On May 16th, 2002, my husband Alejandro and I were blessed with a tiny miracle. We named him Lucas, which translated means "light", and he truly was. He brought us more joy and happiness than we had ever known. We knew his every breath.
Everyone who saw Lucas, including his pediatricians, always commented on what a "big healthy baby" he was. His weight, length and head circumference all fell within the 95th percentile. At his well baby check-ups, we were constantly assured that he was a healthy baby; unfortunately that was not so. During the latter part of his life, Lucas had been somewhat lethargic, had diarrhea, and vomited. As first time parents we didn’t realize something was seriously wrong. Tragically, on August 27th, approximately 40 minutes after I had left our home for a meeting at the school where I taught, Lucas stopped breathing while in Alejandro’s care.
Alejandro immediately took Lucas to the home of a neighbor who called 911. The ambulance doors were slammed in my husband’s face as Emergency Medical Technicians proceeded to whisk our baby Lucas to a hospital. Alejandro had no alternative other than to stay behind as the police interrogated him with regard to what had just transpired. Wretched with concern and dealing with a language barrier in rural Pennsylvania, Alejandro (whose primary language is Spanish) fully cooperated with the police. A neighbor came to the school to inform me what was happening. Minutes later I arrived at our home with the intention of driving Alejandro to the hospital with me. However, I was informed by a police officer that he was not permitted to go anywhere and had to stay behind for questioning.
When I arrived at the hospital, there were numerous police officers staring at me. I was in shock and had to wait to speak with the physician who then proceeded to inform me that he believed our son had been abused! I pled with him to find out what the true causes of my son’s injuries were, however all of my pleas were dismissed and Children’s Youth Services were contacted. Lucas was life-flighted to a second hospital. After having driven a few hours in order to arrive to the second hospital, my husband and I were forbidden to see our son. There was absolutely no medical necessity requiring us to be sequestered from him, and we didn’t understand what was transpiring. We were soon to find out.
The doctors there concurred with the first physician’s diagnosis and had suspected that we had shaken our son. The cardiologist even inquired as to whether we had remembered dropping him from a second story window! We knew we were innocent of wrongdoing and did not understand why we were being treated with contempt and suspicion. We were impatient with these unnecessary delays. Our precious Baby Lucas lay in a coma; what mattered most was to be with him.
My parents, family members, and colleagues witnessed the medical staff’s treatment of us in the hospital. These family members and friends were just as bewildered with our treatment as we were. They revoked our custody of Lucas in less than two hours after his admission to the first hospital on the basis that he had retinal hemorrhages, subdural hemorrhaging, and a supposed rib "fracture". Due to these findings the physicians claimed that Lucas had been "shaken". They made the ominous diagnosis of "Shaken Baby Syndrome".
Amidst our grief, rather than facilitating our bereavement and shock, we were immediately blamed for his condition yet not criminally charged with anything. The physicians would not look at my husband nor speak with him; many refused to answer my questions. Alejandro and I were only permitted to be with Lucas when we were under supervision. All differential diagnosis was abandoned, and we had no hope for finding the truth in that hospital.
Lucas was dearly loved and protected; he was never abused. We loved him more than anyone else in the world, and anyone who ever saw us with him can attest to that simple fact. I repeat, the medical professionals at Geisinger Medical Hospital in Danville, PA did absolutely nothing to search for the true causes of our son’s medical condition. As opposed to our being treated with dignity and respect these professionals did not facilitate or even acknowledge our grief.
Since these events occurred in our lives, we have learned that there has been an epidemic of Shaken Baby Syndrome accusations sweeping the country in recent years. We are by no means an isolated incident. These accusations are based upon a theory formulated in the early 1970’s by John Caffey, MD. Child abuse specialists throughout the country have been trained to make a diagnosis of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) when an infant presents with any or all of the following symptoms: 1) subdural hemorrhaging (bleeding in the brain), 2) retinal hemorrhaging (bleeding behind the eyes), and 3) a discrepancy between the history provided and the severity of the injuries. In other words, the physicians claim a discrepancy exists when the clinical picture is one of a traumatic injury, but the caretaker‘s history doesn’t include a serious car accident or fall from a considerable height.
