Shaken Baby Syndrome Or Vaccine Induced Encephalitis - Are Parents Being Falsely Accused? - Softcover

Buttram M.D., Harold

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1456719769 ISBN 13: 9781456719760

Publisher: AuthorHouse, 2011

Synopsis

In 1971 Norma Guthkelch, retired neurosurgeon, published the first description of the Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS). Within the next several years John Caffey, pediatric radiologist, wrote several articles supporting the SBS theory. Very soon after, when infants were brought into hospital emergency rooms in the U.S.A. with brain hemorrhages without known accidental explanations such as auto accidents or high distance falls, almost routinely the hemorrhages have been attributed to SBS or related diagnoses resulting in criminal conviction of parents or caretakers. These and other issues such as inflicted child abuse, non-accidental trauma, failure to protect, and other diagnoses are reviewed in this book ''Since the original introduction of the SBS theory, conclusive evidence has emerged proving that these prosecutions have been founded upon tainted medical opinions and fundamentally flawed scientific methodology (i.e. junk science). It requires little imagination to understand the significant mental pain which parents undergo while grieving over the death of a child, as frequently occurs in these cases. Accusing this parent of murdering their child (with no real evidence) and putting the entire strength of the state behind this accusation is monstrous, when the entire accusation pivots upon facts which are now known to be false. Loss of job, loss of family and community ties follow the accusation. Moreover, the general public, the grand and petite juries, the states and the parties, all have an overwhelmingly strong interest in knowing if these prosecutions are founded upon reasonable interpretation of the facts - or - if the accusations are built around falsehoods and scientific impossibilities.'' Quoted from the writings of Kent Holcomb.

About this title

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Shaken Baby Syndrome or Vaccine Induced Encephalitis - Are Parents Being Falsely Accused?

By Harold Buttram Christina England

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2011 Harold Buttram M.D. and Christina England
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4567-1976-0

Contents

Dedications.............................................................................................viiIntroduction............................................................................................ixChapter 1: The Alleged Shaken Baby Syndrome.............................................................1Chapter 2: Subdural (Brain) Hemorrhages.................................................................9Chapter 3: Antioxidants, the Stepchildren of Modern Medicine, as Applied to SBS/NAT.....................13Chapter 4: Increased Hazards of Vaccines in Preterm Infants.............................................19Chapter 5: Pro-inflammatory Vaccine Adjuvants: Aluminum & Peanut Oil....................................23Chapter 6: Vaccine Combinations and Immune Paralysis....................................................27Chapter 7: A Dangerous Combination......................................................................37Chapter 8: The Five In One Vaccines - The Pharmaceutical Industries Cauldron............................63Conclusion..............................................................................................75References..............................................................................................79

Chapter One

The Alleged Shaken Baby Syndrome

(A) Origin of the Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS)

Working with the U.S. Department of Transportation, an Oxford-trained neurosurgeon, AK Ommaya, devised an experiment to measure the amount of rotational acceleration required to reach the threshold of brain injury with adult Rhesus monkeys as subjects. As reviewed by R Uscinski:

"A contoured fiberglass chair was built, mounted on wheels, and placed on tracks with a piston behind it. The monkeys were strapped into the chair with their heads free to rotate in such a way that there would be no impact. The piston then impacted the chair, simulating a rear-end motor vehicle collision. The experiment was photographed with a high-speed camera, allowing calculations of generated rotational accelerations. Ommaya was able to demonstrate that a rotational acceleration of 40,000 radians/second (squared) was sufficient to produce intracranial injury in 19 of the animals, with 11 (57.9%) of them also demonstrating neck injuries. Then, using the scaling parameters, he estimated that less rotational acceleration would be required to produce concussion in the larger human brain, perhaps on the order of 6,000 to 7,000 radians/second (squared)"(5).

Calculations were based on the same laws as described in classical Newtonian physics, as applied to movements of planetary bodies, that force is the product of mass and acceleration.

