Shaken Baby Syndrome

SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME BY: WENDY CALLAHAN

DECEMBER 2, 2003 My interest on the 30-year-old medical phenomenon known as shaken-baby syndrome began as I researched vaccines following an adverse reaction my daughter experienced. She stopped breathing after her vaccinations. Out of instinct or whatever takes over when you panic, I shook her to try and resuscitate her. Luckily she did begin to breathe and with that frightening experience, began my research. Since I did shake her, I have paid special attention to shaken baby cases. Had her outcome been different, I could be writing this from a jail cell myself. My current interest is the well known shaken baby case involving Alan Yurko. (1) Alan Yurko has been incarcerated since he was arrested and jailed in November, 1997 for allegedly causing the death of his infant son by what is known as shaken baby syndrome (SBS). I will attempt to show the reader that this is not truly a syndrome at all but a medical condition related to vaccine damage or other congenital defects in the child. Typically this syndrome is diagnosed by retinal hemorrhages, subdural hematomas and brain bleeding. No agency keeps an accurate count of the number of shaken-baby cases nationwide. An article in a summer 1998 publication from the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome estimated between 600 and 1,400 shaken-baby cases occur in the United States each year. Some put the estimate at 1,200 to 1,500 cases nationwide each year. The average age of the child diagnosed with shaken baby syndrome is 0 to 6 months with the most frequent incidence at two and four months. There have been cases prosecuted with children as old as four years. When a child dies, emotions run high and parents are convicted with little evidence and few medical exams done properly. Shaking alone does not kill children. For example there was a recent case where Claudia Muro the nanny, was video taped shaking her charge vigorously, yet no damage to the child was found. This shaking video played on national television for weeks. In fact, in all of the taped or witnessed accounts of shaken children, none have shown the damage that some parents are convicted of inflicting on their children. This should make the prosecutors of innocent parents take note. Studies done by 1

Dr. Ommaya (2) on monkeys have concluded the same. Shaking alone does not kill children. Vaccines are considered life saving medicine and are credited with halting disease. A little research will show you improved sanitation and better nutrition were the major contributing factors to absence of disease. I will begin with some information about the contents of vaccines as well as the vaccine schedule. The vaccines that are given at, two, four and six months old are DPaT, hepatitis B, Hib, polio. A flu shot is also given at the six month visit. In some hospitals the first vaccine given is hepatitis B at 12 hours old for a sexually transmitted disease. If you ask your pediatrician for the package inserts to all these vaccines you will find the ingredients listed are neurotoxic and could easily cause any of the SBS symptoms. Heavy metals top the list in dangerous chemicals. Aluminum, mercury, formaldehyde, antifreeze and virus fragments are all listed as ingredients in vaccines. By the time your infant child is 18 months old he or she will have received 31 doses of vaccine all with the above mentioned toxins. The flu shot for example contains 25 micrograms of thimerosal or mercury. The CDC recommends no more than five micrograms of mercury if you weigh 110 lbs. In order for this one vaccine to be safe using government standards, you would need to weigh 550 lbs. A capable liver is required to detoxify this amount of toxin. Children born premature, with problems, or whose immune systems are not capable of coping with the many contaminants and toxic preservatives in vaccines, can suffer adverse reactions. Alan Yurko’s baby was just such a child. He should have never been vaccinated. His mother Francine was sick her entire pregnancy and only gained two pounds throughout. She suffered with group B Streptococcal vaginal infection, E. coli urinary tract infection, and gestational diabetes. She delivered six weeks early due to loss of amniotic fluid or oligohydramnios. Typically if the mother has a loss of amniotic fluid this signifies the baby’s kidneys are not working properly. Healthy kidneys are needed to excrete the aluminum in vaccines other wise it accumulates in the brain. The baby weighed 5lbs 9oz and was named after his father Alan. In his short life he suffered from pneumonia, respiratory distress syndrome, and hyper-bilirubinemia. Baby Alan was diagnosed with failure to thrive but at two months, equivalent to his being two weeks old adjusted for premature birth, he received six vaccines. Within 24 hours, low grade fever, irritability, and diarrhea developed, all of which continued for about ten days when he emitted a high pitched scream. The French call this cry “cry encephalic” brain damage in progress. A quick internet search will provide many documents on vaccine induced encephalitis. On the morning of November 24, Alan Yurko was at home with the baby and his four-year old sister when the baby's breathing stopped he rushed the baby to the hospital but 75 hours later, baby Alan was dead. 2

