I think around 10pm my husband and Robyn left the hospital and Robyn dropped home. They had advised by this stage that Codey was being admitted. They kept him in casualty till around midnight waiting to get a urine sample and eventually got one in a bag. After this they said they were taking us down to Children's ward. A security person arrived and took Codey, a nurse and myself down to the Children's ward in a Car with the drip as it was freezing outside. We arrived and Codey seemed settled and I knew the nurse on duty from my previous weeks that we spend at RNSH when la was diagnosed with Diabetes. The nurse suggested that I looked like I should try to get some sleep and walked me down to the annex to sleep the night. Thursday 13th July-Around 6am the nursing staff called me and asked me to come as Codey was unsettled. I threw on my pants and a cardigan and raced up to the ward and settled him straight away with a bottle. I had advised Robyn not to come in on the Thursday, as we knew that Codey would be in hospital at least that day for all the necessary tests. la was still with my parents at Port s and was with my Brother and Sister-in-law at Dural. Robyn arrived at the hospital around 0815 and my husband arrived not long after. We asked Robyn to stay with Codey whilst we did a few things and I said we wouldn't be long. I remember Robyn commenting something like " OK I'm timing you " , which we thought was strange. Codey was booked in for a Brain Ultrasound, & Opthamoligist examination, followed by an EEG, ECG. It was the Opthamologist that spent the most time with Codey putting 3 lots of drops in his eyes to completely dilate them. After examination the Opthamologist asked us had Codey ever been shaken? We said No, what do you mean " Shaken " ? He said " Shaken " ! We were hurried to the next appointment, which was for an EEG & ECG-this appointment was across the hall at the hospital. The Opthamologist was in the hall and went back again to him and quizzed him-saying that he bumped Codeys head when putting him into the 4-wheel drive and Codey cried and it was quite a bump. The Opthamologist replied " no not a bump, a shake " . then went onto say that the kids often jump on him in his rocker, and again the Opthamologist replied " No I mean a shake " . We asked each other would Robyn ever shake Codey, and agreed that Robbie gets stressed at times with Codey but we never in a million years would think Robbie would ever harm Codey. Robyn has been with our family for over 2.5 years and she loves our kids like her own family. We knew the results were coming back that evening and we were eager to get them and see everything is all right with our little Codey. The person who did the ultrasound on the Brain had advised us at the time that she saw nothing unusual and the Brain looked perfectly normal and undamaged-that much we knew which was fabulous. Around 6pm that night Dr Hugh and his registrar Jane called us into the office and told us they believed Codey had been " Shaken " . and I were totally horrified and questioned their findings suggesting how sure could they be and were they 100% correct. They asked us question about Robyn (our nanny) and we agreed that at times Codey didn't give her a very good time but we never ever imagined in our wildest dreams that she would ever willingly harm him. We were asking a lot of questions, and at the time, Hugh got on the phone and before we knew it he was reporting this to the " emergency child abuse line " . He put the phone onto my husband who also spoke to the woman, at which stage my husband broke down crying and handed the phone to me to try and answer the questions. We were both so devastated and couldn't believe what they were telling us. I cant remember the name of the woman we spoke to but she advised us we had to give our 100% vow that Robyn would not be near our children under any circumstances. My father was dropping our daughter la back that evening from holidays and was waiting home for us. We came home feeling shell-shocked and unbelieving of what was happening, still not understanding what they were telling us. Later that evening around 2230H, the woman from the emergency child abuse line called us and we went over and over their diagnosis saying we couldn't believe that this could be true. She again reaffirmed that we had to keep Robyn away from our family under any circumstance. She advised that someone from Docs would be in touch with us tomorrow morning and would want to speak with us. She advised that they would probably meet us at the hospital. and I discussed Robyn being an employee and we couldn't just sack her and at this stage she knew nothing of their findings. Neither my husband nor I got any sleep that night. Refer Friday 14th July for diary after this. 1400-Allan Corbett MCL NSW Upperhouse phone back and recommended I speak with Geoff Ruttledge Ph 92303098. He explained Geoff was with the Democrats office and previous to that with Docs and would expect our call to advise perhaps how he might help with the Docs issue. Allan also rang back again recommending Dr Antony Underwood at Pymble Grove Medical Centre at Gordon on Ph 94181388. Underwood apparently did a lecture for him in the NSW upperhouse recently on Vaccines and the options etc. He suggested Dr Antony Underwood might be a good Expert Witness Pediatrician who is sympathetic to Vaccine Damage. He also explained I would need a referral to make an appointment. 