Home > Comments and Articles > Shaken Baby Syndrome or Vaccine-Induce Encephalitis? The Story of Baby Alan
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Too late for baby Alan |
| I want you to think about a dead baby. This baby was ten weeks old when he died. The autopsy revealed bleeding around the brain, in the eyes and in the spinal column. There were bruises on the sides of his head. Another thing that the autopsy showed was four broken ribs. These fractures had started to heal, and therefore indicated a pattern of physical abuse prior to the date of death. The father admitted to holding the baby by his feet and hitting him shortly before he died. I now want to you to form an opinion of the father. If you are the sort of person who opposes vaccination, you would see this man as a hero. You would see him as a martyr to the cause and would try to get him released from prison. In a breathtaking demonstration of what it can mean to believe that the end justifies the means, the anti-vaccination liars have adopted Alan Yurko as a symbol that they can use to frighten parents into refusing vaccination for their children. You can read a loathsome justification for this murderer at http://www.woodmed.com/ShakenBabyAlan.htm. In the latest effort by the anti-vaccinationists to assist Alan Yurko, people were asked to write to an official in the Florida corrections system to complain about a proposed change to prisoners' email allowances. Writers were told not to mention Yurko's name in case of retaliation against him, but to pretend they were writing for some other friend in prison. In other words, the writers were asked to lie about their real intentions. Following Edmund Burke's maxim that "all it takes for evil to prosper is for good men to do nothing", I wrote to the official concerned and warned her of the deceit. I copied my email to the person who had suggested "Shaken Maybe Syndrome" as a slogan for this particular anti-vaccination campaign (see the Anti-Vaccination Liars page for more details) and to someone who has suggested using Yurko as a consultant for other people charged with beating their children to death. One wrote back accusing me of a "heinous and spiteful act" and suggested that I "have placed Alan Yurko in danger". The other just told me "May you burn". The murderer's wife also wrote to me and said that "is not I or anyone else, that can stop you from eradicating yourself". Interestingly, she did not mention vaccination once, confirming for me that the Yurkos are just pragmatically using the anti-vaccination liars to achieve their own goal, which is to get the killer out. These people deserve each other. The tragedy is that children may die because of their actions. They all make me want to vomit. |
On 5 February 2001, I discovered that the International Chiropractors Association Pediatrics Council had formally declared Alan Yurko a "Hero" and I mentioned this fact on the Healthfraud discussion list. The following conversation ensued. Dr Yyyyyy is a medical doctor who is opposed to vaccination. (She will say that she is not opposed, she just wants people to be informed. They all say that.)
From: "Yyyy Y. Yyyyyy
To: <healthfraud@ssr.com>
Date sent: Mon, 5 Feb 2001 08:26:35 -0700
Subject: RE: [healthfraud] Chiros reach nadirPhysicians should also also be opposed to incarcerating people without proving them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. So should everybody. And a chiropractor's belief in a man's innocence does not prove his guilt!
I don't know why Baby Alan died, but Mr. Yurko was not proved guilty of "beating him to death." There is in fact not a shred of evidence that he had any violent tendencies or that he ever beat or shook the baby. One expert medical witness testified at trial that the death was due to natural causes; others have subsequently reviewed the autopsy slides, radiographs, and medical records and agree that there is a differential diagnosis and there is NO proof that the baby was murdered. Defense counsel was incompetent and did not even obtain the complete medical record.
Mr. Yurko refused several offers of a plea bargain under which he would soon be a free man. He said that he has a moral objection to telling lies (required in order to sign the plea bargain if he is innocent).
Shaken Baby Syndrome is a new way for prosecutors to become heroes. A secretary at our hospital just lost a grandchild. The police immediately interrogated the stunned and bereaved parents: "When you saw that baby was not breathing, that's when you shook him, right?" A leading question apparently designed to entrap the parents into a damning admission (and one of the recognized "false defenses.") The diagnosis of SIDS was made, so the parents aren't convicted murderers.