Ommaya's experiments were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1968 (6). In 1971 Guthkelch reported on the first diagnosed case of SBS in which he hypothesized that subdural hematomas could be caused by manually shaking an infant without the head impacting on any surface (7). One year later Caffey, a radiologist, alluded to the parent-infant stress syndrome with manual shaking causing intracranial injury in the form of subdural hematoma and/or retinal hemorrhages of infants. (8) Two additional papers published by Caffey over the next two years emphasized shaking as a means of inflicting intracranial bleeding in children (9,10). It is important to note that each of these four papers referred to Ommaya's publication of 1968 as justification for this concept. This was in spite of the fact that Caffey, in a phone consultation with Ommaya, had been assured by Ommaya that his monkey tests could not be used to support the SBS hypothesis.

After publication of these four papers, the term Shaken Baby Syndrome became widely accepted as a clinical diagnosis for inflicted (non-accidental) head injury in infants in which the findings of subdural (brain) hemorrhages and/or retinal hemorrhages became accepted as exclusively diagnostic of SBS in the absence of known major accidental trauma and remains so today in hospital emergency rooms..

(B) SBS Theory Irreconcilable with the Weakness of the Human Infant's Neck

From its origins, the SBS has been based on the assumption that a parent or caretaker, becoming irritated over a baby's prolonged fussiness and crying, loses self-control and, grasping the infant by the chest or heels, shakes the infant with such violence that any onlooker would recognize it as excessive and dangerous. It is true that shaking does sometimes take place when an infant collapses and stops breathing, which is a common presentation in many of these cases. In such situations a panicky parent, usually untrained in resuscitation, may pick up an infant and (not knowing what else to do) mildly shakes an infant that has just gone into respiratory arrest. However, these instances do not in any sense constitute SBS.

As pointed out in the Uscinski report (5), the brain of an infant is nearly seven times larger and heavier than that of a monkey. In addition, adult monkeys are known to be incredibly strong, approximately four times stronger than humans. There would be no comparison, therefore, between the neck muscle strength of an adult monkey and that of an infant, barely able to hold up his or her head by age six months. Consequently, if such violent shaking were actually taking place, It follows that the incidence of neck injuries in the SBS should be exponentially greater than the 59.7 percent in Ommaya's monkey experiment. With these facts in mind, consider the following:

'Most SBS cases in the USA take place during the first six months of life, when there are negligible infant neck muscles. As will be shown further on, the major impact of violent shaking would fall at the junction between the base of the skull and brainstem area and upper cervical spinal cord. In most if not all instances this would result in instant death or paraplegia (spinal paralysis) from brain stem and/or cervical spinal cord injuries.

'Biomechanical research literature consistently reports findings that infant subdural hemorrhages in a 2-yr.-old child can not take place below a range of 85-120 g's (gravities) of force, while a 2-yr.-old child's neck, spinal cord, or brain stem would lethally fail if subjected to a 9-10 g's of shaking force (11-19).

'In view of these considerations, one would expect a far greater incidence of severe cervical skeletal and spinal cord injuries in infants than took place in the monkeys, and yet this type of injury has rarely if ever been documented in any SBS case to date. In view of these facts, the Shaken Baby Syndrome theory defies both reason and common observation. As a simple statement, it is physiologically impossible.

'As a final observation concerning "Non-Accidental Trauma," in which it is assumed that there is a head impact in the process of shaking, or a direct impact to the head by the caretaker, there must be substantiating evidence in the forms of head/scalp bruising and/ or subgaleal (scalp) hematoma in order to justify the diagnosis of NAI. Without such evidence, the diagnosis of NAT would merely be undocumented speculation.

Reflecting these considerations, F.A. Bandak, Ph.D., a biomechanical research scientist and research professor in the Department of Neurology with the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, U.S.A., and a former director of head injury research at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S.A., wrote the following in a paper published in 2005:

"Forceful shaking can severely injure or kill an infant. This is because the cervical spine would be severely injured and not because subdural hematomas would be caused by high head rotational accelerations. We have determined that an infant head subjected to the rotational velocity and acceleration called for in the SBS literature, would experience forces on the infant neck far exceeding the limits for structural failure of the cervical spine. (Emphasis mine) Furthermore, cervical spine injury from shaking can occur at much lower levels of head velocity and acceleration than those reported for the SBS (11).