In recent years experts from various fields such as: ophthalmology, neuropathology, neurology, forensic pathology and biomechanics have begun to dispute this SBS theory. An increasing number of scientific and medical experts have concluded that the Shaken Baby Syndrome theory has not been borne out by current scientific evidence as it is based upon assumptions. As a result of this 'junk-science,' numerous innocent caretakers and parents have been wrongly convicted and incarcerated for a crime that simply never occurred. While I have no doubt that child abuse sadly does occur, it is imperative that it be substantiated by sound evidence, not alleged on the basis of a theory that lacks scientific or medical evidence to support its claims.
Many pediatricians and child abuse experts continue to accept this Shaken Baby Syndrome hypothesis. Police, EMT’s, physicians, and medical examiners are taught to look for SBS. In the majority of these cases, there is a failure on behalf of the treating physicians to perform differential diagnosis. Simply stated, once the diagnosis of Non-Accidental Injury (NAI) is made, SBS becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. All further diagnostic testing ceases! The medical establishment is aware there are myriad other causes for these ‘injuries.’
The more the professionals are taught to presume the likelihood of SBS, and the more that other possibilities are cursorily dismissed, the more it is diagnosed. The true nature or cause of the injuries that these children exhibit is not being uncovered. Are these same professionals prejudiced to allege abuse so that their child abuse programs receive more funding? Child abuse prevention and protection has become an extremely profitable industry.
So, I ask, why are innocent people around the world being wrongly accused and persecuted when there is an ongoing debate with regard to the SBS diagnosis in the first place?
In our own situation, immediately following the doctors’ diagnosis of SBS, Alejandro and I were both listed as perpetrators on the Childline Abuse Registry. The police conducted their investigation for almost a year with the hope that my husband and I would turn on each other. That did not happen and it never will. In August of 2003, 11 ½ months following the death of our precious angel, approximately 15 armed police, SWAT, and detectives surrounded my parents’ house and arrested my husband. Before Alejandro’s indictment, our attorney had requested that we be permitted to turn ourselves in to the authorities in the event that an arrest would be made; however the State refused to comply with this petition.
My husband is currently incarcerated as a result of summary diagnosis by the medical establishment, more specifically due to presumptions made by the treating physicians and the medical examiner. Alejandro is 100% innocent and he never harmed his precious son in any way! He was charged with first and third degree murder for the death of his beloved baby boy. The District Attorney of Centre County, PA, Ray Gricar, is seeking the death penalty. He is seeking the death penalty! My husband is an innocent man who has no prior criminal record!
As if the loss of our only beloved son wasn’t enough, as a result of these false allegations Alejandro and I have lost our home, our savings, our careers, and our reputations! Even I still am being treated with suspicion. This exact situation could happen to anyone. We never imagined it happening to us.
I urge you to please educate yourself with regard to the hypothesis behind Shaken Baby Syndrome. There is an abundance of evidence pointing to vaccines and other iatrogenics, (injuries directly incurred from physicians and medical treatments) as the true culprits of many of these injuries. If physicians were held both civilly and criminally accountable for their hasty misdiagnosis of Shaken Baby Syndrome, they would not be so quick to make the diagnosis in the first place. However, by pre-judging people, having biased conclusions, and failing to perform differential diagnoses, the same medical professionals are not only negligent in their duties, but they are committing malpractice on a grand scale.
Please help us expose this erroneous theory so that more innocent families are not victimized. It is the RESPONSIBILITY of the treating doctors, as professionals, to perform differential diagnoses! Where does the Hippocratic Oath come in to play: "First Do NO Harm"?!? Where is the accountability to the patient or parents?
We desperately need fiscal donations, the name or names of individuals or organizations who may be able to offer advice or assistance, and your heartfelt prayers. Please consider assisting us in any way that you are able. In our lonely battle I am deeply sympathetic to the unknown numbers of parents and caretakers who are innocent, but who have been wrongly accused and incarcerated for major crimes. This atrocious lack of consciousness must be exposed before other innocent families are destroyed and divided as a result of these erroneous conclusions. Not just for our family, but for all of those wrongly accused and incarcerated for crimes committed by the medical and pharmaceutical establishment in order to line their pockets, as they have the funds necessary to fight the innocent victims of their actions. An investigation needs to be directed into these cases of alleged SBS.
Thousands of other innocent people are being victimized by these false allegations. Since we were first accused, I have learned of approximately twenty-five other cases of SBS prosecutions within the state of Pennsylvania. Countless children throughout the country are being maimed, murdered, or permanently damaged by iatrogenics compounded by the dogmatic training of the medical and legal professionals. We must act now NOW to expose this tragedy for the sake of our families.
May God bless you.
Lisa Mullenax