I think the chiropractors are too quick to come to the conclusion about a vaccine reaction and could well be mistaken about that. But Mr. Bowditch apparently has no concern that an innocent man might have been sentenced to die in a prison hellhole. No need to look at the actual facts: the chiropractors' support is all the proof Mr. Bowditch needs. Hang 'em high, immediately after the "fair trial." Throw the baby's mother in jail in her nightgown, without even charging her with anything (that was done also). Take away their daughter (eventually returned to her mother), who loves and trusts her daddy (and who witnessed his discovery of her brother's death but was not interviewed in a timely or proper manner). Justice the American way, to the applause of the Quack Watchers!
It is possible that Mr. Yurko would have a great malpractice case against the baby's doctors and the hospital (Baby Alan was very sick from birth), but now that he's a convicted murderer, the doctors are safe. And prosecutors are almost always safe.
From: "John Xxxxx"
To: "HealthFraud Newslist" <healthfraud@ssr.com>
Date sent: Mon, 5 Feb 2001 10:35:10 -0600
Subject: RE: [healthfraud] Chiros reach nadirUnh .. huh ...
Well, Dr. Yyyyyy, how do you explain the fractured ribs in the baby???
From: "Yyyy Y. Yyyyyy"
To: <healthfraud@ssr.com>
Date sent: Mon, 5 Feb 2001 10:02:43 -0700
Subject: RE: [healthfraud] Chiros reach nadirRegarding the allegedly fractured ribs: This allegation was very persuasive to the jury. Before drawing conclusions, however, a careful medical expert would look at the entire record, including radiographic and autopsy reports and physicians' notes. There is doubt that the x-ray findings actually represented traumatic fractures. Findings that one would expect to accompany such an injury were NOT present. (No bruises or evidence of pain on frequent visits to the doctor, for example. Can you beat up a baby so as to cause only one rib fracture with no associated findings? The calluses--few in number--appeared to be of different ages.) Could resuscitation at birth have caused injury leading to callus formation? A disorder in bone formation due to malnutrition? The possibilities were not even considered in the rush to judgment, much less ruled out. There are medical experts, physicians not chiropractors, who do not think the findings signify abuse. Quackwatchers, of course, do not need to look at all the evidence before being certain of their conclusions.
Where is the burden of proof?
Date sent: Mon, 05 Feb 2001 21:32:49 -0500
From: Stan Xxxxxxxx
To: "healthfraud@ssr.com" <healthfraud@ssr.com>
Subject: [healthfraud] Baby Alan[I can't look up the original subject name from this computer}
I thought Dr. Yyyyyy had been proscribed from posting here on v******s, but here it is, so I guess one must answer for the record. But maybe we should get that ban working again.
Yyyy Yyyyyy wrote:
> I don't know why Baby Alan died, but Mr. Yurko was not proved guilty of
> "beating him to death."He was found guilty by a jury. Without seeing a transcript, or at least an objective journalistic account of the trial, it is hard to know how strong the prosecution's case was against the father. However, the link Peter gives (Harold E. Buttram, M.D. & F. Edward Yazbak, M.D. http://www.woodmed.com/ShakenBabyAlan.htm ), even though it is intended to be blatantly biased in favor of vaccines as the cause of the baby's death, actually gives strong evidence for traumatic injury. Here is a quote from the autopsy report, as cited :
***excerpt from autopsy report***
"Post-Mortem Findings included minor contusions of both temporal areas of the head, small ecchymosis of the right lower eyelid, fresh subdural hemorrhages of the right and left cerebral hemispheres and at base of brain and some
areas of spinal cord, and retinal bleeding. The brain was grossly edematous. In addition there were several old, healing fractures of the 5th, 6th, 7th and l0th ribs, all posterior and on the left."
***end autopsy report***
In case this isn't clear to the non-medical people out there, fresh bleeding in the skull, the spinal cord, and the retinas indicates traumatic injury by rapid acceleration/deceleration, which can occur either with a blow to the head or violent shaking. This infant had bruises (contusions and ecchymoses) of both temples and one eyelid, indicating that he had been struck repeatedly in the face and head.
