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12 Hous. J. Health L. & Pol'y 209 (2011-2012)
Shaken Baby Syndrome, Abusive Head Trauma, and Actual Innocence: Getting It Right

handle is hein.journals/hhpol12 and id is 241 raw text is: 12 Hous. J. Health L. & Policy                                          209
Copyright © 2012 Keith A. Findley et al.
Houston Journal of Health Law & Policy
ISSN 1534-7907
SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME, ABUSIVE HEAD
TRAUMA, AND ACTUAL INNOCENCE:
GETTING IT RIGHT
Keith A. Findley, Patrick D. Barnes, David A. Moran, and Waney
Squier*
In the past decade, the existence of shaken baby syndrome (SBS) has
been called into serious question by biomechanical studies, the medical and
legal literature, and the media. As a result of these questions, SBS has been
renamed abusive head trauma (AHT).          This is, however, primarily a
terminological shift: like SBS, AHT refers to the two-part hypothesis that
one can reliably diagnose shaking or abuse from three internal findings
(subdural hemorrhage, retinal hemorrhage, and encephalopathy) and that
one can identify the perpetrator based on the onset of symptoms. Over the
past decade, we have learned that this hypothesis fits poorly with the
anatomy and physiology of the infant brain, that there are many natural and
accidental causes for these findings, and that the onset of symptoms does not
reliably indicate timing.
Keith A. Findley is a Clinical Professor of Law, University of Wisconsin Law School, Co-
Director of the Wisconsin Innocence Project, and President of the Innocence Network. Patrick
D. Barnes is Chief, Section of Pediatric Neuroradiology and Co-Medical Director, MRI/CT
Center, Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital, and Professor of Radiology, Stanford
University Medical Center. David A. Moran is a Clinical Professor of Law, University of
Michigan Law School and Co-Director, Michigan Innocence Clinic. Waney Squier is a
Consultant Neuropathologist at the Oxford University John Radcliffe Hospital and Honorary
Clinical Lecturer at the University of Oxford.
We wish to thank Geoffrey Kirkwood for his outstanding research assistance and thoughtful
editorial suggestions.

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