Pediatricians revising policy on distinguishing SIDS from murder.
[Maurice -- I recommend you refrain from trying to come up with a witty reply to this. Some topics should just not be replied to (?) ]
September 4, 2001
Pediatric Group Revises SIDS Info
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 5:00 p.m. ET
CHICAGO (AP) -- The nation's largest group of pediatricians has revised its
policy on distinguishing sudden infant death syndrome from murder after getting
complaints from medical examiners and parents.
The American Academy of Pediatrics had said in February that all sudden,
unexplained infant deaths should be investigated in hospital emergency rooms by
a child abuse expert, out of concern that a small portion of SIDS deaths might
actually be homicides.
The revision, published in the September issue of the journal Pediatrics, says that
investigations of sudden, unexplained infant deaths should include ``appropriate
utilization of available medical specialists by medical examiners and coroners.''
Such specialists could include pediatric pathologists, pediatricians and
radiologists, the academy says.
The National Association of Medical Examiners had complained that the initial
policy could result in illegal meddling with autopsies if outside experts examined
bodies before they did.
The policy also angered some parents of SIDS babies, who worried that it made
them appear guilty.
``It was like they were saying who cares what the medical examiner said, you
abused your child,'' said Charlene Melcher, 38, of Orlando, Fla., whose son died
of SIDS in 1998.
The amended policy ``provides pediatricians with information and guidelines to
avoid distressing or stigmatizing families of sudden infant death syndrome
victims while allowing accumulation of appropriate evidence in potential cases of
death by infanticide,'' the academy said.
Dr. Randy Hanzlick, president of the medical examiners group, praised the
revision and said medical examiners welcome working with outside experts to
investigate unexplained infant deaths.
Experts do not know what causes SIDS, which kills about 3,000 infants a year,
though theories include brain stem defects and heat stress.
The policy published in February stemmed from a few highly publicized cases
and a 1997 report from British researchers who documented an alarming number
of parents trying to suffocate their babies.
Dr. Henry Krous, a SIDS expert and pathologist at Children's Hospital of San
Diego, praised the revised policy. But he said that having abuse experts assist
medical examiners probably will not lead to an increase in SIDS cases being
reclassified as murder because, like true SIDS, suffocation with a soft object
leaves virtually no physical evidence.
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press |
