Parade Magazine January 9, 2000

"My suspicion, which is shared by others in my profession, is that the nearly 10,000 SIDS deaths that occur in the United States each year are related to one or more vaccines that are routinely given children. The pertussis vaccine is the most likely villain, but it could also be one or more of the others." —Robert Mendelsohn, MD

• Child death expert 'court ordeal'
• Infant Death Rates Puzzle Researchers
• Petition to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, U.S.A.: FREE ALEJANDRO MENDEZ-VARGAS
• Outrage at international acclaim for Meadow
• State of Florida vs. Brian Patrick Herlihy
• Convicted killer Louise Woodward has been given the green light to become a solicitor by the Law Society
• Bring Kathy Home
• Infant Vaccines Not Linked to Crib Death - Report
• Baby Alan's vaccine cocktail

Child death expert 'court ordeal'

Sir Roy has begun his defence in the GMC case

A child death expert accused of misusing statistics in a murder trial has described the "ordeal" of giving evidence in criminal cases.

excerpt- Professor Sir Roy Meadow is accused of professional misconduct over evidence he gave in the 1999 trial of Sally Clark. She was jailed but later freed. Sir Roy, who denies the charge, told the General Medical Council giving evidence was a "legal jousting match".

It comes as the Lancet journal said the GMC case should not have been brought. The leading medical journal said Sir Roy, who could be struck off if found guilty, had become a scapegoat and called for a royal commission to be set up to look into all the issues surrounding the case.

During the Clark trial, Sir Roy said the probability of two natural unexplained cot deaths in the family was 73 million to one.

Meadow cases
Sally Clark: Served three years after being wrongly convicted of killing her two sons
Angela Cannings: Served 18 months after being wrongly convicted of killing her two sons
Donna Anthony: Served six years after being wrongly convicted of killing her son and daughter
Trupti Patel: Cleared of killing three of her children

Journal's 'campaign history'
The figure was later disputed by the Royal Statistical Society and other experts have said that once genetic and environmental factors are taken into consideration, the odds are closer to 200 to one. Mrs Clark was eventually freed in 2003, after an appeal overturned her conviction. Sir Roy also gave evidence as an expert witness in the trials of two other women, Angela Cannings and Donna Anthony, who were both freed on appeal after being convicted of murdering their children.

In his first day of his defence at the GMC he said giving evidence in criminal cases was an ordeal for which he had received no formal guidelines.

Infant Death Rates Puzzle Researchers

SIDS rates have fallen, but overall infant death rates unchanged, researchers find

TUESDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers are puzzling over statistics that show the incidence of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is going down while overall unexpected infant mortality remains mostly unchanged in the United States. This paradox, seen in numbers from 1992 to 2001, may be the result of some SIDS deaths being reclassified into different categories, such as suffocation or death due to unknown causes, the researchers theorize in the May issue of Pediatrics.

"We wondered, as many other researchers have, why is the SIDS rate going down, but the post-neonatal death rate is not?" said study co-author Dr. Michael Malloy, a professor in the department of pediatrics at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. "We started sorting through the various categories for infant deaths," he added, and found that apparent SIDS cases were now being reclassified.

SIDS is the sudden, unexplained death of an infant under 1 year old. It is the leading cause of death for babies between 1 and 12 months old, according to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Between 1992 and 1999, the SIDS death rate dropped by 55 percent, and the overall infant mortality rate decreased by 27 percent. Most of that decline was attributed to the national "Back to Sleep" campaign, a public education initiative begun in 1992 and designed to make sure infants were put to sleep on their back to reduce the risk of SIDS, according to the study. During that time, the number of infants sleeping on their backs increased from 30 percent in 1992 to 80 percent in 1998.

Malloy said the researchers are in no way "denying the efficacy of the 'back to sleep' program. Supine positioning is a very effective way of reducing the risk for SIDS." But because the overall sudden unexpected infant death rate then leveled off while the SIDS rate still declined, Malloy said it wasn't clear if the SIDS rate really was dropping.

To answer that question, the researchers went through more than 50 years of national infant mortality data, and concentrated on the most recent data from 1999 through 2001. In 1999, there were 62 SIDS deaths per 100,000 live births; by 2001, that number was down to 51 per 100,000, they found. In 1999, the overall post-neonatal mortality was 233 deaths per 100,000; in 2001, that number had only dropped to 231.

In the study, the researchers noted that "the concurrent increases in post-neonatal mortality rates for unknown and unspecified causes and suffocation account for 90 percent of the decrease in the SIDS rate between 1999 and 2001." That observation, they concluded, "suggests that a change in classification may be occurring."

