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A comment on A journey into the shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trauma controversy. Parent comment

Re:A journey into the shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trau... by SpicyLemonZest on Tuesday September 26, 2023 @07:42PM (#37667482)
It seems to me that this rumor is just an alternate framing of the original commenter's assertion that "a minor bump in the head for a baby could be life threatening, but we just mark it as SIDS". I think it's fair to be skeptical of both, but it's worth reflecting on how the same factual assertions can come across as either "science-informed speculation" or "crazy unsubstantiated rumor" depending on how you say them.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:A journey into the shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trau... by bombcar on Tuesday September 26, 2023 @07:55PM (#37667603)
Exactly. And imagine you’re a doctor, and you have a dead child in front of you, crying parents, and a form to fill out. No possible way of filling out the form brings the child back to life, and one way makes it as easy as possible for everyone, and another results in potentially up to jail time.

Now do this repeatedly during your long and illustrious career.

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Re:A journey into the shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trau... by sarchertech on Tuesday September 26, 2023 @09:20PM (#37668474)
My wife is a pediatric ER doctor. That’s not how that works. If suspected SIDS case/unexplained death comes in, it would be handed over to the child abuse team and the medical examiner would determine cause of death. The medical examiner is detached from crying parents.

What you’re talking about would require a lot more than just one well meaning doctor.

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Re:A journey into the shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trau... by ncallaway on Tuesday September 26, 2023 @08:07PM (#37667752)
> or "crazy unsubstantiated rumor" depending on how you say them.

“How it was said” was literally presented as unsubstantiated rumor. It’s not worth reflecting that when someone says “I heard a rumor that X…” it sounds like an unsubstantiated rumor. It’s just the basic structure of English language.

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Re:A journey into the shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trau... by SpicyLemonZest on Tuesday September 26, 2023 @08:11PM (#37667801)
What's worth reflecting on is that "a minor bump in the head for a baby could be life threatening, but we just mark it as SIDS" does not sound like a crazy rumor, even when it's stated with no further backing in response to an article which didn't say anything about SIDS.
[ Parent | on HN ]