False Accusations of SBS

**amy110709** · 10-07-2008, 03:37 PM

My question involves child abuse or neglect in the State of: TEXAS

I gave birth to my last child on 5/15/07. I had a c-section (due to prior delivery via c-section). My husband and mother were both in the OR with me during the procedure. They BOTH witnessed the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. While in the nursery, my MIL, mother, and husband witnessed the baby vomiting meconium, but I was NEVER told by the nursing staff. While in the hospital , the baby continued vomiting. I was at her Pediatricians office at least once a week due to the vomiting. At 2 wks of age she was finally diagnosed with GERD. At about 3 wks. I noticed the baby's eyes rolling back ( to where I could see the whites of her eyes) and it freaked me out. I mentioned this to her PED. and was told she was fine. At 5 weeks of age, she stopped breathing. Upon EMS arrival they checked her and said she looked ok and was breathing fine. I told them to take me to the hospital because I wanted to know why she stopped breathing. Upon arrival at the ER, they did a CT scan, CBC, urine analysis. The attending physician came in after an hour or so and said there was an abnormality in one of the tests. They finally came back in and said she had a SM. Subdural Hematoma on her left side. At that time, CPS was called. Another 45 min. or so passed when the ICU dr. arrived to check my baby and she began seizing. They loaded her with Ativan and Phenobarbitol and admitted her to PICU. I was terrified and devastated. When my husband and I arrived upstairs a caseworker was waiting to interview us before we could see her. They interviewed us separately. We were both held under suspicion and not able to be alone with our other children the whole time the baby was in the hospital (10 days total). On day 3, the PED. neurologist informed me that after the dialation of her eyes , slight retinal bleeding was found and therefore he determined it was SBS. BTW, the opthamologist does not specialize in Pediatrics and has since been sued by 7 other families for malpractice. My husband was held under suspicion because he was alone with our children when the seizures began. The attending Physican in charge of the baby NEVER diagnosed her with SBS. Her Pediatrician at the time of illness NEVER showed up to treat her while in the PICU. After discharge from the hospital I was cleared of any wrongdoings but CPS made my husband move out of our home.He was later able to come home after 4 months. We BOTH had to comply with parent classes, family therapy and weekly home visits from the caseworker. The case with CPS was closed after 7 months. In March of this year,I received a victims assistance packet from the DA office where I found my husband was being charged with INJURY TO A CHILD. Just when we thought the nightmare was over , it was beginning all over again. He was NEVER arrested since the incident occured. The CPS worker told me our case was "unable to determine" at the first home visit. We had to use our car payment money to get him an attorney because he had a $20thousand dollar bond and open warrant for his arrest. We lost our vehicle due to repossession because of this. He has since been terminated from his job and because of the pending felony charge, he is unable to find work. My baby has NO disabilities. She continues to have seizures from time to time but nothing serious. She takes meds daily to control the seizures. I now take her out of state to see a PED. Neurolgist because I don't trust the doctors here. She walks , talks, runs, sees, hears, perfectly fine like a normal child. The case is still pending and we were informed by his ATTNY. that the DA wants to know exactly how she got the SDH. I would too, this is MY child. Its MY family who has suffered. I believe it to be a birth injury but NOWHERE in her records is it documented about the umbilical cord around her neck at birth or the swallowing of the meconium. The DA office and CPS has made our life a living hell. If my husband is cleared of all charges is there anyone we can sue for our pain and suffering, monetary losses because of all this??? The baby has bills from out of state that her insurance does not cover. They are piling up! HELP!

**Mr. Knowitall** · 10-09-2008, 08:53 AM

As you probably know by now, "shaken baby syndrome" is generally considered a misnomer, as its now believed that the type of injuries associated with SBS are the result of shaking and slamming - the child's head being slammed against a surface. This isn't the type of injury a baby would get from being entrapped in an umbilical cord, or from vomiting meconium. The CT would also indicate the freshness of the subdural hematoma - one that is five weeks old will not look like a fresh injury.

**ashman165** · 10-09-2008, 09:37 AM

Paragraphs are your friend. ^_^

I'm curious about the situation in the hospital. Your child actually respired his/her meconium? And no mention of this was made to you by the medical staff? How'd you find out about it and can you prove that this happened?

I'm only asking because if that's not in your child's medical records, what else didn't they put in there?

That said, you haven't said, that I saw (but I might have missed some sentences because it's all one blob of text) whether or not your husband denies harming the child.

And you'll excuse me if I'm reading this the wrong way as I mean no disrespect. But you say you want to know what happened because it's your family involved. But everything you mention as potential causes has to do with your baby's birth, and not about other circumstances. You do have 2 other children and a husband who had contact with the infant. I'm not suggesting they did anything, but it's a hard sell that the hospital staff did this, too. I just hope you're looking at everything and evaluating it.

The phsyician who was sued by 7 families . . . what was the result of these law suits? Was he found to actually have committed malpractice? That someone is sued isn't proof of wrongdoing whether it's 1 lawsuit, or 500. If he actually has malpractice claims proved against him, that works in your favor. If he was objectively shown not to have committed malpractice, it's less powerful.