According to Dr. Torche in his study on SIDS, adverse vaccine reactions for the most part occur 12-14 days after vaccination. It takes a while for the toxins to dissipate and cause damage. Alan Yurko was arrested before the baby died. He was not allowed to attend the funeral. He was offered a plea in exchange for admitting he killed the child but he refused to admit to something that was not true. After a short trial where no mention of vaccines or medical error was brought up in testimony, he was sentenced to life plus ten years. It took two years of constant research for him to find the connections between vaccines and sudden death of children. He poured over his son’s medical records and contacted many medical doctors, including Dr. Buttram and Dr. Orient. It was through them he found out the truth. VAERS is the government’s vaccine adverse event reporting system. All vaccine reactions are to be reported there. It is estimated by the CDC that 10% of adverse reactions are reported. One of the vaccines given to baby Alan was from a batch that stands as the number one ranking in deaths, in non-recoveries, and the fourth ranking in total events reported for all Connaught Labs DPaT vaccines between 1990-1999. DPaT lot number 7H81507, had five other babies die in the same year. This information was not available to Alan’s defense team. No one looked for vaccines to be responsible for his death. After searching every medical record pertaining to baby Alan, many other mistakes have come to light. Alan Yurko has been very proactive in getting help for his plight. Hundreds of doctors have confirmed vaccines are capable of causing death and have rallied to his defense. One such Doctor is Mohammed Ali Al-Bayati, PhD, DABT,DABVT Toxicologist and Pathologist. (3)He has written his evaluation of the situation and is a strong supporter of Alan Yurko. He uncovered discrepancies that should free him. This is an excerpt of his report: Dr. Shashi B. Gore (the baby’s medical examiner) described the histology of the heart in his autopsy report, but the heart had been donated prior to autopsy. In addition, Dr. Gore is on record stating that baby Alan’s head circumference was 22 cm, but the medical records show the head circumference to have been 37.5 cm at eighteen days prior to the autopsy. He also reported the baby as black. This was a white infant. This data indicates that Dr. Gore got his cases confused. Furthermore, the state’s four expert witnesses did not review the evidence or the related published literature to sort out the facts. Their testimonies were based on theories, not on medical evidence. The prosecutor contributed to the problem by focusing upon that theory only. I believe that the state of Florida has the responsibility to review the evidence in light of my report. It demonstrates Mr. Yurko’s innocence, and the state should take speedy action to free him from prison. It is very clear to anyone looking at this case for the first time that the medical examiner had described the wrong baby. To 3

add insult to injury, the doctors taking care of baby Alan made numerous medical mistakes while he was in their care. Dr. Mohammed Al-Bayati says, ". . . the baby was treated with excessive amount of sodium bicarbonate on November 24th. The blood pH increased from 7.10 to 7.67, and this treatment caused metabolic alkalosis, hypoxia, hypokalemia, and cerebral edema. At high blood pH, the release of oxygen from hemoglobin to the tissues is reduced significantly. In addition, the baby was also given heparin at 2:45 PM at high dose level of 219 IU/kg per hour. At 3:15 PM, blood analysis showed elevated prothrombin time and fibrinogen split product level. Heparin given to patients suffering from anemia, hypotension, and unexplained symptoms similar to baby Alan’s has caused serious hemorrhagic events. A computerized tomography scan of the brain taken at 7:50 PM showed a subdural hematoma on the right side of the brain, and intraparenchymal hemorrhage. Based on the hourly heparin dose (219 IU/kg per hour), the estimated total dose infused in five hours was 1095 IU/kg, which is about 8.8 times the recommended maintenance dose for infants of 125 IU/kg per five hours.” Baby Alan died from a bad vaccine and iatrogenic medical treatment, not shaken baby syndrome. The problem with diagnosing SBS is that it resembles so many other diseases. One example is infantile scurvy or Barlow’s disease. The lack of vitamin C can cause the same symptoms, bruising, bleeding and broken bones. You need only to go back a few hundred years and read tales of the early explorers and their problems with scurvy. It took 40 years from the time it was discovered all these sailors needed was a little lemon juice before it was included in their rations! It is common knowledge today that every cell in the body needs vitamin C. Without this vital vitamin a series of events takes place. The smallest capillaries are the first to go as seen in retinal hemorrhages. The veins and small capillaries require vitamin C to hold together. The bones need vitamin C to connect to the cartilage. (4) Without the required amounts of C circulating, the veins just let go of their contents and a bruise is formed and bones look on an x-ray as if they have broken where they connect to the cartilage. To the untrained eye it would seem that a baby presenting with these symptoms had been abused. (5) Vitamin C in breast milk is eight to ten times higher than maternal plasma concentration. Breast fed babies in turn, get an adequate supply of C. Vitamin C protects babies from toxic chemicals found in vaccines. If the baby is bottle fed and the milk put in a microwave to be heated, all of the vitamin C is destroyed in the first few seconds. Babies, who are on the verge of not holding their own or without capable livers for detoxification of chemicals in their vaccines, are prime candidates for death. Francine was unable to breastfeed and all of her son’s bottles were microwaved (6). Another vitamin tragedy was played out in Israel recently. It seems the formula maker Remedia by the German company Humana Milchunion, forgot to add the B1 to the milk substitute. 4