1445-I left Chatswood to go to the hospital to Codey. I sat with granny, Dawn outside in the sun and felt it was important I speak with her and explain why I am not at the hospital all the time and that we had contested on medical grounds and explained how I spend every awake moment of my days trying to find Dr.'s and people to help me as I am still sure that my baby was not skaken! Dawn (the volunteer granny) told me that this Dr Archie Kalakerinos was very famous and it would be wonderful if he could help me. Dawn then left for the day and I stayed with Codey. 1450-Nurses and Peta came into give Codey Medasalin, half up his nose and the rest orally. The explained it would take around 15mins and Codey would go to sleep and would be asleep for around 2 hours. At first Codey seemed a little drowsy and the warden came and I walked with (nurse) and the warden to the Xray CT Scan dept. I had Codeys notes in my hand and on the way through the tunnel to the main building I was reading his notes. I knew that in them somewhere was a report that I had asked Dr to write immediately after he had seen Codey on the evening of Tuesday 18th. I found the written report with diagrams on yellow Consultation sheets and saw that had diagnosed Tersor Syndrome? I was thinking quickly to myself how can I get my hands on a copy of this report, as it isn't the same as the report that was typed and presented at the courts on last Wednesday. Thinking as quick as I could and my heart racing I decided to quickly rip the notes from the folder. The nurse turned around and said " I will take those " for which she did and I thought Oh my god I'm going to get caught but she turned so quickly that these notes fell into my hands and I folded them quickly and put them into my bag. I was petrified of being caught. We continued to the CT Scan and by the time we got their Codey was Hypo! Apparently 99% of children go to sleep within 15 mins and sleep for hours but not my baby he had the opposite reaction and went Hypo. I tried to give him a bottle but he wouldn't drink. I got quite annoyed with the Registrar Pediatrician asking, " why wasn't a CT Scan done in the 1st place? " and " Why wasn't Codeys circumference of his head checked on a daily basis? " If they were " so sure he was a SBS baby then, it was their duty to check him on a daily basis " . She advised that the last time they checked this was a week ago and it was about 44.2cm. I was quite angry with her and in the end we agreed that Codey wasn't going to settle down enough for a CT Scan and we had to return to the ward and perhaps reschedule tomorrow under a general anaseptic. She advised she would have to take instructions from Dr Hugh on this! We returned to the ward for which I stayed with Codey a short while and had to return home to help my husband with Dinner and la's insulin as my children were getting very agitated with my not being there each night when they arrived home. I arrived home around 6pm. I phoned Dr Archie Kalakerinos and told him I had a report from and he said pack everything up and copy it and send it to him and he will talk with me on Monday night. He also advised that " at birth babies are clinically well and yet on a cat scan they have hemorrhages and get re-bleeding. A lot of infants at birth have retinal haemmorages and it takes time to clear and the time varies. He said, they don't know the nature of these retinal heammorages at birth-yet are laying the law in these situations calling it SBS " 2030-I called Viera Scheibner and spoke to Dr Lansky who lives with Viera and had a long chat. He recommended Dr Baritosi in Adelaide may be of assistance on 08 2589103 and to get a hold of a video by Bronwyn Hancock on Ph 02 91446625 who had a list of Doctors on it that may be of assistance as Expert witnesses. He advised he would have Viera return my call. 2120-Phoned RNS hospital to see how Codey is. I asked for who walked up to the CT X-ray place with us today and she said he was unsettled earlier but is fine and sleeping well now. I apologised to for getting cranky with them this afternoon (or at the Registrar), and she said she understood and was sorry for what I was going through. She said she is not a Doctor but also thought it strange they hadn't checked the circumference of Codey's head on a daily basis. She reaffirmed that most children who have the Medasalin would go to sleep within 15 minutes and she couldn't explain Codeys reaction to the drug... I asked her if she could tell me the last time Codey's head circumference had in fact been checked-she went through the notes and advised that it was last Wednesday 19th June and it was 44.2cm. She also told me she remembered when she was on night duty last that there was a " night duty query as to the diagnosis of Codey " ....I remembered that was the night that Dr Lawless came in and diagnosed the retinal hemorrhages as " several hours hold " and when I said " how could that be as Codey was admitted on Wednesday, I remembered he changed his diagnosis to " perhaps, about 2 to 3 days old " . (nurse) explained that Codeys head had grown much faster