As for the multiple, healed rib fractures (manifested by scars, or "calluses"), Dr. Yyyyyy opines the following:
> (The calluses--few in number--appeared to be of different ages.) Could
> resuscitation at birth have caused injury leading to callus formation?Dr. Yyyyyy should be aware that one of the reddest of flags leading physicians to suspect child abuse is the x-ray finding of multiple healed fractures of different ages. If resuscitation in the delivery room had caused the rib fractures how could they be of different ages, and how could they have been missed on the serial chest x-rays the infant had during his first week of life in the hospital? Furthermore, even if the newborn had been resuscitated at delivery (which he wasn't), the resuscitation procedure for a newborn with respiratory distress involves the insertion of an endotracheal tube, not the potentially rib-crunching compressions that may be done in cardiac arrest .
This neonate, according to Buttram and Yazbak, appeared normal at birth, but soon developed respiratory distress, not severe enough to require intubation, much less cardiac compression: "APGAR 8 and 9. However, following birth the baby was noted to have grunting respirations with sternal and rib retractions. The mother noted a persistent grayish color to the baby. ..... The infant was placed in an oxyhood with 50%O2; he was started on ampicillin and gentamycin."
> There is doubt that the x-ray findings actually represented traumatic
> fractures. Findings that one would expect to accompany such an injury
> were NOT present. (No bruises or evidence of pain on frequent visits to
> the doctor, for example. Can you beat up a baby so as to cause only one
> rib fracture with no associated findings?I've seen some rib fractures, and I don't recall visible bruising with many of them. It is not easy to fortuitously discover a rib fracture on a routine physical exam in an infant four to eight weeks old if the parent doesn't volunteer that the baby was injured. I do a lot of physicals on babies and I don't routinely palpate the entire rib cage just in case there might be an occult fracture.
> There is in fact not a shred of evidence that he had any violent
> tendencies or that he ever beat or shook the baby.Perhaps damning him with faint praise? Buttram and Yazbak do not get into the issue of the father's previous record as a parent or citizen. I realize this is slippery ground, but I would hope that if anyone were ever to write an article defending me against an unjust charge of abusing my child, they could come up with something a little more encouraging than, "He's never been caught beating up children before."
> One expert medical witness testified at trial that the death was due to
> natural causes;"Natural causes" in a ten-week-old with fresh bleeding in the cranium, retinas and spinal cord, as well as bruises on the face and head? This may give the phrase "expert witness" a whole new meaning. The reasons for diagnosing trauma in this infant are obvious. I would want to question sharply anyone suggesting alternative explanations.
> Shaken Baby Syndrome is a new way for prosecutors to become heroes.
Could be. Overzealous prosecutors are as much of a bane as underzealous ones. Given that, I don't see, from the evidence presented by Buttram and Yazbak, how the Yurko case could be construed as an example of unreasonable prosecution. Certainly this baby had head injuries that could have been fatal, and were indeed ruled the cause of death, as well as evidence of previous, unexplained trauma.
> A secretary at our hospital just lost a grandchild. The police
> immediately interrogated the stunned and bereaved parents:Anyone who has ever worked in an emergency room for any length of time has had to call the police to come in and talk to the parent/step-parent/babysitter of a seriously injured child. I wish the average police officer did this with more finesse. But on the other hand, I have felt relieved on a couple of occasions when arrests were made on the waiting room. My clinic is currently following an infant who was totally blinded in November, 2000, when he was shaken by a baby sitter. He is probably going to be profoundly mentally handicapped. The babysitter is out on bond
> I think the chiropractors are too quick to come to the conclusion about
> a vaccine reaction and could well be mistaken about that.The "chiropractors" (actually MD's if you believe their website, http://www.woodmed.com/ShakenBabyAlan.htm ) start out quoting Vera Scheibner and go downhill from there. I won't subject the list to a point by point refutation of the inane lengths to which they go to buttress their case that this baby died of a vaccine reaction If any of you who read it have questions, please email me privately. But trust me, it's not worth it.
Dr.Yyyyyy complains:
> No need to look at the actual facts: the chiropractors' support is all
> the proof Mr. Bowditch needs. Hang 'em high, immediately after the "fair
> trial."But she fails to present, or misrepresents, essential facts that support the court's finding of abuse. It's a little ironic that I gleaned these facts from a web page that is even more radical in its anti-vaccine bias than Dr. Yyyyyy claims to be
Stan Xxxxxxxx
From: "Gregory L. Xxxxx"
To: "Healthfraud Discussion List" <healthfraud@ssr.com>
Date sent: Tue, 6 Feb 2001 19:12:53 -0500
Subject: Re: [healthfraud] Baby AlanI'm in the midst of pediatrics, so I can corroborate some of what Stan has written. As usual, he's dead-on right.
