Debunking
Shaken
Baby
Syndrome
For decades, doctors have inferred heinous crimes from medical findings in babies. Evidence to support that inference has eroded, yet accusations continue. You are at risk if you spend time with babies. Read on to learn more.
More than 50 years ago, doctors hypothesized that violent shaking might explain the “extraordinary diagnostic contradiction” of babies with no external evidence of trauma yet devastating, sometimes fatal, internal damage. It seemed plausible and quickly made its way into medical school curricula and the criminal justice system. Advocacy groups formed. There was just one problem. Shaken Baby Syndrome was, and remains, an unproven hypothesis.
Sample Case #1: Robert Roberson III and his 2-year-old daughter Nikki (in the photo above) fell asleep in bed while watching a movie on January 31, 2003 in Palestine, Texas. Dad woke at 5:00 the next morning and found Nikki on the floor. Concerned that she might have hit her head, he kept her awake for a while before drifting back to sleep. When he awoke a few hours later, Nikki was unresponsive. She subsequently died. A doctor said she’d been shaken. Robert was arrested, convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Read the rest of the story.
Sample Case #2: Nick Flannery was caring for his 2-month-old son Arlo on September 27, 2023 when the baby’s eyes rolled back and he stopped breathing. Nick called 911. Doctors scrambled to intervene and the baby recovered completely. When subdural bleeding was found, however, they suspected shaking. The children were taken from their home. Criminal charges were filed. New York Times / ProPublica journalist Pamela Colloff tells the rest of the story.
Thousands of people have been accused and convicted of shaking babies. Robert and twenty-five others were sentenced to death, hundreds are in prison for life. Forty people have been convicted and later exonerated. Yet the Shaken Baby Syndrome diagnosis itself has never been proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
Definitions
Shaken Baby Syndrome
Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) is a diagnosis made by doctors when they see a pattern or “constellation” of medical findings. Doctors are taught that such findings reliably indicate or even prove that a baby was violently shaken. The term indicates a specific mechanism of injury.
Debunked
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, to debunk means to show that something is less true than it has been made to appear. The New Oxford American Dictionary includes the idea of exposing the falseness or hollowness of an idea or belief.
Abusive Head Trauma
Abusive Head Trauma (AHT) is effectively a synonym for Shaken Baby Syndrome but with less clarity about the mechanism of injury. The term Abusive Head Trauma more clearly implies criminal intent and behavior.
What Exactly Has Been Debunked?
- Biomechanical research shows that humans are not able to generate the forces alleged (those of a car crash or multi-story free fall).
- Significant neck damage in supposedly shaken babies is rare, despite the fact that forces would need to travel through the neck to reach the head.
- Videotaped short fall events have led to death, although rarely.
- Natural and accidental causes of the medical findings once thought specific to Shaken Baby Syndrome are now known.
- To date, no videotaped or reliably witnessed violent shaking events have led to the “constellation” of medical findings used to diagnose SBS. Association has not yet been proved, let alone specific causation.
Is Shaking Safe?
Absolutely not! It is never safe to be violent with a baby in any way. At the same time, children’s lives and futures can be irrevocably harmed by the loss of parents, homes, and security if a doctor’s inference that they were violently shaken is incorrect.
The Real Issue
The issue is not whether shaking is safe or child abuse exists. Child abuse exists! The issue concerns the ability of doctors to correctly infer criminal action and intent from medical findings. How certain can doctors be that a crime occurred and the last person present was the perpetrator?
Diagnosis Murder
Evidence to support the Shaken Baby Syndrome hypothesis is weaker than when the hypothesis was first proposed in 1971. To support a criminal conviction, a diagnosis itself must be true beyond a reasonable doubt. The SBS diagnosis comes nowhere near that standard.
What Can You Do?
- Install nanny-cams if you care for babies so you can prove your innocence if you’re ever accused.
- Know your rights and have a plan.
- Educate yourself. Watch The Syndrome (trailer to the right). Follow links in our Resources section to other materials we’ve found helpful.
- Share your story or any resources you find helpful.
- Discuss the issues surrounding Shaken Baby Syndrome with others.
About Us
The debate surrounding the Shaken Baby Syndrome diagnosis is contentious. “Vicious” is not too strong a word. The sponsors of this site have chosen to remain anonymous and keep the focus on facts and evidence.
We were personally involved in a Shaken Baby Syndrome case decades ago. A family member, caring for a friend’s baby, was wrongly accused of manslaughter, convicted and sentenced to prison. The judge gave her a minimum sentence, citing her impeccable history and reputation. Family members sacrificed to protect her children and she came home to them while they were still kids. Their childhood was otherwise idyllic. If she, “Best Mom in the World”, can be convicted of such a heinous crime on the basis of a doctor’s expert opinion, anyone who cares for a baby is at risk!
We have compiled a database of Shaken Baby Syndrome criminal cases in the United States. Many but not all were predicated on medical opinion that a crime occurred and the last person alone with the child was the perpetrator. The numbers below come from that database. Because not all cases garner media coverage, there are likely thousands more. Not every person accused is innocent. Not every person is guilty. Therein lies the problem. Can we be sure?