than normal to 44.8cm and they wanted to do the CT Scan to check in the heamotomas were getting bigger. She suggested that Codey would hopefully go down about 10am and I asked her to ring me in the morning to confirm exactly what time he was going so I could make sure I was there to go with him. 2130-Received return phone call from Dr Robyn Cosford Ph 99799444 who agreed that this certainly sounds like Vaccine Damage and when Codey was arched back and unsettled in May he may well have been Convulsing all the time. She advised to make an Urgent Telephone Conference with her offices and she would do all possible to help. 2230-Viera returned my call and said she would research Tersor Syndrome and come back to me. Friday 28th July 0900-I phoned the hospital and asked again for (nurse looking after Codey), to be told she thought that Dr Hugh was trying to arrange an urgent CT Scan & hopefully that would be a 10am. I asked her to ring me back to confirm exactly what time and said that every 5minutes counted at the moment. She said she would call back. 0930-Dr Hugh called back saying " Hi Donna, how are you? " I thought Yeah I just great...what did he expect me to say! He said, " hey listen I'm sorry about that yesterday, I checked the circumference of Codeys head last Friday and it was 44.2 or 44.3cm " and yesterday it had grown quicker than normal " . I said, " what date was last Friday? " , he said " oh, I don't know lets see...21st and then went onto say that they had scheduled Codey for a CT next Tuesday but under the circumstances thought it best to do it yesterday " I knew he was lying to me, as I had check the notes yesterday for me and the last time it was checked was in fact 19th July! He said Codey was going down around 1030H and if I were there around 1015 that would be good so I could sign the papers for his General Anaseptic. I said I would be there! 1015H-I arrived at the hospital and waited till almost 1100H till they came to take him down to have the CT Scan. The nurse put Codeys notes on the bed and left the room for about 40seconds so I quickly took the Dr report from my bag and slipped the notes back into the folder....I think someone up above must be looking over me at the moment! I was allowed to go with him into the room whilst they put him to sleep, and then asked to leave and wait till they came to get me to advise he was in recovery. I asked the nurse (Donna), if she would please arrange for a bottle for Codey for when he wakes up as he will be very hungry. She went to get the bottle and about 40mins later one of the people from the CT room (ne) came to get me and take me to recovery and then asked me to wait in the outpatients emergency area of the hospital for Steve (the anathesis that was with Codey) who would come and get me when he woke. 1215H-A girl came to get me and took me to Steve and Codey in the recovery room and Codey had just woken and I cuddled him and gave him a bottle. Steve commented he wok much better this time from the anaseptic...I agreed and said we have the bottle and that makes the difference! I asked Steve about the Medasalin that he had yesterday and he went through the notes and said " WOW, Codey had 3.5mg and that would put him under " , he added that he " thought it was strange that Codey had a adverse reaction to the Medasalin " . He showed me the MRI report and I said I would like to get a copy of that and he said that we can arrange that through our GP...that is the normal practice " . 1250-Steve walked with Codey and I and a warden down to the Children's ward and I gave Codey more of his bottle on arrival and put him in his rocker to play. I left him with Dawn (granny), and said I would be back around 1530H. 1255-I spoke with the Registrar who showed me the MRI x-rays and showed me where they thought the bleeds were. I asked her for a copy of that and the MRI report and she said she didn't think it would be a problem and would check with Hugh . I said " thankyou, I will be back around 1530H " . 1315-I went to Chatswood to get a present for Dawn (Granny), and formulae, nappies, baby food etc for Codey to go to Debra's later. I also phoned Debra who said that she was concerned and needed to be 100% assured that Codey was well cause she was worried if he had another seizure or died that she would be up for manslaughter charges and she didn't want that responsibility. I calmed her saying Codey was well and we could check again with the Doctor that afternoon if it made her feel better-she said Yes please! I said I would meet her there at the hospital at 4pm, and she could take my car with the capsule and I would drive her car home. We agreed that was the best thing to do! 1320-I rang OMeara asking if Tomiko could pick up la and this afternoon from School and he called me back saying yes its all under control. I said thankyou and I would pick them up from their place at Willoughby on my way home around 5pm. I called both LPS and Masada to advise Tomiko would be picking them up. 1330-Took a phone message off my mobile from Dr Lansky who lives with Viera who says he has a contact opthamologist who might be able to help. 1440-I phoned the hospital asking for to see if the CT Scan results were back yet and she said, they had just had changeover and would need to have the registrar Pediatrician talk to me but from what she could see they all looked good! I asked her if she knew if Codey was being released this afternoon and she advised me she thought so but would call me back. 1430-Received a reply email from Maureen Hickman AVN and forwarded it to Grace. 