> ***excerpt from autopsy report***
>
> "Post-Mortem Findings included minor contusions of both temporal
> areas of the head, small ecchymosis of the right lower eyelid, fresh
> subdural hemorrhages of the right and left cerebral hemispheres and
> at base of brain and some areas of spinal cord, and retinal
> bleeding. The brain was grossly edematous.Stan is exactly right about these findings: if accurate, retinal bleeding is virtually diagnostic of shaken baby, unless the child has some other rapid acceleration/deceleration. It's thought that it's not just the shaking that may done this: peds neurosurg has told me that most shaken babies are also thrown onto the bed, or into walls, with an abrupt "deceleration". Unless this kid was in a 60 mile/per hour head-on crash into a brick wall, lock dad up and throw away the key.
> In addition there were several old, healing fractures of the 5th,
> 6th, 7th and l0th ribs, all posterior and on the left."
>
> ***end autopsy report***
> As for the multiple, healed rib fractures (manifested by scars, or
> "calluses"), Dr. Yyyyyy opines the following:
>
> > (The calluses--few in
> > number--appeared to be of different ages.) Could resuscitation at
> > birth have caused injury leading to callus formation?
>
> Dr. Yyyyyy should be aware that one of the reddest of flags leading
> physicians to suspect child abuse is the x-ray finding of multiple
> healed fractures of different ages.Especially rib fractures. Besides, how do you get multiple fractures of different ages if all the ribs are fractured during the resuscitation.
She should also be aware that pediatric resuscitation rarely causes rib fractures. Unlike in adult CPR, CPR on children (especially neonates) does not cause rib fractures. I'm on a pediatrics ward rotation at the moment, and this is repeatedly emphasized during the child abuse lectures. Defense attorneys always trot it out--according to the staff radiologist (and with the "bone formation defect" argument which Dr. Yyyyyy also uses)--but it doesn't wash medically. Kids' ribs are too elastic, and don't tend to fracture during CPR like old adult chests do. "Posterior" rib fractures are also classic for child abuse, and few other mechanisms are known to cause them. And, why are the ribs all fractured on the left if this is CPR? Looks more like trauma, which could be asymmetric, instead of straight down on a chest. Besides, have you seen pediatric CPR? It's done with a couple of fingers, not the whole weight of your arms and body like in adult ACLS.
Sorry, but if the autopsy report is accurate, than "expert witness" or not, this sounds like one of the most open-and-shut cases of child abuse you could ask for. There just aren't mechanisms which explain it, other than falls from great heights or high speed crashes.
But, (as the initial poster made the point) ANYTHING is better than vaccination in alt-land.
> > Can you beat up a baby so as to cause
> > only one rib fracture with no associated findings?Sounds like more than one rib fracture, according to the autopsy.
And, I'd call retinal hemorrhages, cerebral edema, and brain bleeding "associated findings".
The mechanism of injury is often grabbing the child around the waist and squeeeeeezing. The posterior location of the fracture is caused almost exclusively by this.
As Stan says, what's amazing is that the anti-vaxers are so ignorant of basic medical findings that they present--on their website and in Yyyyyy's posting--the very evidence that damns both their "hero", and their case.
Of course, if the autopsy findings are different, things may be different. But why are the anti-vaxers posting such a damning "false" autopsy?
Kind regards,
Greg Xxxxx
From:
Date sent: Wed, 7 Feb 2001 01:50:51 EST
To: healthfraud@ssr.com
Subject: Re: [healthfraud] Baby AlanI also read the Baby Alan story and found it astonishing. Xxxxxxxx and Xxxxx make many valid points. I'll add a couple of others. Doctors Buttram and Yazback (who wrote this) have zero pediatric expertise and credibility. Their account includes some howlers such as (1) describing a pH of 7.38 with normal PCO2 and bicarbonate as showing "severe acidosis", (2) inferring kidney disease from levels of BUN and creatinine that are lower than adults (and in fact are midrange normal for infants), (3) describing a peak bilirubin of 17 as a "critical level." Their misunderstanding of the kidney issues is truly appalling. I wouldn't let a medical student get away with these elementary mistakes.