Three babies have lost their lives so far with many others ill. Vitamin deficiency is not the only reason a child might present with symptoms that resemble SBS. Here are other reasons that can account for the deaths of young children with similar symptoms. •

Vacuum extraction, other birth trauma

•

Cerebral aneurysm

•

Ontogenesis imperfecta

•

Sickle cell anemia

•

Alagille syndrome

•

Leukemia

•

Autoimmune disorders

I have read the stories of at least ten such incidences where the child is presumed shaken only to find out they had been recently vaccinated or had an underlying disease. One father, an anesthesiologist, tried unsuccessfully to have children for 11 years. Finally after the third invitro fertilization, he and his wife conceived. The baby weighed 2lbs 1oz when she was born. The child died shortly following her vaccinations. The father was alone with the child when she stopped breathing and was convicted of SBS. He was sentenced to six years in prison. Lets for a moment take the emotion out of having a child die and look at the circumstances. Imagine how much money was spent on invitro fertilization by these parents. Imagine the joy of the parents finally after eleven long years, having a child. Imagine doctor visits and invasive procedures done in the name of health on a premature baby. Then try to imagine after five short months of life, a loving father, so angry with his ailing premature baby, that he shakes her to death. This is not even logical. After you realize all the families stories are the same it is easy to see that Shaken baby syndrome bears a striking resemblance to the infamous Salem’s witch hunt of the 1600’s. It’s almost a script. Usually the baby is bottle fed, the father is alone with the child when breathing stops and he is automatically accused of shaking the child. Once the police are called the parents are separated, interrogated and are encouraged to “confess” to the others guilt. This is an example how a confession is extracted: “yes, my daughter stopped breathing and I shook her.” There you have it. A confession and off to jail you are taken. Doctors have a hard time admitting vaccines could ever have caused this amount of damage. Acknowledging this would be admitting to being an accomplice in the crime. Very few doctors know the contents of the vaccines they are injecting into children however; ignorance should not be an excuse. In many SBS cases the child was vaccinated the very same day yet this information is ignored. Families are torn apart with little regard to the truth. Someone must be blamed for the death of a child and it will not be vaccines. Alan Yurko’s case is in the appeals process now and with the new 5

information, he should be exonerated. Unfortunately justice is not free. The estimated cost of his defense is approximately 55,000 dollars he does not have. In conclusion, I am sure there are parents who abuse their children and they should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. However, let us be confident beyond a shadow of a doubt before parents or care givers are convicted. A vast majority of babies diagnosed with SBS have no whiplash injuries. It is not possible to shake a child with the force necessary to cause brain bleeding and not have a neck or spinal injury. SBS is junk science and should be exposed as such with an independent long term study of the correlation of vaccines and SBS. It seems to me you only need to look as far as your pediatricians needle to find the truth. (1) (2)

(3) (4)

Alan Yurko’s website

http://www.freeyurko.bizland.com

British Journal of Neurosurgery 2002; 16(3): 220–242 ISSN 0268– 8697 print/ISSN 1360–046X online/02/030220–23 © The Neurosurgical Foundation DOI: 10.1080/0268869022014882 4 Biomechanics and neuropathology of adult and paediatric head injury A. K. OMMAYA*, W. GOLDSMITH** & L. THIBAULT**** Department of Neurosurgery, George Washington University Medical Center, Washington DC, ** Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California, and *** Department of Mechanical Engineering, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Abstract http://www.freeyurko.bizland.com/albayati1.html PEDIATRICS Vol. 108 No. 4 October 2001, p. e76 ELECTRONIC ARTICLE: Infantile Scurvy: A Historical Perspective Kumaravel Rajakumar, MD

(5)

http://www.drlera.com/health_beauty/healthy_baby/lactation.htm

(6)

Health Effects of Microwave Radiation - Microwave Ovens by Lita Lee, PhD http://ighawaii.com/naturally/newsletter/micro.html or http://www.relfe.com/microwave.html

6