1445-I phoned at the office to say I wasn't sure if Codey was being released today yet and would call him back the minute I hear. 1500-I phoned (nurse) back at RNS and asked what was happening. She said she thought it was all go for Codey to go home and Emma (social worker) was just arranging it and she would call me back soon, as she knew what was happening. 1520-Debra Davies phoned me and said she had spoken to both the hospital and docs and decided she wouldn't and couldn't take Codey. She said at Docs said they would interview Fiona and Mark on Monday. 1530-I phoned Fiona (my sister-in-law), almost beside myself. She said she would take Codey no matter what and give her the phone number of Docs - 94957099 and she would phone them immediately and arrange the interview to get Codey out of hospital. She said she would call me back. 1540-Spoke to Grace (lawyer), and she was asking my instructions to phone McCrohon to sort this out with him re Debra & Craig. I said, " too late, Debra has already spoken to Docs and the hospital and said No " . She said, she would call Docs herself and call me back. 1545-Phoned Dr Antony Underwood (Pediatrician), and spoke to him, explained the medical history and what had happened to date and he said that " Codey certainly sounded like he had a adverse reaction to the vaccine & how do you think I can help? " . I said we need Expert witnesses for court on 21 & 22nd August and that I had been in contact with Viera Scheibner who had written a 54-page report on Codey and his medical history linking the hemorrhages and MRI results directly to Vaccine. He said that he thought that perhaps Robyn Cosford would be the better person, but if my lawyers wanted to call him to discuss if he could assist then that would be fine. 1600-Emma (Social worker) from RNS phoned and said she was " so sorry about all this and had Debra and Craig called me to advise why they wouldn't take Codey? " I said " Yes Debra said she had legal advice and that if Codey had another seizure or was to die she would be up for manslaughter and she wasn' t prepared to take that responsibility " . Emma said she thought this was ridiculous and I said " for over a week now I have been pushing Docs to interview Mark & Fiona, and still they haven't " . She said she would call at Docs to request they interview Mark & Fiona URGENTLY and suggested we phone Docs too to make the same request. She said " that there was no problem for Codey to remain in hospital, but it was Docs call as to what happened to Codey " . 1615-My bother Mark phoned asking what's happening? I told him about Debra & Craig and he couldn't believe it. He said I told you Donna right from the start we will take Codey. I said, thankyou and that I had given Docs number to Fiona whom was calling them and he said " tell them to come over tonight and interview us at home and kill 2 birds at once in seeing the home and the interview " . He added, " we need to get Codey out of that Hospital " . 1620- arrived home. Said Debra called him and he is distraught and beside himself. 1630-I phoned my sister-in-law Fiona back who told me had stepped out and would call her back. I said ask for Henry and call them every 5 minutes till she gets a hold of them. She agreed this is now Urgent and would let me know how she goes. 1635-Called Grace back and spoke to Maggie and she said Grace was on the phone with one call waiting and would have her call me back. 1645- called Nillson at Docs who advised she couldn't understand why they all of a sudden decided to do this CT Scan. She advised that she had spoken with my brother Mark Barlow and was arranging to interview Mark & Fiona on Monday morning. said to " is something wrong with Codey, is he sick, because if he is sick then we should consider moving him to New children's Hospital where they had all the equipment " . agreed and said, " that's what any father would request of their child " . asked this question because it appears that Docs had indicated to Debra that Codey was sick and she would be liable if something happened to Codey and this is why Debra became scared stiff that she would be liable if something happened to him and he had another seizure. reconfirmed they were interviewing Mark and Fiona on Monday. 1710-Mark Barlow phoned back and said he had spoken to Nillson at Docs who agreed that they would interview Mark & Fiona next Monday and would call him back to reconfirm. Mark then said that not long after he hung up from that Henry from Docs called Fiona saying the first availability they had for an interview was next Thursday. Mark tried immediately to phone Docs back but they had gone for the day. Mark agreed to phone them first thing Monday and apply pressure for 1730- picked up la and at Tomikos and brought them home to test, Insulin la and feed them. 1800-Packed up copies of Codey's GP reports together with Ginsbergs reports, My complete diary to date (some parts of this updated version missing), the Trepasil details, both written and typed reports from Dr , and Viera Scheibners report + email copy of Maureen Hickman details and sent the lot off to Dr Archie Kalakerinos RMB 2182A Bournes Lane; Tamworth_NSW 2340. Bag was collected around 1830H and overnight Ansettpac to arrive Monday morning. I am due to phone Archie on Monday night at 7pm for which he is considering over the weekend and discussing with his wife if he will help us. My gosh I hope he will help...please please please!! 