Laura Reno, director of public affairs for First Candle/SIDS Alliance, said the most difficult part of tracking SIDS cases is that medical examiners and coroners throughout the country aren't consistently using the same types of tests, death scene investigations or death certificate coding. She added that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was trying to enlist local health officials to consistently use the agency's defined protocol.

But, she added, one thing that is clear: "Babies are not dying on their backs in safe cribs." Along with putting your baby to bed on her back in a crib, Reno also recommended a firm mattress that fits the crib properly and no blankets, crib bumpers, pillows or stuffed toys in the crib.

She said the most important thing parents can do to protect their babies from SIDS is to provide a safe sleep area. It's also important to provide a smoke-free environment, she added, because secondhand smoke exposure is also a risk factor for SIDS. In a second study in the same issue of Pediatrics, researchers from Belgium suggest that swaddling your baby may also help reduce the incidence of SIDS.

The researchers said that one of the reasons some parents don't put babies to sleep on their backs is that they believe their babies sleep better on their stomachs. However, the researchers found that when babies were swaddled -- wrapped tightly in a sheet or light blanket -- they tended to sleep better, thus offering parents an effective alternative to stomach sleeping. Reno added a note of caution, however. "When a baby is very young, swaddling might help, but once a baby is moving and very wiggly -- typically between 3 and 5 months -- the swaddling blanket could pose a problem," she said.

Petition to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, U.S.A.: FREE ALEJANDRO MENDEZ-VARGAS Please read and sign the Petition See also the Petición Lucas Alejandro Mullenax-Mendez May 14, 2002 - September 2, 2002 ANALYSIS OF CAUSES THAT LED TO BABY LUCAS ALEJANDRO MULLENAX-MENDEZ’S CARDIAC ARREST AND DEATH IN AUGUST-SEPTEMBER OF 2002 By Mohammed Ali Al-Bayati Ph.D., DABT, DABVT Toxicologist & Pathologist Lisa Mullenax and her husband Alejandro Mendez were accused of killing their 3-1/2-month-old Baby Lucas by blunt force trauma to the head (Shaken Baby Syndrome). See full report | anecdotal account and media coverage website www.freemendez.org disabled as per the edict of counsel

Outrage at international acclaim for Meadow

The paediatrician whose discredited scientific evidence resulted in the wrongful jailing of Angela Cannings for murdering two of her children is continuing to promote his controversial theories about child abuse to the medical community. News that Professor Sir Roy Meadow, who is to face a General Medical Council hearing into his conduct next month, is continuing to influence medical thinking about child abuse issues has sparked outrage among families wrongly accused of killing their children on the strength of his evidence.

Cannings, who was wrongly jailed for killing her two babies, partly on the basis of Meadow's evidence, last week discovered she would not be entitled to compensation. Tomorrow she will have a private meeting with the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, at which she will raise concerns that Meadow is continuing to discuss his controversial theories at medical seminars in the UK and the United States.

Medical experts fear doctors have been too ready to diagnose on the basis of Meadow's theory about Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP), which suggests that parents harm their children to draw attention to themselves. As a result parents have been accused when their children's injuries have been due to other factors. In Australia, the Queensland Court of Appeal has ruled that MSBP can no longer be recognised as a psychiatric disorder.

Meadow's principal claim about cot deaths - that one child's death in the same family is a tragedy, two is suspicious and three is murder, which became known as 'Meadow's Law' - has also been rejected by the British courts. Despite the huge controversy generated by Meadow's theories, he continues to be a big draw on the lecture circuit. Later this month he will lecture to a 1,500-strong audience of child-protection workers from 30 countries at a conference in San Diego in the United States. The 'Quest for the Best' conference is billed as a platform for health workers to learn 'best practices'.

Meadow is to give a lecture entitled 'The Medical Diagnosis of MSBP - Warning Signs and Strategies for Diagnosis'. In a separate lecture, he will also discuss how the backlash against MSBP has affected the paediatrics profession. When Meadow addressed British doctors last November, they were awarded 'personal development points' on their CVs for attending.

Penny Mellor, who campaigns on behalf of parents wrongly accused of suffering from MSBP and will attend Canning's meeting with Goldsmith, said: 'Given the concerns about the use of expert medical evidence which were raised in the Attorney General's review of hundreds of criminal cases, many of which involved Meadow, I don't understand how he can be allowed to continue lecturing.'

Meadow was unavailable for comment last night, but his supporters have in the past accused his critics of conducting a vendetta against him. They say the actions of a handful of campaigners have damaged the image of paediatricians to the extent that many doctors are turning away from the profession.

The appeal court ruled that Cannings' conviction, made on the basis of the testimony of an expert witness, was unsafe. The ruling prompted the Attorney General to announce a review of almost 300 cases in which parents had been convicted of killing their children. The government also instructed local councils to look into almost 30,000 cases in the family courts where children had been separated from their parents.