(C) Bioengineers: The One and Only Scientific Discipline that Can Claim Expert Status in the Biodynamics of Whiplash Injuries, whether from Auto Accidents or from the Supposed Shaking Baby Syndrome:

Bioengineers belong to a scientific (Ph.D.) discipline that has evolved over a period of many decades as a valuable research wing of the U.S. Highway Department to study the biodynamics of whiplash injuries from auto accidents and to make safety recommendations based on these findings. However, since the biodynamics of whiplash injuries from auto accidents are identical with those involved in the violent shaking that is presumed to take place in the SBS, bioengineers have been involved in extensive investigative research in the SBS, for which Dr. Chris Van Ee has provided an extensive reference list (see below) (12). As declared below by Dr, Van Ee, it is universally accepted among members of his discipline that 1. Humans cannot generate more than a small fraction of the force required to cause brain injuries in infants by shaking alone, and 2. If such violent shaking were actually taking place, it would result in death or spinal paralysis from cervical cord injury in a large majority of infants, something that has rarely if ever been reported in the SBS literature.

(D) Chris Van Ee, Ph.D, Subject: Dynamic Biomechanical Findings on SBS-LMF

"Scientific testing has shown that head acceleration levels from anterior/posterior human shaking of a normal 0- to 2-year-old child in the sagittal plane results in head acceleration and force levels that are much lower than those which are associated with traumatic head injury. Repeated testing of this hypothetical has shown that the head accelerations associated with shaking are far below the level associated with injury, and there is no quality data to support the SBS brain injury mechanism. Thus shaking, even if done in a fit of anger, is not expected to result in head dynamics sufficient to cause direct intracerebral trauma.

"Human shaking (id) may cause lethal brain stem and cervical spine injuries in a 0-to-2-year-old-child (emphasis added), as the forces necessary for these injuries are well below the level needed for fatal brain injuries and are consistent with the forces that can be produced in shaking. Put another way, these neck injuries would be expected in any hypothetical-superhuman strength case of SBS where superhuman dynamics resulted in head accelerations leading to intracerebral trauma (if SBS were valid, which it is not).

"If a 0- to 2-year-old child accidentally falls from a height of six feet and impacts head-first on a hard surface such as carpeted cement, the sudden impact has the potential to generate sufficient head acceleration to cause fatal intracerebral injuries. Whether any given fall is fatal depends on a host of variables and the fall mechanics which are different in each accident, but the potential head dynamics that result from a 6-foot high fall could far exceed the tolerance associated with fatal head injury.

"Intentionally impacting a 0- to 2-year-old child's head against a hard surface could easily cause fatal brain injuries that would mimic those of a fall, and today's science cannot distinguish accidental from non-accidental impacts of falls of similar magnitude, barring extraordinary signs, e.g. grip marks or eye-witness accounts.

"The foregoing findings are based on principles universally accepted within my field and concern scientific subject matters that I am willing to testify on in this case. The findings are overwhelmingly supported by the following reference list of biomechanical tests and studies" (20).

These conclusions are further underscored by injuries of infants, properly placed in a car-seat in a high-speed head-on auto accident with severe hyperflexion whiplash of necks which caused cervical fractures, dislocations, spinal cord injury, and torn nerve roots, but not subdural hemorrhage ( Emphasis mine)(21).

E): NonAccidental Injury (NAI)/Sudden Impact Syndrome (SIS)

There are several terms that are used interchangeably with NAI including Sudden Impact Syndrome (SIS) and abusive head trauma (AHT). All of these imply impact, primarily involving the head, which may be incidental to the assumed shaking. It could also imply a direct blow to the head or body by hand, fist, or implement.

However, for this theory to be valid it requires two elements or two pieces of diagnostic evidence. First, the child must have a significant surface head injury including prominent bruising and/ or subgaleal (scalp) hemorrhages. The former would be apparent by visual inspection. The latter would be clearly evident on head CT scans or MRIs.