Drs. B&Y also appear to play fast and loose with the issues related to the vaccines. While a lymphocytic shift in the mildly elevated WBC might be consistent with a pertussis reaction, it also is characteristic of most viral infections and and many other conditions. Furthermore, as they are probably aware, the worst reactions alleged to follow pertussis (crying, fever, encephalopathy) occur within 48 hours of the immunization, not 10 days later. It seems far more likely that the rising intracranial pressure from the subdurals is more likely to have caused the irritable crying. I confess I couldn't follow the confused and contradictory attempt to describe the meningeal inflammation (or lack thereof--- they apparently want it both ways) so that they can attribute gross intracranial hemorrhaging to the vaccines.
The plea of a possible metabolic bone disease accounting for asymptomatic rib fractures or a coagulopathy accounting for the bruises are like patriotism, the last refuge of the scoundrel. Any pediatrician with child abuse experience quickly does the tests to exclude these rare conditions. I hadn't answered on this thread previously because I actually ordered the paper on "transient brittle bone disease" from our library and haven't received it yet; I'll let you know whether it appears relevant. The number of bone conditions that lead to asymptomatic rib fractures is small, and most are accompanied by ample additional supportive evidence to corroborate them. For instance, nutritional osteomalacias in infants are usually accompanied by striking elevation of the alkaline phosphatase levels and very distinctive metaphyseal fraying of the long bones (i.e., rickets). Scurvy produces recognizable distortion of leg bones more often than rib fractures (and all formulas supply ample amounts of vitamin C---- Drs Y&B offer this without even commenting on the feeding). Both types of nutritional bone disease are far more likely to produce enlargement of the costochondral junctions (the front of the chest) rather than fractures of various ages near the posterior junctions wth the spine. Sadly, traumatic rib fractures and bruises are far more common than osteomalacias and coagulopathies.
My colleagues know that I am not sympathetic to sloppy assumptions of child abuse with any injury, and I've testified in court against Children & Youth Services on behalf of parents whom I thought had been unjustly accused. However, this story appears overwhelmingly convincing even when presented by people who want to argue it away.
Finally, shame on Dr. Yyyyyy for doing exactly what she accuses some of the people here of doing: so eagerly pushing a political position that she ignores or distorts the ample medical evidence in the account. Surely she knows enough to recognize the multiple errors of medical fact, understanding, and logic in that pathetic and indefensible story.
David Xxxxxxx MD
Date sent: Wed, 7 Feb 2001 11:30:18 EST
To: healthfraud@ssr.com
Subject: Re: [healthfraud] Baby Alan..."nor to cut for stone, leaving that to those practitioners trained in this art..." - Oath of 'Ippocrates
It is obvious that Doctors Buttram, [...], and Yyyyyy have little expertise in either Pediatrics or Forensic Pathology, as they clearly demonstrate profound ignorance of, and disregard for, the prevailing medical knowledge base of those fields. Textbooks and journals covering this material is available in larger medical libraries, and would include:
The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology
The Journal of Forensic Sciences
The American Journal of Diseases in Children
The Journal of Neurosurgery Pediatrics
The Journal of Trauma Child Abuse & Neglect etc.
The Pathology of Homicide by Lester Adelson
Forensic Pathology by DiMaio &DiMaio
The Medicolegal Investigation of Death by Spitz & FischerAfter a review of all available information (assuming the reported Autopsy findings are correct), and in the absence of any actual evidence to the contrary, it can be stated that, within a reasonable degree of medical certainty, this is a clear and unambiguous case of "Shaken Baby" Syndrome.
Dr. Xxxx X. Xxxxxxxxx MD, MS (Bioch)
Forensic Pathologist and Regional Coroner's Physician
Diplomate of the American Board of Pathology
Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Pathology
Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists
Fellow of the College of American Pathologists
Member, National Association of Medical Examiners
Member, American Academy of Forensic Sciences
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