Meadow also gave prosecution evidence in two other murder trials which were overturned on appeal. Sally Clark's conviction for murdering her two sons was quashed after she had spent more than three years in jail. Trupti Patel was also cleared of suffocating her three babies. Charles Pragnell, an expert defence witness in child prosecution cases, has said previously that MSBP allegations have been made 'with no attempt having been made to thoroughly investigate possible causes of the child's illness from genetic disorders, vaccine damage, effects of prescribed medications, exposure to toxic substances, or severe allergic reactions'.

State of Florida vs. Brian Patrick Herlihy Circuit Court of Florida, Eighth Judicial Circuit, Alachua County excerpt— Brian Herlihy was convicted of causing the death of Baby Robert, an infant in his care, by violently shaking the child. None of the physicians who testified as experts for the state reviewed the baby’s prenatal and postnatal medical records to learn about his pre-existing health problems, his treatment with corticosteroid, or his adverse reactions to vaccines. Some of these physicians were aware that Baby Robert suffered from chronic health conditions such as a chronic subdural bleed, brain atrophy, and sinus and ear infections. However, they did not make any attempt to investigate the links between the baby’s chronic illnesses and his respiratory arrest on the morning of August 2, 2000. The evidence also shows that Brian was convicted and imprisoned due to sloppy and incomplete medical investigations. www.truthinjustice.org

Convicted killer Louise Woodward has been given the green light to become a solicitor by the Law Society, it has emerged.

Woodward, who is currently completing her LPC course at Manchester Metropolitan University, has been accepted as a student member of the Law Society after the regulator held an exceptional meeting to assess her case. The society’s exceptional applications casework committee (EACC) considered her application over the summer and had to decide whether she was of "fit and suitable character" to practise law. Her application was approved late last year.

This means that, as long as Woodward passes her exams and gets accepted onto a training contract, she will face no more barriers to becoming a solicitor. Once [the society has] said someone is suitable to become a student member, unless that person’s foot faults between then and when they apply for admission... [the society] cannot then pull back two years down the line, one Chancery Lane insider said.

Woodward, who has since changed her name, was jailed in 1997 for life in Boston, for the murder of eight-month-old Matthew Eappen while working in the city as an au pair. The charge was later reduced to involuntary manslaughter and she was released after spending almost a year in prison.

In a related move, Chancery Lane is also now reviewing its policy on admissions to the profession. Although solicitors must be of "fit and suitable character", the society has not defined what that means and decisions are made on a case-by-case basis.

Last year the society was criticised by a judge following the conviction of Tokunbo Oknola for the attempted murder of his wife. Oknola had qualified and practised as a solicitor after having been released under licence in 1977 having served a life sentence for murder.

Bring Kathy Home December 2003 - Family portrait. See their story While their mother is incarcerated in a Maryland Women's Correctional Facility convicted of Shaken Baby Syndrome, the children's father maintains full-time employment with the Federal Government. The children's Aunt also assists in their home care. Photos right (top to bottom): December 2000 Family Portrait, December 2001, December 2002

Infant Vaccines Not Linked to Crib Death - Report

WASHINGTON - The 11 different vaccines that virtually all U.S. children are given as babies do not cause crib death, or sudden infant death syndrome, U.S. medical advisers said on Wednesday. They said they could find no evidence that the combined diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus vaccine caused SIDS, although an older version of the DTP vaccine that is no longer used might have caused a rare and severe inflammatory reaction called anaphylaxis.

The report from the Institute of Medicine is the latest in a series that have cleared childhood vaccinations of causing a range of ills, from autism to sudden death. "Although the timing of infant vaccinations coincides with the period when SIDS is most likely to occur, parents should rest assured that the number and variety of childhood vaccines do not cause SIDS," Dr. Marie McCormick, who led the committee, said in a statement.

"We do not have the data that would definitively answer all questions about links between vaccines and SIDS and other forms of sudden, unexpected death in infancy. "However, we believe that the data we do have, along with the increasing rarity of these kinds of infant deaths, make a review of the vaccine schedule unnecessary," added McCormick, who is chairwoman of the department of maternal and child health at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

SIDS is most strongly linked with putting babies to sleep on their tummies and wrapping them up in smothering blankets and soft mattresses. A campaign to educate about the benefits of laying babies on their backs has slashed the SIDS rate in half. Smoking around babies is also linked with crib death.

The rate of infant deaths in the United States has fallen from 9.2 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 6.9 per 1,000 in 2000. The Institute of Medicine, one of the National Academies of Science, is an independent body that advises Congress and the federal government on health matters.