1840-Craig arrived sorry for what had happened today. He said " Docs made Debra scared stiff and told her they were not going to release Codey today anyway... " which is certainly not what they told us. Up till 1520H as I understood that Codey was being released at 1600H today. He indicated he needed to talk with Debra to find where she was coming from and I said the damage is done now and its too late for you guys to do anything. I explained Codey is still in hospital and now docs are saying that they cant interview Mark & Fiona till next Thursday for which said " well that makes sense as they have till next Wednesday to file their reports and expert witnesses " and if they don't make themselves available till Thursday then it would appear they are buying time because we have contested on medical grounds " . Craig then left and said he was really really sorry for not helping us in our time of need but Docs certainly were suggesting that Codey was still " sick " and Debra & Craig would be liable if anything happened to him. 1930-Grace phoned me and I went over the rest of the days events. She said she phoned Docs and left messages but they never phoned her back. I explained that I felt I had gone as far as possible and now it was time that they took over and arranged the expert witnesses and take advantage of whilst Codey was in hospital to call all the medical tests we might need on Codey for our case. She said Gizelle was a good friend of hers and she would make contact with her and she was trying to contact Jane Antony at Westmead. Grace said she would need an affidavit from and I and I offered this report to be my affidavit. She said she would call me on Monday Morning. Oct.-Nov. 2000 The court adjourned again at the end of 31st October because the Departments barristers claimed they couldn't cross-examine our Expert Witness (Dr Mark Donohoe) who brought light to the massive discrepancies in the hospital records. They then adjourned till 7th November and cross-examined our Dr Donohoe. Recalled the Paediatrician from the hospital and then at the end of the day-the magistrate called for " written submissions " ....I thought I was going to have a breakdown when they adjourned AGAIN! So from there-the Barrister for the Dept and the Lawyer for Codey had till Wed 15th and we were given till Mon 20th to file. Then of cause they get right of reply till Fri 24th and from there the magistrate advised she would take 7 days to decide if this is case for establishment or NOT? We filed our submissions last week-a 90 odd page document. The dept filed prior to that a hypothesising submission of some 16 pages and the lawyer for Codey did the same hypotheses of some 6 pages! They had right of reply till last Friday-but today is Monday and still nothing has been filed! What we discovered in the hospital records in brief was : " Ambulance called around 1800H and Codey had a very low temp of around 33.5, pale, mottled. On arrival at hospital still temp low with the same presentation " . Hospital notes Immunisation yesterday, Vaccination PVO (Post Vaccine Origin). *They did a babinski (plantars test) and the results on admission were neurologically normal * They then took blood at 19:24H * They didn't weigh him and put ?10Kg on the Triage sheets (in fact he was between 7kg and 7.5kg) * 19:30H They then gave him an estimated 33% overdose of ceftriaxone (penicillin) * Subsequently His temp rose to over 38 his BP rose from 108 to 148 * Following morning in comes the paediatrician and does the babinski test-Results Abnormal * paediatrician CEASES Ceftriaxone * paediatrician orders following tests - EEG-Normal - ECG-Abnormal - Cranial Ultrasound-Normal - Opthamology test-18 hours after admission-Results Bi lateral Retinal Haemorrhage * NO further blood coag or extensive coag Tests were ever performed after the overdose * NO liver tests ever done in the month he was in hospital * NO tests for E-Coli or Deficiency of Vit K * 2 days later in comes another opthamologist & WE ASKED: " how old do you think these Retinal Haemorrhages are? " Answer: " I would think Several hours " ...WE SAY " how could that be when Codey has been here for over 2 days? " Answer " Oh well perhaps 2 to 3 days " * 3 days later they order a Skeletal survey = results Normal No evidence of NAI * 6 days later (or 7 after admission) they run an MRI. * again they DIDN'T WEIGH HIM ?10Kg and give him a GA based on that weight-another overdose! * Results of the MRI show Subdural hemm * Paediatrician says that night there is evidence of " old and new haemorrhage " which indicates " the injury has occurred on more than one occasion " * That same day we ordered another opthamologist who came in saying " I cant say that Codeys retinal haemorrhages are SBS. There are retinal Haemorrhages that are indicative of SBS ie Parthognomic