Next, the diagnosis requires definitive evidence to support the "gripped" elements of shaking. For the medical expert to allege that the child was grabbed and head impacted onto a hard surface, there must be bruising imprints of gripping to provide evidence that this assumption requires. The same applies for the assumption that a child was hit severely with hand, fist, or implement. However, in a child that has had cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR), soft tissue injuries must be evaluated guardedly because they may be fairly extensive in infants receiving CPR (22, 23).

Chapter Two

Subdural (Brain) Hemorrhages

(A) Suggested Differential Diagnosis of Infant Subdural Hemorrhages in Court Cases Attributed to SBS/NAI

As published in Child Maltreatment (2002), K.P. Hymel et al. listed 74 different conditions and diagnoses that can be caused by or associated with brain hemorrhages in infants (24). Using these reports as a basis, the following categories are suggested as starting points in recording and addressing a differential diagnosis in the medical records of SBS/NAI court cases involving brain and/ or retinal hemorrhages:

Accidental Impact, Including Short Distance Falls: Plunkett (25) (2001); Reiber (26)(1993); Root (27)(1992).

Birth Trauma: As reviewed in Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics, 16th Edition, intracranial hemorrhage in the newborn may result from birth trauma or asphyxia. This is especially likely when the fetal head is large in proportion to the size of the mother's pelvic outlet; when for other reasons labor is prolonged; in breech or precipitate deliveries (28, 29), forceps delivery (30), or vacuum extraction(31-35). From Spitz and Fisher's Medicolegal Investigation of Death, 4th Edition, page 1056, the more common risk factors for infant head injuries from birth trauma include prolonged labor, abrupt labor, uncontrolled delivery of the head, macrosomia, prematurity, abnormal presentations, forceps deliveries, and vacuum extractions.

Hydrocephalus: Piatt, JH (36)(1999).

Prematurity and Low Birth Weights: Intraventricular hemorrhages occur in 10% to 20% of very low birth weight babies (less than 1500 grams) and is thought to represent a substantial cause of morbidity and mortality in these patients (37). Germinal Matrix and Intraventricular Hemorrhatge (GM.IVH) is a consequence of early gestational age and the vulnerability of the immature cerebral vasculature.

Hemorrhagic Disorders: With findings of brain and retinal hemorrhages, hematology consultation should be routine. Late-Form Hemorrhagic Disease of the Newborn (Late-Form HDN), which is related to vitamin K deficiency, requires special attention in this category. Brain hemorrhages occur in nearly 100% of HDN cases. Spontaneous bruising is commonly prominent. The standard screening tests for hemorrhagic diseases, the prothrombin time (PT) and partial thromboplastin time (PTT), should be routinely checked with brain hemorrhages. When these are abnormally elevated, even marginally so, the PIVKA test (proteins in vitamin K absence) should be ordered, as it is specifically diagnostic for late-form HDN). Risk factors include prematurity, low birth weight, birth asphyxia, traumatic delivery, and antibiotic therapy during the perinatal period. (Antibiotics kill out beneficial intestinal flora that are essential for endogenous vitamin K production) (38). Late-form HDN is treated with vitamin K injections. Green leafy vegetables are the nutritional sources of vitamin K, which are of importance during the mother's pregnancy.

Locations of brain hemorrhages from Late-Form HDN may include virtually all areas of the brain. As an example, Demiroren K, et al. described the clinical and laboratory findings of 19 infants with intracranial hemorrhage due to vitamin K deficiency. The mean age at onset of the symptoms was 49 +/- 18 days. The localizations were parenchymal (47%), subarachnoid (47%), subdural (42%), and intraventricular (26%) (39).

(It is important to note that in my ten years reviewing records of infants with brain hemorrhages, I have seen only one instance where a PIVKA test was obtained, so that it is highly probable that many cases of Late-Form HDN are being missed by hospital physicians.)

Vitamin C Deficiency (Scurvy): This possibility should always be considered with subdural hemorrhages and/or unexplained bruises. Because of its unique importance, this subject will be addressed in some depth in Part III below.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Shaken Baby Syndrome or Vaccine Induced Encephalitis - Are Parents Being Falsely Accused?by Harold Buttram Christina England Copyright © 2011 by Harold Buttram M.D. and Christina England. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Edition details

• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1456719769
• ISBN 13: 9781456719760
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 108