Reevaluating Shaken Baby Syndrome: Protecting the Innocent (Premium)
Sheila DeMare, MS
For many years, Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) was widely believed to be the cause of death whenever a baby showed three symptoms: brain swelling, bleeding around the brain, and retinal hemorrhages. Doctors and prosecutors were trained to treat this “triad” as almost certain proof of violent shaking, even when there were no external injuries or witness accounts.
Today, the picture is more complex—and much more hopeful for family members, caregivers, and others who are wrongfully accused. New terms are now being used when looking at infant brain injury: traumatic brain injury and abusive head trauma.