signs, retinoschisis & pappilodema, but Codey doesn't have these " FYI-this guy LIED on the stand! Additionally, at the time, he suggested Retcam photography-but for some reason they never ordered this test or photography? * Few days later-We contest the Department on Medical Grounds * Immediately following our contesting the paediatrician wants to run an URGENT CT * paediatrician say's reason for running Urgent CT was because Codeys Head Circumference grew too quickly * This time they weigh him 8.03kg (we are now 16 days after admission) * They give Codey a local Anaesthetic (Modozolan) and Codey doesn't go to sleep like he should, but has an adverse reaction to the drug and they cant run the CT * Following day-They run the CT under GA-results Haemorrhages resolved Hospital notes " ? Error Head circumference measurement " * Next thing that happens is Codey is sent to Forster care where we cannot get any medical tests run on him for over 3 weeks * paediatrician amends his report the following day saying there is only one sub dural haemorrhage and claims he " misunderstood the MRI doctors " Sheri, the question is " when did these Bi-lateral Retinal haemorrhages and subsequent Sub Dural " happen & hellip;? There are without a doubt a LOT OF DISCREPANCIES and I wonder if the paediatrician knew all along he had blundered? Anyhow, like I said, we now WAIT and just prey that the magistrate has the balls to rule for Justice! It's very condensed, but I am sure you understand what we have discovered is a tremendous pressure on innocent people that are treated like criminals when in fact the only criminality here seems to lie in department and the hospital! Keep praying Sheri....only a few days to go. We need all the prayers we can get! Wed, 6 Dec 2000 The magistrate handed down her findings last Friday and ruled in favour of the Department " Case established-Codey is a shaken baby " . Where to from here? Well, she has ordered and I to be psychologically assessed for Risk. The department put forward a psychologist as did our Barrister-both of which are supposedly " independent " . I have since spoken with both and of course have discovered that the psychologist put forward by the department is in fact an ex-DoCs worker of 13 years! Yeah Independent indeed!! So they were supposed to come back to us by Monday last to let us know if they accept the credentials of the Independent Phycologist put forward by our barrister...but we still wait their decision...I feel as though they will do everything in their power to disqualify her... The ultimate objective " if we pass the assessment " is to bring Codey home prior to Xmas. So we just sit and wait out their delay tactics now... Please keep praying-surely justice has to prevail somewhere along the way... Wed, 7 Feb 2001 (written by ): In short, the " State " is prepared to return Codey to us. There are certain undertakings attached however Donna and I aren't shy about the very normal lifestyle we live. The media became involved and the " Dept " seemingly backed-down; although we are still intent on continueing our own investigations. An Ophthalmologist (expert witness in our case-for the State) has agreed to investigate retinal bleeding in association with vaccination. (ie. test before and after - randomly) Suddenly, he revealed that his own child had an adverse reaction to vaccination. Anyway, our case has taken a number of side-steps. Much more has come to light. Very unfortunately, with new evidence that's come to light recently; we believe our son has been harmed. Funnily enough, it would seem he was harmed because of his illness/es that were attributed from being vaccinated, and his very adverse reactions and inconsolable crying. The " Nanny " , evidently has since made an attempt on her life. Something the Dept. has " played down " . Either way, Donna and I are very certain that an adverse reaction has been the basis of behaviour between baby and carer at the time. We are not resting on this theory alone, but will continue to research. The State has attributed only one seizure as caused by " heavy-handedness " ....the minds boggles as to why he seized the other time. Pediatritions have agreed it could have been vaccine related. -----END----------- ==================================================== ------------END CFIC--------------- -------------------------------------------------------- Sheri Nakken, R.N., MA, Classical Homeopath Vaccination Information & Choice Network, Nevada City CA & Wales UK $$ Donations to help in the work - accepted by Paypal account vaccineinfo@... voicemail US 530-740-0561 (go to http://www.paypal.com) or by mail Vaccines - http://www.nccn.net/~wwithin/vaccine.htm Vaccine Dangers On-Line course - http://www.nccn.net/~wwithin/vaccineclass.htm Homeopathy On-Line course - http://www.nccn.net/~wwithin/homeo.htm ANY INFO OBTAINED HERE NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION TO VACCINATE IS YOURS AND YOURS ALONE. ****** " Just look at us. Everything is backwards; everything is upside down. Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the major media destroy information and religions destroy spirituality " .... Ellner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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